By this time the enemy were coming up in great strength from their camps. The marines were now unsupported, for Colonel Thackwell, who commanded the other column, had received orders to advance to the White House. There were two white houses on the canal, and he stopped at the first, whereas the second was the one intended; the marines having pushed on farther, were therefore entirely without support, and the enemy, massing in great numbers, threatened them on both flanks. The order was therefore given to fall back, but in order to check the enemy while the movement was being carried out, Major Donald with 50 marines advanced boldly close up to the Egyptian position, and kept up so hot a fire that the enemy’s advance was checked, while the main body of the marines retired steadily across the fields to the embankment, keeping perfect order in spite of the tremendous fire which was poured into them, and bringing off every wounded man as he fell.
The enemy had now brought up several batteries of artillery, which opened from a distance, and under this cover pressed hotly upon the marines; these, however, retired in alternate companies, turning round and facing their pursuers, and aided by the musketry fire of the sailors in the train as well as by their machine guns and forty-pounder.
Darkness was fast coming on, and as the batteries at the waterworks now opened fire upon the Egyptians, the latter ceased to press the retiring troops, who withdrew without further molestation to their position at Ramleh.
When the main body of troops from England reached Alexandria, with Sir Garnet Wolseley in supreme command, steps were taken to remove the scene of war to Ismailia—half-way along the Suez Canal—in order to advance upon Cairo from that place, and to avoid the necessity for attacking the formidable works which Arabi had erected facing Alexandria. The plan was kept a profound secret: the troops were placed on board the transports, and, escorted by the fleet, steamed away to Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Canal, and then up the canal to Ismailia.
In spite of the efforts of the sailors, upon whom the burden of the operation of disembarkation fell, there was considerable delay before the troops were in a position to advance, and Arabi was able to collect a large army at Tel-el-Kebir, on the line by which the army would have to advance. While the preparations for a forward movement were going on, a portion of the British troops pushed forward; and a brigade, among whom was a battalion of the marines, occupied Kassassin, a few miles distant from the Egyptian position.
On the 10th of September, Arabi, seeing how small was the force which had taken up its post near him, determined to attack them, with the intention of crushing them first, and then advancing and destroying one by one the small bodies of British troops at the posts on the line down to Ismailia. He advanced with a powerful force, and so quickly did he push forward that the British had scarcely time to get under arms when the Egyptian shell began to fall fast in the camp. The little force fell in with the greatest coolness, and the marines and 60th Rifles advanced in skirmishing order to meet the vastly superior numbers of the Egyptians. So staunchly and steadily did they fight, that they were able to keep their assailants at bay until the English cavalry came up from the next post, and, falling upon the Egyptians in flank, completely routed them. At the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, where Arabi’s army was completely defeated and the rebellion finally crushed, the marines, who had hitherto borne the brunt of all the fighting which had taken place, were not in the front line of attack, and bore but little share in the fighting, which was done almost entirely by the Highland Brigade.
Campaign against the Mahdi—1883-1885.
After the English had broken up the Egyptian army, and had, for a time at least, practically assumed the direction of affairs there, they found themselves face to face with an insurrection under a fanatic who assumed the title of the Mahdi. The followers of this man had overrun the whole of the Soudan, shutting up the various Egyptian garrisons in the towns they occupied. One of the chiefs of the Mahdi, named Osman Digma, was threatening the port of Suakim, on the Red Sea, and had besieged the Egyptian garrisons in the towns of Sinkat and Tokar. Admiral Hewett was ordered to protect Suakim, and with the Ranger, Sphinx, Euryalus, and Decoy took his station off that town.
Several times Osman Digma’s followers came close up to the place, but, whenever they did so, the bluejackets and marines from the four English ships were landed, and the men-of-war opened a fire over the town upon the ground which the rebels must cross to reach it. Thus they succeeded in defending Suakim from any serious attack until Baker Pasha, who was in command of a miscellaneous force known as the Egyptian Police, came down with some thousands of newly-raised troops. These men had received but little drill, and were scarce worthy the name of soldiers; but, as the garrisons of Sinkat and Tokar still held out, although sorely pressed by hunger, Baker Pasha determined to make an effort to relieve them, although he and his officers were well aware of the wholly untrustworthy nature of the force at his command. There were plenty of English troops doing nothing in Egypt, and had but one regiment been sent down to Baker Pasha it would have been worth all the armed rabble he had under him; but the English Government could not at the time bring itself to acknowledge its responsibility for the safety of the Egyptian garrisons.
Baker’s force was conveyed down the coast to Trinkatat; Admiral Hewett with some of the ships going down with him. The force was landed and marched towards Tokar; on the way it was attacked by the tribesmen who had embraced the cause of Osman Digma. The undisciplined levies of Baker broke at once when attacked; their English officers fought gallantly; many were killed, and the greater portion of the Egyptians massacred almost unresistingly; the rest fled to Trinkatat. The rebels, fearing to come within range of the guns of the English ships, ceased from their pursuit, and the survivors of Baker’s force were able to get on board the vessels in safety.