Naval battles of the world

by Edward Shippen

The city of Alexandria, named from its founder, Alexander the Great, has experienced many vicissitudes. The modern city is built on a peninsula, which was formerly the Island of Pharos, and on the isthmus connecting it with the mainland. The ancient city was on the mainland, where its ruins cover a vast extent of surface.

Founded nearly three and a half centuries before the Christian era, it rose, under the liberal and beneficent sway of the Ptolemies, to great eminence as a seat of learning, as well as of commerce. Under the Roman Empire it continued to be a very splendid and influential city, second only to Rome herself, and engrossing the lucrative traffic with India. Its library was one of the wonders of the world—400,000 volumes being in the Museum, and 300,000 in the temple of Serapis. The former was accidentally destroyed by fire during the war with Julius Cæsar; and the latter was burnt by command of Caliph Omar, upon the Mohammedan conquest, in the year 640. After the discovery by the Portuguese of the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, its commerce fell off, and its population dwindled to a few thousands. Gradually it revived again, and for a long time has been the most important commercial city of the Levant, with a very large foreign as well as native population. But, to return: On July 6th, 1882, Admiral Seymour sent an ultimatum to Arabi and his council, which had the effect of stopping work upon the fortifications for a short time, and produced a promise that such work should not be renewed.

But on the following night a powerful electric light, on board the ironclad Alexandra, of the English squadron, disclosed the fact that, under cover of the darkness, guns were being mounted on the forts commanding the entrance to the great port, or western harbor—there being two harbors, one east and one west of the isthmus. New guns were placed in position on the north side, also, on the peninsula where the Harem, or residence of the Khedive is situated, and which forms the protection to the main anchorage. Earthworks were also being thrown up there by a very large force.

Seymour telegraphed these facts to the British government, summoned a council of his officers, and made preparations for battle. He then sent a demand to the Egyptian authorities for the surrender of the forts to him within twenty-four hours, with a view to disarmament, under penalty of bombardment.

There was a French fleet in the port, which had been ordered to take no part in any aggressive measures; and there were also naval vessels of several other nations, among which were some of our own, the commanders of which had been very active in affording refuge to Americans resident in Egypt, as well as to citizens of other countries who were not represented by men-of-war.

The French fleet, seeing hostilities imminent, got under way, and steamed out into the offing, followed by the other foreign men-of-war and merchant vessels. Many of these were crowded with refugees, but there were left in the city a large number of Greeks, Italians, Maltese, and Syrians.

The British ships then proceeded to take up their stations before the forts, and a panic ensued among the inhabitants, who quitted the city, as did most of the Europeans who had remained. This they effected with great difficulty, and there was a prospect of the renewal of the massacre which had taken place some weeks before. The cash chest of the European Director of Customs, which were managed for the benefit of the foreign bondholders, was seized by Arabi, but the officials managed to get away.

On the 10th of July a deputation of Egyptian notables came off to the English flag-ship, to know the meaning of these warlike preparations. They had not heard of the ultimatum, which had not reached them, by some blunder, whether on the part of the English or the natives does not appear; and, indeed, the document was brought off to them while they were still on board the ship, by messengers who had been searching for them. They then went on shore, to consider it.

Very early next morning, the 11th of July, a deputation of Egyptian officials came off to say that they were willing to dismount the guns of the forts themselves. This would appear to be all that the English Admiral had originally demanded; but whether he suspected a ruse, or whether he was determined to take offensive measures at any rate, he refused to entertain the proposal, saying that the time for negotiation had expired.

At seven in the morning the first shot was fired from the Alexandra, and eight English ironclads, of the heaviest description, with five heavy gun-boats, opened upon the different forts. These were the heaviest guns and the thickest armor, by far, that had ever been in action. To mention only one, the Inflexible had four 81-ton guns, and armor from sixteen to twenty-four inches thick, and measures 11,400 tons.