BATTLE OF METEMNEH

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 114, 12 March 1885, Page 3

BATTLE OF METEMNEH

ANOTHER^ STRUGGLE IN THE DESERT. General Stewart and bis command were heard from again after the battle of Abukela Wells on 28th January. Early in the engagement General Stewart received his woun^ and. Six Charles Wilson thereupon assumed command. Works were hurriedly constructed under the . leaden rain, which continued to pour -upon the English from the, enemy's rifles. , ; The wounded men and baggage train were left under guard under, the quicklybnilt earthwprks r while *he rest of the forceadyanced in face of the hostile fire to a gravel .ridge some distance in front. Here large, bodies of rebels had established themselves in a strong poaitiaft, As soon: as the! British lines came near, the enemy made a fierce I charge, led by several The British troops were arranged as usial in the form of a square, and steadily advanced to meet the wild onslaught of the loudly cheering enemy, who were rushing down upon them. At the aame time the rifles of the British were doing bloody execution. The charge was checked, and not an Arab came within thirty yards , of the British square. The rebels did not long stand before the murderous English fire, but Were repulsed with heavy loss. Five Emirs and 250 men were left dead upon the field, and large numbers of wounded. About the English losses few details have yet been received. The place where the battle occurred was a slight distance beyond Shebacal Wells. The . point when* the engagement of 19th occurred is in the desert about five miles ; south of Metemneh. When General Stewart reached that point he found the enemy hovering about his little army on all sides, and skirting it often within uncomfortably short range. The rebels had evidently stationed themselves in the vicinity to await his arrival and give him battle. When they began to surround him, and press in upon him, he determined to abide the event, and ordered his men to dismount and form a zareeba. This -was made mainly with saddles and baggage, and during its construction the rebel riflemen drew nearer, and maintained a hot fire from behind ambushes and such h^^"g places as they could find among the bushes and high grass. This, fire was very well directed, .and was. most disastrous in its effect upon the British, troops. Twelve men were. soon, shot down, and 40 others wounded. Among the first killed were Mr Cameron, the special correspondent of the London Standard, and Mr Herbert, the special correspondent of the London Post. General Stewart was one of the very first wounded. He was shut in the thigh When he was shot, the work of male ing the ieareeba was about completed, and the army had been put in motion to form square in two large echelons. The enemy's main attack was directed against the British right front, which stood unmoved during the rebel charge. The' English troops, re-forming, assailed the enemy's front, and delivered a terrifio fire, aimed right at the enemy's middle, mowing down the men in such heaps that they formed actual obstacles, and interfered so seriously with the evenness of the ground, necessary to the success of the .onslaught, that its centreline was brought to 'a. standstill' about sixty yards from the British front line. The force of the general movement threw the parts of the line, like the ends of broken timber, around the corners of the square, and the rebels so displaced were simply Cut to pieces. When their line was broken, the Arabs seemed to break up into bands, each .of which waged war on its own account. A large detacment, mostly on horseback, went back to attack the Zareeba, which was garrisoned by a body of English sol(tiers made <up of little detachments left behind : by each corps which had gon» forward in the square: Lord Charles BdresfoTd was in command, and he sustained the attack for two hours, when the enemy was compelled to retreat. Lord Gochrane with fifty men from the 'Live : Guards and Scots Greys held the redoubt and maintained a heavy fire throughout the battle, and, did much to repel the Constant rushes of the enemy.- The losses of of the rebels during the whole day are estimated at 2000 killed and wounded. Among the enemy were many slaves, several of whom have submitted to the British. They say the Mahdi sent them ffUBL .Khartoum. The square reached tne Nile at sunset on Monday evening and encamped for the night.