At six o’clock, on the evening of the 6th of June, the three companies of the Eighty-sixth commenced their march, with only three pints of water per man; the distance in a straight line, was only fifty-eight miles; but the Arab Sheiks, furnished for guides by the Vizier, and made responsible for the safe passage of the detachment, represented that a detour of ten or twelve miles would be necessary to prevent the French intercepting the detachment.
After marching two hours over a hard sandy country, Captain Cuyler, Lieutenant Morse, and Lieutenant Goodfellow, were taken so ill as to be unable to proceed. At eleven the troops halted for two hours, then resumed the march until seven in the morning, when they again halted, having performed twenty-six miles of the journey. The day became so intolerably hot, that Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd ordered the tents to be pitched to shelter the men from the sun; but at ten o’clock the guides stated it was necessary to march, as the camels would be so debilitated by the heat, if they rested on the sand, as to require water before they could move again; but if kept in motion they would not be affected in so fatal a degree; adding, if the soldiers slept, the camel drivers might steal the water, which they feared would be found scarcely sufficient. The guides being responsible for the safety of the detachment, Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd acceded to their wishes; the tents were struck at eleven, and the march resumed; the thermometer being at 109. Captain Cuyler soon fainted again, and fell from his horse, and a camel and two men were left to attend him and bring him forward. The men beginning to drop fast in the rear, Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd halted about one o’clock, cut his own baggage from the camels, which example was followed by all the officers, as many men as could be carried were then mounted on the camels, and the whole proceeded. At two o’clock a camseen, or south wind began to blow, the thermometer rose to 116, and afterwards much higher; the officers and soldiers were seized with dreadful sensations:—some were affected with giddiness and loss of sight, and others fell down gasping for breath, and calling for drink. At four o’clock, Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd was forced to halt. The skins had been cracked by the sun, and the water had become of a thick consistence; the men who drank it were seized with vomiting and violent pains. The officers had brought with them some Madeira wine, which they divided among the soldiers; a proportion of spirits were mixed with the remaining water, which was issued to the men, accompanied with the warning, that every drop was in their own possession, half the journey had not been performed, and on their own prudence, in reserving a portion in their canteens, must depend whether or not they should be enabled to accomplish the remainder of the distance.
Between six and seven o’clock the wind ceased; as the sun declined, the air became more temperate, and the detachment being a little refreshed, though still a languor pervaded the whole, the order for marching was given at seven o’clock. Seventeen men, unable to travel, were left on the ground, and camels were left to bring them forward as soon as they could be moved.
During the march several officers and soldiers experienced an extraordinary sensation of seeing horses, camels, and all kinds of animals, moving with rapid transition before them, which false perception their judgment could not correct. At eleven the detachment halted; the night was excessively dark, and the officers and soldiers were so exhausted, that unconquerable sleep seized upon all.
At four o’clock the guides awoke Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd, and the soldiers formed in order of march with difficulty, a heavy dew having fallen upon them, and their limbs being benumbed with cold. The march was, however, resumed; the south wind began to blow at the same hour as on the preceding day, but the men were not affected in the same severe degree; and by strenuous exertions the detachment arrived at the springs of Elhanka, between four and five o’clock in the evening of the same day, when the joy experienced by every one was very great. By eight o’clock all the camels had come up, and the men, who, from giddiness had fallen from their backs, joined during the night. Eight of the seventeen men left behind, joined on the 9th of June, and the other nine perished in the Desert.
No man had partaken of food after quitting Suez, as it would have increased the thirst, and the rations of salt pork were thrown away on the first morning. On arriving at the springs, the soldiers partook of the water with caution; but two officers’ horses having broke loose drank till they died on the spot. During the march of seventy miles, no vegetation, bird, or beast, had been seen.
After halting at the springs of Elhanka until the evening of the 9th of June, the detachment commenced its march in the dark, to prevent being discovered by the enemy, and at eleven o’clock on the following day, it joined the Turkish army, encamped at Chobra, under the Grand Vizier; the British, under Lieut.-General Hutchinson, being encamped on the other side of the river Nile. The Eighty-sixth pitched their tents with Colonel Stuart’s division, which was with the Vizier’s army; the soldiers had suffered the loss of their uniforms, which had been burnt in consequence of the plague, and they had been forced to abandon their knapsacks on the march; being very fine men, their appearance excited great interest. On the 16th, the three officers left behind on the march, joined; they had returned to Suez, and afterwards passed the Desert with a caravan.
Advancing towards the metropolis of modern Egypt, the army made preparations for investing that extensive fortress; but on the 22nd of June a flag of truce arrived from the French Commandant, General Belliard, who agreed to surrender Cairo, on condition of himself and garrison being sent back to France.
On the surrender of Cairo, the three companies of the Eighty-sixth marched into the citadel, which the French had evacuated a few hours previously. On the same day they took possession of Fort Ibrahim.