CHAPTER XXVI.

THE WAR IN EGYPT, 1882-1885.

Engineer Staff in the Army of 1882-Murder of Captain Gill in the DesertBattle of Kassassin-Assault of the Lines of Tel-el-Kebir-Close of the War-Expedition to Suakin under Graham in 1884-Battle of El Teb and Relief of Tokar-Battle of Tamai-General Gordon at Kartoum-Expedition for his Relief-The Nile Voyage-The Desert March-Wilson's Expedition to Khartoum-The Voyage from Korti to Hamdab-Second Expeditionary Force to Suakin-Volunteer Engineers with the 10th Company-Disaster at El Tofrek-Conclusion of the War-Engineer's Rewards -War in Upper Burma-Capture of Mandalay-Alterations in the Corps since 1854.

THE war which broke out in Egypt in 1882, led before its termination to the sacrifice of one of the noblest spirits ever enrolled in the ranks of the Engineers. The death of Charles George Gordon, at Khartoum, forms a fitting climax to the military history of the Corps. It remains in this, the last Chapter of that history, to trace the share which the Engineers bore in the various stages of that struggle.

When Sir Garnet Wolseley was appointed in the summer of 1882 to command an army for active service in Egypt, the following Engineers were selected to join him :-Major-General Graham, to command the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division; Colonel C. Nugent, to be Commanding Royal Engineer, with the rank of Brigadier-General; Colonel Harrison, to be Assistant AdjutantGeneral to the Chief of the Staff; Lieutenant Childers, A.D.C. to Sir Garnet Wolseley; Major Hart, A.D.C. to General Graham; Major Fraser, to be Brigade-Major; and Captain S. Waller, A.D.C. to Brigadier-General Nugent; Lieutenant-Colonel H. H. Jones, Major Ardagh, Captain Gill, Captain G. S. Clarke, and Lieutenant Caillard, all for special service, and the following officers and men, with the Troops and Companies :

1st Division.-Colonel J. Drake, C.R.E., with Captain G. Barker as Adjutant, having under him the 24th Field Company, commanded by Captain C. Carey ; the other officers being Captain Dorward, Lieutenants Hellard, J. Campbell, and J. Č. Tyler.

2nd Division.-Lieutenant-Colonel J. Maitland, C.R.E., with Captain A. Green as Adjutant, having under him the 26th Field Company, commanded by Major Blood; the other officers being Captain Dickinson, Lieutenants Blackburn, Pollen, and Tuke.

The Engineers attached to the army as Corps Troops were the A or Pontoon Troop, commanded by Major Bond, the other officers being Lieutenants R. da C. Porter, Godsal, Pemberton, Irvine, and Sandbach; and the C or Telegraph Troop, commanded by Major Sir A. Mackworth, the other officers being Captain Whitmore, Lieutenants Hippisley, Foster, Bond, and Anstruther. The Field Park was under Captain Rochfort Boyd; the Railway Staff consisted of Major Wallace, Captain Scott, and Lieutenant Willock; and the 8th Railway Company under Captain Sidney Smith, the other officers being Lieutenants Vidal, DoppingHepenstal, and Huleatt; the 17th Company under Captain Hyslop, the other officers being Lieutenants Heath and A. Thomson; and the 18th Company under Major Salmond, with Captain Gordon, Lieutenants Mantell, Norris, and Winn.

These various Troops and Companies left England for Egypt in the months of July and August, 1882.*

They were shortly after reinforced by the following additional officers and men :

Major-General Wray, to be second in command at Alexandria; Lieutenant-Colonel Webber, A.Q.M.G. for Telegraphy; Captains Watson and Conder for special service; Colonel C. Warren and Lieutenants Burton and Haynes to be attached for duty under Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour; Lieutenant-Colonel

During the passage out, Lieutenant R. da C. Porter was accidentally killed by the fall of a spar on board ship in the Bay of Biscay. He was the only son of the writer, who may be pardoned for here quoting an extract from the Obituary Notice which appeared in the " Royal Engineer Journal" for October, 1882:"Lieutenant Porter was a very promising officer. Last year he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Engineers' Institute for the Prize Essay, written with great ability, on Warfare against Uncivilized Races; or, How to Fight greatly Superior Forces of an Uncivilized and Badly-Armed Enemy;" his service in the campaign in South Africa enabling him to support his opinions by the practical experience he had there acquired. . He was sent out to Natal in December, 1878, with the 5th Field Company, R.E., to join the Zulu Expeditionary Force, and served with Brigadier-General Glyn's column, and afterwards with Sir Evelyn Wood's flying column. After the conclusion of the war he went with his Company to Cape Town, and studied for the Staff College, and in the examination of 1880, while still at the Cape, he passed in first, having obtained 2,721 marks, the largest obtained by any officer who passed first at any of the examinations since 1872, the first at which officers of Royal Engineers competed." Captain H. B. Rich was appointed to the vacancy in the A Troop caused by his death.

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Sir C. Wilson and Major Chermside in a similar position under Sir E. Malet; Captain Gracey and Lieutenant Bennet to the Railway Corps; Lieutenant Leverson to the Commissariat Department; and the 21st Company under Captain Puzey, the other officers being Lieutenants Elrington and Cleeve.

An Indian Contingent was also added to the army, the Engineer branch of which consisted of the following officers :Colonel J. Browne, C.R.E., with Lieutenant Cather as Adjutant; Majors A. Hamilton, Armstrong, and W. Nicholson, Lieutenants Burn-Murdoch, Darling, Andrews-Speed, Baldwin, Lindley, Mason, Dickie, and Goodwyn, with the A and I Companies of Madras Sappers.

One of the first incidents of the campaign was the murder of Captain Gill, Professor Palmer, and Lieutenant Charrington, R.N., in the desert. The circumstances attending Gill's appointment, and those which led to his taking part with Professor Palmer in this journey, were thus narrated by Lord Northbrook, then First Lord of the Admiralty, at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, in November, 1882:

"In the meantime hostilities had broken out, and the moment that occurred I sent for Captain Gill and asked him if he would like to go to Admiral Hoskins, who was in command of the ships, to assist in the Intelligence Department. Capt. Gill, with that high spirit which was so well known, at once joyfully accepted the employment, and arrived at Suez a day or two after Professor Palmer. It must be understood that this was after hostilities had commenced but before the British troops had arrived at Alexandria, and before the Indian troops had arrived at Suez. Arabi had been receiving information by means of the telegraph which passed through Constantinople, crossing the Canal at Kantara, and going thence to Cairo. It was important to cut that to prevent Arabi having notice of the movements of our troops. Admiral Hoskins entrusted that duty to Capt. Gill, and Captain Gill went from Ismailia to Suez. He there found Professor Palmer, and with a very gallant officer, Lieutenant Charrington, they went into the desert, Capt. Gill with the intention of proceeding northwards to cut the telegraph wire, Professor Palmer and Lieut. Charrington intending to go to Nakhl to meet one of the Sheikhs and purchase camels. A few days after they started they met with their sad fate. That is the simple story of their employment in Egypt. The work which Capt. Gill undertook was one of great danger. To cross the desert, and to cut the telegraph at that time was a very dangerous enterprise, and I believe that Capt. Gill was well aware of the danger when he undertook it. I do not wish to dwell on this sad story, but we must all feel that these three men well represented the spirit of the country. There was a man like Professor Palmer sacrificing all his learning to the service of his country. Capt. Gill, a scientific soldier of considerable fortune of his own, ready to

go out at once upon any enterprise which could be of use to his country and the gallant young sailor going with them in a spirit well worthy of the distinguished officer whose Flag Lieutenant he was."

The actual details of the catastrophe were as follows:-They left Suez on August 8th, and the Well of Moses the next day. Rumours soon began to circulate that some mishap had occurred. The Admiralty became alarmed, and Colonel (now Sir Charles) Warren, R.E., whose experience and qualifications for dealing with an inquiry among natives were highly esteemed, was sent out at the end of the month to advise and assist Admiral Hewitt. Warren at once proceeded on the search, but it was not until October 20th that he could report their having been murdered on August 10th.

In an article on Captain Gill, which appeared in the "Times" of November 2nd, 1882, the following passages occur :

"It will be no easy matter to replace him in the Intelligence Department, where he had been employed for the last six years, and for the duties of which he possessed special qualifications. Owing to the confidential nature of the work on which he was employed it is not possible that the great value of the information he has at various times and at great risks collected can ever be known to the public, but it has been fully appreciated by those for whom he worked so zealously." "Not only will his untimely death be grievously felt by his many personal friends, but the State has lost in him an experienced, able, and trusted servant, whose services could ill be spared at any time, but the loss of which will be particularly felt during the present unsettled state of affairs in the East."

At

On the arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley at Alexandria, on August 15th, he took steps for the immediate transport of the troops from that station to Port Said, and thence through the Suez Canal to Ismailia. This was accomplished so quickly that the enemy were taken completely by surprise, and Ismailia occupied without resistance on the evening of August 20th. As soon as the troops had disembarked, Major-General Graham, with a portion of his brigade, was pushed to the front, and by August 26th had reached Kassassin Lock on the fresh water canal. this point he was attacked in force on the 28th. He had then with him two battalions of the line, some Mounted Infantry, and four guns. Four miles in rear of him, at Mahsameh, MajorGeneral Drury Lowe was encamped with the Household Cavalry and the 7th Dragoon Guards. Although greatly outnumbered Graham held his ground, and succeeded in checking all attempts of the enemy to dislodge him until the arrival of the heavy cavalry from Mahsameh, when he was able to assume the offensive. He then ordered a charge of the whole of Drury Lowe's

force, which had with it four guns of Horse Artillery. By this brilliant movement he succeeded in driving the enemy from their position, riding through their guns, scattering their infantry, and inflicting a very severe loss. The result was that the Egyptian army, which had been led by Arabi Pasha in person, fell back on its original position, five miles in front of Kassassin.

This was the first action in the campaign. The troops were under the command of an Engineer General, and the post they occupied an extremely exposed and critical one. That they held their ground so successfully till reinforced, and that then the enemy received such a severe lesson, was a proof of the skilful handling of his brigade by Graham.

The main portion of the army was soon after advanced to Kassassin, and preparations made for an assault on the Egyptian position at Tel-el-Kebir. Owing to transport difficulties this took some time to complete, and meanwhile Graham was once more attacked in his forward position. The second attempt was not more successful than the first, and the Egyptians again retired within their lines, which by this time had been greatly developed and strengthened.

On the night of September 12th Wolseley made his celebrated march across the desert. The Engineer operations in connection with this advance, involving telegraph, railway, and pontooning work, are all fully detailed in Chapters II. and III., Part II., under the heading of Royal Engineer Troops, and Companies. The only other portion which requires to be alluded to is the share taken in the assault by the brigade commanded by Graham. In the official account of the battle the movements of that brigade are given in much detail, and from it the following extracts are taken:

was gone.

A long line of rifle fire suddenly breaking out from intrenchments lying still in the obscurity of the western horizon, and the rapid flashes of artillery from the redoubts made manifest that all chance of effecting the surprise of the enemy's position on his left At a distance of 600 yards from the works, the fire of the enemy having become very heavy, and its effect making itself rapidly more apparent, the advance in line was changed to attack formation, and the assault pushed home to the works. The light had now much increased, but the heavy fire maintained by the enemy had covered the ground in front of his lines with a dense cloud of rifle smoke, which, drifting slowly before the light westerly breeze, had hidden the advancing lines of the 2nd Brigade, and enabled them to reach the edge of the trenches with a loss, small when compared to the volume and rapidity of the fire directed against them. General Officer commanding the brigade" (Graham) "speaks in his report

The