The War in Egypt.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4546, 18 November 1882, Page 3

The War in Egypt.

A Bpeoial war correspondent, in giving an account of the attack on the Egyptian gunners in tho trenohei, Bays :— The gallant Seaforths took the lead, under Colonel Stockwoll, the General superintending them in person, while the cavalry moved off among the high green corn, to cut off stragglors, if any there might be. Advancing briskly along, wo were shortly aware of a shower of bullets, which, being badly aimed, either fell short or whistled overhead, and soon after saw a body of tho enemy peering out of holes in the earth. These wore quickly dislodged, and we again advanced, to find some field guns spread acrOBB the bank, with a well-built battery bohind, neatly made of stones, and mounted with four Beven-pounders — a serious obstacle this, if well defended. Tho Seaforths immediately lay down to fire, and our mule battery was soon in its place behind to support thorn, but General Macpboraon refused to allow this, the usual plan, to be adopted. " Bun forward, men ! " he cried, advancing, first to lead j " turn them out with a rush." A ringing cheer, and the regiment dashed at the guns, took all four, and made for tho battery beyond. Lieutenant Murdooh was the first in, running alono with conspicuous bravery straight at a piece whioh was just ready to fire, and, so sudden was the movement, that the gunners stood fairly aghast at his audacity, and fumbled with the rammers and sponges for a moment, and thon gave tho signal for a general saure gui pent Among the first set of guns were many dead and dying, which showed that the firing of tho Highlanders wob vastly different from that of the Egyptians. As for the former, they had but one killed, another was wounded in the arm, but not sufliciontly badly to oblige him to fall out, whilo & third, namod Hick*, had a very narrow escape, a buliet striking him in tho eentro of tho Cabul modal which was dangling on bin breast. Oddly enough, wo saw nothing all this whilo and heard little of tho main body I on tho right, and were under the impression i that we we.;o bhreae.t of everybody until we

reached Tel-el-Kebir. The taking of thii advanced battery caused great excitement and much cheering from the soldiers, while as for the doolie- bearers and camp followers thej made such a chattering that we seemed to have Babel following in the rear. By this time we had taken eight Krupp guns besides the four seven-pounders, but much remained atill to do. Away tc the extreme left were visible rising out of the corn here and there a farmhouse or a little village, and it was considered needful to clear these before advancing any further. Happily at Ihis important moment I discovered a stray horse in the hands of a mild Hindoo, and incontinently transferred the prize to myself, leaving the Oriental expostulating after me. I was thus again enabled to follow the rapid onset of our chief. We found the villages and farmhouses all deserted except one, in which there dwelt an aged man who gravely came forward with an impromptu flag of truce, manufactured out of a shirt, and proffered us water and bread. All empty every one; not a soul to be seen but the patriaroh. Yes ; look ! in the distance, to our right front, appears a moving maßS — men in myriads ! Were they actually coming forth to attack us in the open ? All fieldglasses were levelled at them. What a surprise ! Far from advancing to meet us, these thousands of uniforms were sourrying away acrosß the fields as fast as their legs could carry them. It was beyond doubt the flower of Arabia army taking flight bo early in the day ! How at last we all knew that the main body must have been attacking simultaneously with ourselves. The left-hand batteries and villages were alr*ady ours, the works on the centre and the right must be taken too, and yet by the watch it was no later than seven ! There was no mistake about it; the 'awful stronghold of Tel-el-Kebir had fallen like a pack of cards. The war was practically over! Hecovering slowly from our glad astonishment, we resumed the maroh, with a desultory shot or two every now and again, regretting much that the cavalry force afforded us had been so soanty that we could not pursue the fugitives. And yefc, why should we wish to do bo ? The few prisoner! we captured had their arms taken from them, and were then set free, nor was it worth while to hamper ourselves with a lot of people who would have to be fed and guarded. Away across the skyline streamed that Tast flood of fugitives, the rearmost ever crowding closer and closer, as the cavalry and artillery came up with them. We saw their scattered thousands tailing away over the green and yellow ground, and knew the campaign was as good as over. The camp of the foe looked very large — the number of tents cohering a great stretch of ground. Among them were many dead men, dead horses, dead camels ; but the living had shown a clean pair of heels, and were vanished out of sight. The lock bridge was covered with redcoats, devouring the grapes that lay about in quantities, and on it the generals met who had led the two attacks.