THE BATTLE OF ABUKLEA

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 112, 7 March 1885, Page 2

THE BATTLE OF ABUKLEA

A TEKEIBLE STRUGGLE IN THE I>ESEET. FUL& DETAILS. BEAVEEY OF THE BRITISH TEOOPS. ■ i -- . .> i DETEEMINED ASSAULT BY THE ARABS." - The special correspondent of the Morning Post telegraphs that General Stewart, on the 17th January, fought an obstinate battle with the enemy, lasting from 9 o'clock in the morning till 1 p.m. The correspondent states that the struggle culminated in a desperate charge by the Arabs, numbering over 3000, on .the r ßritish square, from which they ; wer^- t re^ih||d wil^' great loss, General Stewart left Gakdul on the 18th, and. afriflad near Abukela Weils, on* the afternoon of 19 th, and observing rth^t the enemy was not far ahead, he determined to | halt four miles from .the, "Wells, and there threw up' etitrehchm'ents, under cover of which the force bivouacked ! for the night. During the' whole night I the enemy -maintained -a fire from the hills. In the morning General Stewart seeing they did not attack, determined !to advance against them.. He therefore left the camels and stores, with the baggage and .hpspjtalrcommissiaa^t, ! in the entrenchments -under . guard* of I 150 men, and at once 'marched out with the remainder of his force; The advance was made IX A SQUABE, • with the mounted infantry- as skirmishers on the front, the Hussarsbeing 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 them being the following officers : — Major, Grough, mounted infantry ; Major Dickson, Lieutenant Lord St. Viueent, . • and Lieutenant Beach, Life Ghiards ; ;, and Surgeon Magill. The march was, continued, and by the bold skirmishing of the rifles and (mounted infantry* the enemy was admirably driYfcn.a way, the artillery at the same time keepingiup a brilliant fire on their position 'across the valley, where hostile flames floated in a long line of our advance.: J&fcuare was formed in the following; Order : — The left front consisted of two corps of mounted infantry, and the right of -two companies of Guards. The left if ace was composed of two companies of mounted inf antry and one company of heavy dragoons. The right face was composed of two companies of Guards and two companies of the Sussex Regi- • nient, and the rear face of f our companies of heavy "cavalry and the camel corps. The artillory was in the 'centre of tho front face, ami the Naval "Brigade occupied the centre of tho.riKtpfaco. The wh.-)l<.-» force was on foot, the L'amgls being left beliind iv • an en&'on&nc J position, except those allotted for hospital purposes and to convey water and ammunition, which were stationed inside the square. ■ THE ARAB ASSAULT. At 11 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 TTP IK 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 on their tfack: n r; Ji v «|iU' : was mad? 'upon the heavy 'dr'a'gooiis/'wlio foniied tKe $>&r half of the left face ,an f d tliffwtolfe'of the rear face of the f brma'tion } but. so fierce and rapid was the rusn" ai thjs moment that the heavy cavalry were borne back by the masses of ''Aftfts, and in a moment " ' * „ .' „ ; ■-.•[. : ', // ,- ■ -ti. . i . '....•/ THE SQUAKE WAS FO2CED, . , the Gardiner gun was jammed, and for ten minutes a desperate struggle raged from the left rear to the centre. There Colonel Bufnaby 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 also soldiers. Tire whole]air was filled with dense smoke and dust, wh£(e shots and sword strokes were <the replies to the Arab spear thrusts; .It was not long before every Arab in tie square was killed, and the rest were beaten off. ■'■... THREE HEABTY CHEEBS * were given as the square reformed on fresh ground The enemy then retreated, when numbers of them rose from among the dead, and rushed past the square, but not without many bejng shot. . . STRENGTH OE 1 THE ENEMY. '■ The number of the enemy,, [accord* ing to the information given by the prisoners,, was 14,000, and they are said to have consisted of the, followers of the Mahdi from Khartoum, Kordof fan, and Berber, the iatter having especially sentr great chiefs. Among those killed were the .'Emir of Metemneh and chief tHe Hamira Arabs. One these penetrated 'iiiio' the' squaW on horsebacks . : .' ■.},,-. „- ,/\ AFTER THE' BATTLE. ' •' After the fight had , terminated the Hussars, were sent forward ito 1 the Wells_ of l Abukela, which were three miles in advance, and took possession of them after a few shots had been exchanged! The heat had been extreme, but the men, who were WITHOUT WATER OR FOOD. bore? it admirably. :oTheir- behaviour wras splendid during the march, and is worthy of the highest praise, and md also when in face of the of enemy, rhe Wells of Abukela were reached by the troops at 5 o'clock p.m., where svater was / plentiful and excellent fpr lrinking. "At; ; p/,;p/#xx£ that night ieneral Stewart sent back a portion: >f thtf s &Waa= : wM / 6onVe^£ W 2eavy

cavalry Camel Corps and mounted infantry, to fetch, everything from, the . entrenched post in the rear. They all arrived safely there at 8 a.m., and on the 18th, on their arrival, the troops had the first food they had partaker of for 24 hours: OUR LOSSES. The .British losses were heavy, and the following nine officers were killed : Colonel Burnaby, Majors Athertoß (sth Dragoon Guards), Carmiohael (sth Royal Lancers), and Gough (lOtl Hussars); Captain Darley and Lieutenant Law, sth Dragoon Guards; Lieutenant Wolfe, Scots Greys ; and Lieutenants Pegott and De Lisle, Naval Brigade. Among the wounded were the Earl of Airlie, Viscount St Vincent, and Major Gough, Mounted Infantry ; Major Dickson and lieutenant Costell, sth Lancers; Lieutenant Beach, Life Guards ; Lieutenants Lile and'Guthrie, Artillery ; and M Surgeon Magill. There were 66 men • killed, including 46 of the heavy cavalry and Camel Corps, and 85 wounded. THE EMEMY'S LOSS. The number of the enemy killed is 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, 1 having an average of 800 men each, were in the field, which would make a total of 8000.