The two brigades now advanced to a position parallel to the extreme north flank of the enemy's trenches, where they formed front and moved steadily towards the works. When within 600 yards the troops came under fire. The advance was continued without replying until within 200 yards, when the brigades, advancing by quick rushes and opening a heavy fusillade, reached the trenches and captured them at the point of the bayonet. Here the greatest slaughter took place, and the survivors, attempting to rally on their right flank, were dispersed by the 11th Soudanese, who, in their eagerness to fight, had broken their square and deployed. During the attack on the trenches, the cavalry remained on the right of the infantry, guarding their flank. The Horse Artillery Battery at this period came up and sh.e.l.led the redoubt on the south flank of the intrenchments, which had also been exposed to a heavy infantry fire from the Welsh Regiment and the 3rd Egyptian Battalion, which had advanced from their position behind the Water Forts. The two Egyptian brigades now cleared the whole line of intrenchments from north to south, and, with the Mounted Infantry on the north flank, poured steady volleys upon the Dervishes, by this time in full retreat upon Handoub.

An attempt made by the enemy's hors.e.m.e.n to work round the right flank of the attacking line at an earlier stage of the action was defeated by the 20th Hussars, who charged and drove them in disorder in the direction of Hasheen.

By 8 a.m. the whole thing was over, the position was taken, and the bugles sounded "Cease firing." The cavalry, however, continued to pursue the retreating enemy, whilst the rest of the troops intrenched themselves in zeribas on the captured position.

The defeat of Osman Digna's followers was most complete. Out of a force of a little over 1,500 men, they had 500 killed either in the fight or during the pursuit. On the other side the loss was insignificant, being only six killed and forty-six wounded. It must be admitted that the Dervish force was vastly inferior in point of numbers to their opponents,[144] who also possessed the advantages of superior skill and discipline. Even making every allowance for these circ.u.mstances, it is difficult to account for the trifling loss sustained by the Anglo-Egyptian troops, except on the hypothesis that they never, in point of fact, encountered any real resistance. Another circ.u.mstance was that the Dervish force was left to defend their position against greatly superior numbers without being reinforced. This may perhaps be explained by the diversion caused by the naval demonstration made at Mersa Kuwai, and which no doubt caused Osman Digna to imagine that a serious attack at that point was also contemplated.

The effect of Grenfell's victory on the local tribes must have been very great, and the idea naturally was that an immediate advance of the Egyptian troops would be made. This, however, formed no part of the General's instructions, which were simply to drive the enemy from their trenches, and on no account to advance against Osman Digna at Handoub.

Before leaving, Grenfell approved plans made for the construction of additional forts and redoubts, so as to prevent the enemy being able in future to intrench themselves within range of the town, and his mission being accomplished, he then returned to Cairo.

The British troops were next withdrawn, and Colonel Kitchener, who was left in command of the garrison of 2,000 men, maintained a purely defensive att.i.tude.

CHAPTER LVI.

THE NILE FRONTIER.

At the end of March, 1886, Mohammed-el-Kheir was still at Kermeh, with a considerable force distributed between that place and Dongola. Although there was nothing to show that the contemplated invasion of Egypt had been abandoned, there is reason to believe that the Khalifa's attention was at this time diverted by events which occurred in Kordofan, where many of the tribes broke out into open revolt against his authority.

Probably from this cause, and from troubles which arose on the Abyssinian frontier, no further move in the direction of Egypt had been attempted since the fight at Ginnis.

Seeing no further prospect of fighting, General Stephenson had quitted the Anglo-Egyptian force, which, on the 18th January, was concentrated at Kosheh, and returned to Cairo. It was now determined to fix the frontier of Egypt once more at Wady Halfa, and to this point all the troops and stores were withdrawn by the 15th April, not, however, without the loss of two steamers which were wrecked in trying to pa.s.s the Cataract. The British troops were sent back to a.s.souan, and the defence of Wady Halfa was thenceforth left entirely to the Egyptian soldiers.

As soon as the news reached Omdurman that the Anglo-Egyptian forces had retired there was great rejoicing, and fresh impetus was given to the northward movement. The Khalifa took steps to reinforce the various Emirs in command, and at the same time sent proclamations by the hands of emissaries to Egypt. These proclamations called upon the people of Upper and Lower Egypt "to rise as one man and destroy the Turks and infidels." They also announced that "the Khalifa of the Mahdi would shortly take Constantinople, Mecca, and all other parts of the world."

In pursuance of this programme, in the month of June the Dervish forces again began to advance on the Nile, and on the 15th occupied Akasheh once more, whilst a party advanced to Ambigol Wells and destroyed the railway between that point and Akasheh.

In July, the further carrying out of the project of invasion was suspended in consequence of the Khalifa receiving news that his emir Mohammed-es-Sherif had sustained a most serious defeat in Darfur.

For this, and other reasons, he was prevented from sending the reinforcements intended to his followers on the Nile. On 6th July, the commandant, Colonel Smith, reported from Wady Halfa that Mohammed-el-Kheir was retiring to Khartoum, and Wad-en-Nejumi was not coming to Dongola, whilst all the Dervishes were leaving that province and ma.s.sing at Khartoum. The Colonel added that "in this direction all heart appears to have died out of the movement."

In October, however, the situation took another turn, and General Stephenson, in a despatch to the British Government, reported that the force of the enemy in the Dongola district and to the north, including that on the way down from Berber, might be reckoned at from 7,000 to 10,000 fighting men, 1,500 of whom were armed with rifles; 5,000 of the number were already in Dongola and other places to the north. The force possessed two or three steamers and a fleet of native boats. The despatch stated that "a serious advance upon the frontier may be apprehended and should be guarded against."

On the nth November, Major-General the Hon. R. H. de Montmorency (now Lord Frankfort), commanding the British troops in Alexandria, was sent to take command of the troops at Wady Halfa.

On the 29th, the advanced guard of the enemy, under Nur-el-Kanzi, was at Abkeh, eight miles south of Wady Halfa and was estimated at about 2,000 men. The intention of the Dervishes was not to attack Wady Halfa at first, but to make a descent on the river at Argin, a few miles to the north of Halfa, thus cutting the communications, whilst the main body would besiege that place. To frustrate this design a fortified post was established at Argin, and also at Deberra, ten miles to the north of Halfa.

On the 30th, having first repaired the break which had been made in the railway, Colonel Chermside advanced with the Egyptian Cavalry, Camel Corps, and a battalion of infantry to the enemy's camp at Gemai, which he found deserted, and occupied it.

At daybreak on the 1st December, the main body, consisting of two and a half Egyptian battalions, under General de Montmorency, left Wady Halfa for Gemai, where it joined Chermside. The latter with his force then pushed on to the enemy's main position at Sarras, thirty miles south of Halfa. The Dervishes retreated across the desert before his advance, and he was only able to come up with a few stragglers. De Montmorency halted the main body at Gemai and went on with his staff to Sarras, where he arrived the same evening. His intention had been to break up Nur-el-Kanzi's force, but finding that the Dervishes refused to make a stand anywhere, after remaining at Sarras two days, the General returned with the whole force to Wady Halfa.

At the end of the year a band of Dervishes again gave trouble, occupying Sarras once more. From this point they threatened Wady Halfa and devastated the neighbouring country. They then retired, but only to return in April, 1887.

On the 27th April it was reported that the Emir Nur-el-Kanzi, with the advance guard of a formidable force, had occupied Sarras and pushed forward an outpost as far as Gemai.

Colonel Chermside, who commanded at Wady Halfa, at once despatched Major Rundle with 200 cavalry and two guns of the Camel Battery _en route_ to Sarras, with orders to march by night and to prevent the natives giving notice of the advance of the main body.

The 9th Soudanese Battalion, under Captain Borrow, and the 1st Egyptian Battalion, under Major Lloyd, moved out soon after, and early next morning concentrated at Abkah.

The cavalry were directed to push on, and at daylight to engage the enemy and keep him occupied until the arrival of the infantry. These instructions were ably carried out, and a block-house situated on the hills overlooking Sarras was seized, as well as the railway station and a block of buildings adjacent. This operation was performed under fire from another block-house on the hills to the eastward, held by the enemy's riflemen.

At 5.15 a.m. a cavalry patrol was pushed along the destroyed railway line, but before it had advanced a quarter of a mile it came across the main body of the Dervishes, and retired to the railway station, from behind which a heavy fire was now directed on the enemy's position.

Messages were at once sent back to Colonel Chermside, who was by this time advancing with all haste with the remainder of the column.

At 6.30 the two guns of the Camel Battery came up, and, after firing twenty rounds, breached the second block-house, which was then promptly stormed and taken. The guns were then turned on the enemy's main position, which was sh.e.l.led with satisfactory results.

Chermside, with the infantry, had by this time arrived, and the enemy having evacuated their camp and retired into a narrow ravine about 200 yards from the river, two companies were detached to turn the left of their position, the remainder being retained as support near the railway station.

The cavalry had been previously sent to take part in the turning movement, and succeeded in doing this simultaneously with the front attack which was now made, driving in with considerable loss some fifty Arabs. The enemy's second line, seeing the cavalry in their rear, made no attempt to join the first line, but made straight for the river and escaped. In the meantime, as the two detached companies had neared the enemy's left, the spearmen with wild yells rose from the ravine, and dashed down the bank on them. The shock was so great that the small Egyptian force was compelled to fall back on its supports, nevertheless fighting all the way. They were promptly reinforced, and again advanced.

The enemy contested every inch of the ground, fighting hand to hand, and falling almost to a man. Many of them were killed in the river, and others, in attempting to turn the left of the infantry, fell under the fire of the reserve of the fighting line. Here their leader, Nur-el-Kanzi, was killed.

At a quarter to 11 a.m. the enemy's whole position, with ten standards and a considerable quant.i.ty of arms and ammunition, was captured. Nearly their whole fighting force of 200 men was annihilated, whilst the Egyptian loss was but twenty-one killed and thirty wounded.

The Dervishes from the first were hopelessly outnumbered, and the fight was princ.i.p.ally interesting as being the first action fought by the modern Egyptian soldier independent of British support.

After the action the whole of the Egyptian troops withdrew to Wady Halfa, where for a short time they were allowed to enjoy peace and tranquillity.

This state of things was not destined to last. On the 18th June another descent was made on Sarras, to which its former inhabitants had returned. The Dervishes, on this occasion, contented themselves with plundering the houses, and carrying off the women and any other objects of value they could lay hands on, after which they again retired south.

At a council of emirs held at Omdurman early in August, it was decided to resume the advance on Egypt. By the end of the month, a force of 2,000 men, under the Emir Mohammed Ahmed-el-Hashim, left Ferket for Sarras, which, on the 27th September, was again occupied. On the 19th October the Dervish force at Sarras, having been joined by reinforcements from Dongola, amounted to 2,500 men. On the 25th a message was received from Khor-el-Musa, the outpost fort, four and a half miles from Wady Halfa, that a body of 1,000 Dervishes was in sight and marching on Halfa. Colonel Wodehouse, then in command, advanced with the mounted troops and came in view of the enemy watering their camels near the Abka Pa.s.s. The 9th Soudanese Regiment had meanwhile taken up a position on the hills three miles south of Khor Musa. The mounted force, having completed its object, prepared to fall back on the infantry. At this moment, it was sighted by the enemy's cavalry, which, followed by their infantry, approached and opened an ill-directed fire. Wodehouse's camels had difficulty in moving rapidly over the rocky ground, and delayed the retiring force. Taking advantage of this, the Dervishes dashed into the midst of the Egyptian mounted troops, and several hand-to-hand encounters took place. The retirement on the infantry supports was gradually effected, and the 9th Soudanese then checked and eventually drove them back with loss. The Egyptian casualties were one man killed and two wounded.

After this skirmish, the Dervish force retired to Gemai, which it adopted as a permanent outpost, the main body remaining at Sarras. The idea of a direct attack by the Mahdists on Wady Halfa seems to have been for the moment abandoned.

After a time the difficulty of keeping a large body, like that at Sarras, supplied with food became apparent to their leaders. Small-pox, too, broke out in their camp, and numbers of deaths occurred daily.

Under these untoward circ.u.mstances, and with the continued troubles in Darfur on his hands, the Khalifa was once more obliged to postpone the execution of his project of invasion.

On the 4th June, 1888, the last detachment of British troops, viz., one company of the Welsh Regiment, was withdrawn from a.s.souan, and the protection of the frontier was intrusted solely to the Egyptian army.

The skirmish in which Colonel Wodehouse defeated the enemy was followed by a series of desultory raids, not only in the vicinity of Wady Halfa, but at many points between that place and a.s.souan, raids which spread terror in the hearts of the villagers. The Egyptian troops, by establishing posts along the Nile and by patrolling the river by gunboats, did their best to repress and punish these forays. One of the most serious of these was the midnight capture and recapture of the Egyptian fort of Khor Musa on the 29th August, 1888. At this date, the Dervish force was still occupying Sarras, which had become a sort of central point for the raiders, and from this point the attack on the fort was directed. The fort itself was a native house on the river bank converted into a fortification.

In the darkness of the night, some 500 Dervishes arrived close to the fort, and a small party, detached from the main body, crept quietly up under the river bank unperceived until close under the walls. The sentry at the south-western corner, hearing a noise, challenged, and was immediately shot. The corporal of the guard, hearing the report of a rifle and a shout outside the walls, at once opened the western gate on the river, and was shot down. The a.s.sailants then streamed through the gate and killed the whole of the guard. The garrison, suddenly roused, turned out, and finding the south end of the fort full of the enemy, fought their way into the northern section. Here, for two hours, they made a stubborn resistance, firing from every available spot, though without much effect, the enemy being protected by the intervening walls.

The defence, thus far, had been conducted by a native major, who, on the first alarm, had telephoned to Wady Halfa for a.s.sistance. The news reached Colonel Wodehouse at 11.30 p.m., and, without delay, he despatched reinforcements by train, as well as a detachment of cavalry as a guard. The gunboat _Metemmeh_ also got under way, and at 1.30 a.m.

opened fire on the portion of the fort held by the enemy.

Lieutenant Mach.e.l.l, who arrived with the troops, posted his men in such a way as to prevent any possibility of the enemy escaping, and with fifty men crept stealthily round, until they arrived at the western gate, which had been left open. Here his men, rapidly forming up, fired a volley straight into the ma.s.s of the enemy collected inside. The latter, completely surprised, attempted to climb the wall, but only to be met at the point of the bayonet by the men waiting below to receive them. Mach.e.l.l then dashed in through the gate and, forming his men into a rough line, repulsed the a.s.sailants, who, finding their retreat cut off, fought with the energy of despair. Soon all within the adjoining inclosure were either killed or wounded, and the fort was again in the possession of the Egyptians. The bodies of eighty-five, mostly Baggara and Jaalin Arabs, were found in and around the fort, and many others fell in the line of retreat. The Egyptian loss was also severe, amounting to nineteen killed and thirty-four wounded.[145]

The reverse sustained by the Dervishes, on this occasion, was a serious discouragement to their leaders, whilst, at the same time, it gave increased confidence to the riverain population.

CHAPTER LVII.

WAD-EN-NEJUMI AND COLLAPSE OF THE INVASION.