BATTLE AT METEMNEH.

Kumara Times, Issue 2657, 13 March 1885, Page 2

BATTLE AT METEMNEH.

General Stewart and his command were heard from again after the battle of Abuklea Wells, on January the 17th.On the morning of Monday, January 19th, two days after the fight at Abuklea, the enemy appeared in force in front of the advancing British army, and a short, fierce battle was fought. This occurred at a point three miles from the Nile, and the British were compelled to sustain a heavy fire for some time. Early in the engagement General Stewart received his wound. Sir Chas. Wilson thereupon assumed the command, and works were hurriedly constructed under a leaden rain, which continued to pour upon them from the enemy’s rifles. The wounded men and baggage train were left under guard, under quickly-built earthworks, while the rest of the force advanced in the face of the hostile fire to a gravel range, some distance in front, where large bodies of rebels had established themselves in strong position. As soon as the British line came near, a fierce charge, led by several Emirs, was made against it by the rebel foemen. The British troops were arranged, as usual, 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 same 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 stand long before the murderous English fire, but were repulsed with heavy loss. Four Emirs and 250 men were left dead upon the field, and a large number of wounded. The English losses were few. The place where the battle occurred was a slight distance beyond Shefacat Wells. The point where the battle 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 mainly done with saddles and baggage, and during its construction the rebel riflemen drew nearer and maintained a hot fire from behind ambushes and such hiding places as they could find among the bushes and high grass. This fire was well-directed and was most disastrous in its effects upon the British troops. Twelve men were soon shot down, and forty 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 shot in the thigh. When he was shot, the work of making a zareeba was about completed. The Arab army had been put in motion to form a square in two large echelons. Those were directed against the British right front, which stood unmoved during the rebel charge. The English troops forming assailed the front, and delivered a terrific fire aimed right in the enemy’s middle, mowing down men in such heaps that they formed actual obstacles, and interfered so seriously with the evenness necessary to the success of the onslaught, that its centre line was brought to a standstill about sixty yards from the British front line. This warfare was disastrous to the rebels. When their line was broken the Arabs seemed to break up into bands, each of which waged warfare on its own account. A large detachment, mostly on horseback, went back to attack the zareeba, which was garrisoned by a body of English soldiers, made up by little detachments left behind by each corps which had gone forward in the square. Lord Charles Beresford was in command, and he sustained the attack for two hours when the enemy was compelled to retreat! During the general attack upon the square only six men were killed and twenty-three wounded on the English side. Captain Norton worked the guns during this fight, and his firing did awful execution. General Stewart’s force, on leaving Gakdul Wells, consisted of 2000 picked fightin«' men. " °

The latest despatches received at the " ar Office show that Lord St. Yinceut was not, as at first reported, killed in the battle fought in the desert on the 19th xust., but died from wounds received on the 17th at Abuklea. Only two officers were killed in the zareeba fight. The other dead were non-commissioned officers and privates. During the advance of the main body of the English from the zareeba, the garrison left behind at that point kept up a heavy tire from their guns and rifles. An effort was made to erect small redoubts some fifty yards to the

right of the zareeba, under the protection of a steady fire from that place. During the erection of a redoubt one man was killed and three wounded. Lord Cochrane, with fifty men from the Life Guards and Scots Greys, held the redoubt and maintained a heavy fire throughout the battle. They did much to repel the constant rushes of the enemy. The loss of the rebels during the day is estimated at 200 killed and wounded. Among the enemy were many slaves, several of whom have submitted to the British. They say that the Mali cl i sent them from Khartoum. The square reached the Nile at sunset on Monday evening, and encamped for the night. Early on Tuesday morning scouting parties made a reconnaisance and destroyed some empty villages. The inhabitants had watched the military operations ftora distances, and afterwards retreated to Metemneh. The British encamped at Abuklea, two miles south of Metemneh. The enemy were most sparing in their use of ammunition while defending Metemneh, and only kept up a desultory fire. The rebel forces throughout all the engagements were well handled; it is stated that two Europeans are among them, which may explain the fact. A female prisoner states that the British fire decimated the enemy, who seemed determined to remain inside Metemneh.