THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN. BATTLE OF EL TEB. February 29, 1884.

The Khedive, Tewfik, had been reinstated in Egypt, the English army of occupation had been reduced, and preparations made for the evacuation of the country, when in 1883, 611a formidable insurrection against the Egyptian rule broke out in the Soudan. It was headed by a fanatic who assumed the title of the Mahdi, or Messiah, and who was regarded by the Soudanese as the successor of Mahomet, and their deliverer from the yoke of the Egyptians. An Egyptian army sent against him under Hicks Pasha, was almost annihilated on November 3rd., and his followers then overran the Soudan, and besieged the Egyptian garrisons in the towns they occupied. One of the chiefs of the Madhi, called Osman Digma, had invested the towns of Sinkat and Tokar, and was threatening the port of Suakin, on the Red Sea. Admiral Sir W. Hewitt was ordered to protect Suakin, and with the “Ranger,” “Spynx,” “Decoy,” and “Euryalus,” took his station off the town, landed a body of seamen and marines, and effectually defended it against Osman Digma and his followers. Valentine Baker Pasha, with an ill-disciplined force of 5000 Egyptians, was then sent to relieve the beleagured garrisons. He landed at Trinkitat, and marched towards Tokar, but was attacked by the tribesmen of Osman Digma at El Teb, on February 1st., and disastrously defeated, with the loss of more than half his men; nearly all the British officers accompanying him being slain.

The Egyptian garrison of Sinkat, finding themselves without hope of relief, and their provisions exhausted, then gallantly marched out, and endeavoured to cut their way to the coast, but were surrounded, and exterminated, not a man escaping to tell the tale.

English troops were then sent from Egypt and Aden, and a force was assembled at Suakin under Major-General Graham, which proceeded by sea to Trinkitat, and disembarked there February 23rd. A day or two before, the garrison of Tokar surrendered and joined the enemy. By February 26th., most of the stores being landed, the bulk of the troops marched out of Trinkitat and encamped at Fort Baker, about two miles on the road towards Tokar, where a supply of food and water for three days had been provided. The 65th. regiment having arrived from Aden, the next morning, February 29th., the advance towards Osman Digma’s position at El Teb began in earnest. Numbered roughly, the column 612consisted of about 4000 men. The advance was made in a hollow square, the transport animals and hospital equipment being in the centre. In front was the 75th. Highlanders; in rear the 42nd.; on the right the 89th. and 60th. Rifles; on the left the 65th. Royal Marine Artillery, and Light Infantry. Intervals were left at the angles for the guns and gatlings; the Naval Brigade of one hundred and sixty-two men, under Commander Rolfe, of the “Euryalus,” occupying the front and the Royal Artillery the rear angles. Two squadrons of the 10th. and 19th. Hussars were in the front and on the flanks, the rest of the cavalry in the rear, under Colonel Stewart. With the troops were Admiral Sir W. Hewitt, General Baker Pasha, in charge of the Intelligence Department, and Colonel F. Burnaby. The square advanced over the track taken by Baker’s ill-fated troops a few weeks previously, whose bodies lay about in hundreds, polluting the air. The position of the enemy was on a low ridge, marked by a number of banners, and at several points along the line, which extended nearly a mile, guns could be seen placed. As the troops neared the enemy, who were seen to be in great strength, General Graham determined to turn their position and take it in reverse. The square continued to march obliquely past the left front of the enemy, when a sharp fire of musketry broke out, and two Krupp guns opened upon it with case shot and shell. This was about 11 o’clock. The square halted, the men ordered to lie down, and four guns of the Royal Artillery and the machine guns were brought into action. The Krupp guns which had been captured from Baker’s force, and were now worked by Egyptian artillerymen from Tokar, were well handled, many men were struck, and General Baker wounded in the face by a piece of a shell; but the machine guns of the Naval Brigade poured such a stream of bullets upon them, that the two guns were silenced, being taken in reverse, and the gunners killed, or driven from them. Then the order was given to advance, the bagpipes struck up, the men sprang to their feet with a cheer, and went straight at the enemy’s position. From every bush and pit the Arabs leaped up, and rushed on the advancing troops. The brunt of their attack fell on the 42nd., the 65th., and the Naval Brigade. Swept away 613by the deadly fire of the machine guns and rifles, the Soudanese came on again with their spears and cross-hilted swords, in groups of twenty and thirty, and sometimes alone, but not one broke through the line of bayonets. The Cavalry then swept round the right flank of the square, and charged in three lines, over the broken ground, swarming with Arabs; who crouching among the scrub, hamstrung the horses as they passed over them, and then speared the dismounted troopers.

In this conflict Major Slade, Lieutenants Probyn and Freeman, were killed; and Colonel Barrow, commanding the 19th. Hussars, severely wounded, and his life only saved by the gallantry of three of his men. The position of the enemy was carried, their guns captured and turned against them, but they still fiercely contested every foot of ground till the village of El Teb, with its wells, were taken by the Highlanders; when they gave up the contest and sullenly retired in the direction of Tokar. The British loss was thirty killed, including four officers, and about one hundred and sixty officers and men wounded, several of whom, including Lieutenant Royds, of H.M.S. “Carysfort,” afterwards died. Colonel Burnaby had his horse shot under him, and a bullet through one of his arms. The loss of the Arabs was over two thousand, and four Krupp guns, two brass howitzers, and a Gatling gun were captured. The next day, Tokar, eleven miles distant, was occupied without opposition, and a quantity of rifles and ammunition destroyed. The force then returned to Trinkitat, and re-embarked for Suakin.

The troops engaged at El Teb were the 10th. and 19th. Hussars; 6th. Battery First Brigade Royal Artillery; 26th. Company Royal Engineers; the 42nd., 65th., 1st. Battalion 60th. Rifles, 75th., 89th. Foot; a Battalion of Royal Marine Artillery and Light Infantry; and the Naval Brigade.

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