THE BATTLE OF ABUKLEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7267, 4 March 1885, Page 6

THE BATTLE OF ABUKLEA.

DETAILS OP THE FIGHTING. The following account of the first engagement fought between the lata General Stewart's force and the Arabs, appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, having been received by the Suez Mail at Albany on February 25, and telegraphed from there to that journal:— London, January 23. The special correspondent of the Morning Post telegraphs that General Stewart, on January 17, foughtan obstinate battle with the enemy, lasting from nine o'clock in the morning till one p.m. The correspondent states : Toe struggle culminated in a desperate charge by the Arabs, numbering over 3000, on the British square, from which they Were repulsed with great loss. General Stewart left Gakdul on the 14th, and arrived near the Abuklea Wells on the afternoon of the 16th, and observing that the enemy were not far ahead, he determined to halt four miles from the wells, and there threw up entrench meuts, under cover of which the force bivouacked for the night. During the whole night the enemy maintained a fire from the hills, and in tue morning General Stewart, seeing that they did not attack, determined to advance against them. He therefore left the camels and stores with the baggage and hospital commissariat in the entrenchments, under a guard of 150 men, and at once marched out with the remainder of his force. The advance was made in square, with the mounted infantry as skirmishers on the front and right, the Hussars being in skirmishing order on the left. The enemy saluted us with a hot fire from the hills, by which several of our men were wounded, among whom were the following officers:—Major Gough, ot the mounted infantry : Major Dickson, Lord St. Vincent, and L. L. Beach, of the Life Guards, and Sergeon Magil. By the continued and determined bold skinnisniog of the Rifles and the mounted infantry, the enemy was admirably driven back ; the artillery ; at the same time keeping up a brilliant fire on the position across the valley where the hostile flags floated in a long line, stretching out at right angles to the line of our advance. The square was formed in the following order The left front consisted of two companies of mounted infantry, and the right of two companies of the Guards the left face was composed of two companies of mounted infantry "and one company of heavy dragoons ; the right face was composed of two companies of the Guards and two companies of the Sussex Regiment; and the rear face consisted of four companies of heavy cavalry and the camel corps. The artillery was in the centre of the front face, and the Naval Brigade ocoupied the centre of the rear face. The whole force was on foot, the camels being left behind in an entrenched post, save those allotted for hospital purposes and to convey water and ammunition, which were stationed inside the square. At eleven o'clock .the square was moving on the right incline, in order to enfilade the enemy, who were distant a quarter of a mile, and had brought their left face towards the Arab force, when suddenly the Arabs leaped up in dense masses and rushed fiercely, at great speed, against the square. The onset was such that the skirmishers had scarcely time to reach the square before the enemy were following close upon their track. A call Was made upon th* heavy dragoons, who formed the rear half of the left face and the whole of the rear fabe of the formation ; but so fierce and rapid was the rush at this moment that the heavy cavalry were borne back by the masses of Arabs, and in a moment the square was forced. The Gardiner gun was jammed and for some minutes a desperate struggle raged from the left rear to the centre. Here Colonel Burnaby fell dead, a spear having severed his jugular vein. General Stewart's horse was shot under him, and as the General fell to the ground, at the same moment his orderly was killed beside him. Many of the camels were speared by the Arabs, and the interior of the square pre. sented a mass of falling camels, of struggling Arabs and soldiers! the whole being filled also with dense smoke and dust, while shots and sword strokes were the replies to the Arab spear thrust. It was not long before every Arab in the square was killed, and the rest were beaten off. Three hearty cheers were given as the square was re-lormed on fresh ground. The enemy then retreated sullenly, numbers of them rising from among the dead and rushing past the square, not without many being shot The number of the enemy, according to the information given by a prisoner .that was taken, was 14,000. They are said to have consisted of the followers of the Mahdi from Khartoum, Kordofan, • and. Berber, the latter having especially sent great chiefs. Among the killed are the Emir of Metammeb, and the chief of the Hamira Arabs. One of them penetrated into the square on horsebackAfter the fight had terminated the Hussars were sent forward to the Wells of Abuklea, which were three miles in advance, and took possession of them after a few shots had been exchanged. The ' heat has been extreme, and the men, who were without water or food, bore it admirably. Their behaviour was splendid during the march, and is worthy of the highest praise ; and also .when in the face of the enemy. The wells of Abuklea were reached by the, troops at five o'clock in the afternoon, where the water was plentiful and excellent for drinking. At eight o'clock that night General Stewart sent back a portion of the Guards, with some of the heavy cavalry, camel corps, and mounted infantry, to fetch everything from the entrenched post at rear. They all arrived safely there at eight a.m., and on the 18th, on their arrival, the troops had the first food they had partaken of for 24 hours. General Stewart was to advance on Metammeh on January 18th, leaving the post at Abuklea under the charge of a strong detachment with the wounded. The British losses were heavy, and the following nine officers were killed :— Colonel Burnaby, Majors Atherton, Carmichael, and Gouch, of the Royals ; Captain Darley, and Lieutenant Laro of the 4th Dragoon Guards; Lieutenant Wolfe, of the Scots Greys; and Lieutenants Piggott and Delisle of the Naval Brigade. Among the wounded are the Earl of Airlie, Viscount St. Vincent, and Major Gough, of the Mounted Infantry; Major Dickson and Lieutenant Costello, of the sth Lancers; Lieutenant Beach, of the Life Guards; Lieutenants Lyle and Guthrie, of the Artillery and Surgeon Magil. There were 66 of the men killed, including 46 of the heavy cavalry and camel corps, and 85 were wounded. The number of the enemy killed are supposed to be 2000. They had 900 special negro riflemen who proved themselves to be good shots, and as these men kept on the hills they suffered less than the others. The prisoners, in giving an account of the number of their forces, reckoned that ten tribes, having on an average 800 men each, were in the field, «hich would make the total 8000. .It is doubtful whether tnere will be another battle, but as Omdurmanhas been captured by the Mahdi, a portion of his army " round Khartoum Will be available for opeiations in this direction. The Daily News special correspondent thus describes the battle :—" We moved out to the attack under a hail of bullets, and the men dropped from the ranks right and left, but none of the wounded were left on the field. The medical staff under SurgeonMajor Fergusson worked splendidly, and under the heaviest of the tire there were frequent stoppages for these purposes, The progress man was slow, and it was nearly an hour before we sighted the enemy's maiu body and realised th*t 7000, or 8000 men were against us. General Stewart took np a good position on a slope where the rebels must advance up. hill -and •; across open ground. Skirmishers of the mounted infantry were sent forward to force on the attack, while Captain Norton's battery of screw guns piauled several shells among the dense mass. Then came the shock of she rebels in an impulsive charge against the square, and for a while the fate of the whole force trembled in the balance; but the steadiness of the Guards, marines, and mounted infantry prevailed, and the fierce foes retired beaten, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and wounded and their arms and banners. Lieutenant-Colonel Barrow's Hussars came up soon after, but they were too late to strike at the retreating foes. The Sussex Regiment, though taken in the rear, rallied and fought desperately. The greatest loss fell on the heavy camel corps, of whose officers six were killed and two wounded. After the fight, in which the enemy brought all their best troops against General Stewart's brigade, we , gained the wells of Abuklea and bivouacked there. The rebels fought with reckless courage, and displayed great tactical skill. Tney harassed us at Zeriba all the previous night, and endeavoured to lead us into a skilfully laid trap. We advanced two miles exposed to

a heavy fire on all sides, and we haltedjtnd closed the square whUe the skirmishers went forward to force the concealed enemy into attack. They sprang up twenty banners on wing, and came on in splendid line, Abe troops were led by Abu Saleh, the Emir of Metammeh. and on the left they were under Mahomed Khan, Emir of Berber. The latter was wounded, and he retired early; but Abu Saleh came desperately on at the head of one hundred fanatics, escaping the withering fire of tho Martinis marvellously, until he was shot down in the square. The rear face, which was composed of the heavy cavalry, broke forward in their endeavours to fire on the rebels, who swept round the flank and broke into us. For a moment there was much confusion, then the men fell back, reformed in good order, and poured volleys into the rebels, every one of whom in the leading division falling dead in our midst. When we had time to look around we saw that line after line of the enemy had fallen under the Martinis' fire as they advanced, and there could scarcely have been less than 800 or 1000 dead and wounded of the rebels. The others, in scattered bands, made off in various directions, leaving us masters of the field. Iu the temporary confusion the Gardiner gun could not be got into action at the most effective movement, and when it opened tire the rebels were close on it. The Naval Brigade, therefore, lost very heavily. Lien tenants Piggott and Delisle were both killed, and among the first of our officers who were mortally wounded was Colonel Burnaby.who fell gallantly in the fight close to his old comrades of the Blues. .Norton's little battery did immense service, especially when the rebel oavalry formed for the charge, three shrapnels going in the midst, and again when, a renewed attack was threatened from the enemy's line the shells caused utter demoralisation. Altogether the battery fired 38 shrapnels, 19 common shells and* 6 case shells —the latter when the rebels rushed to close quarters. The Naval Brigade Gardiner gun also produced great mortal effect on the retreating bands. Of the ground selected by General Stewart for the final stand, and the way in which he handled his men at the most crictical moment, too much cannot be said in praise, and he led his staff where there was immediate danger repeatedly."