The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885 Part 13

The same day it was found necessary to re-embark the Greek marines who had been landed to restore order, without, however, being very successful. The Americans and the others, excepting the Germans, likewise re-embarked. The Germans remained on sh.o.r.e some days later, and were most useful.

On the 16th fresh fires broke out in the town, and a party of Bedouins, 150 strong, appeared at Gabari Gate, bent upon looting. They succeeded in capturing a donkey, when they were fired on by a midshipman of the _Alexandra_ and twelve seamen, and two of their number were killed.

On the 17th further reinforcements arrived. The _Tamar_ arrived with 1,000 marines from Cyprus. The _Agincourt_ and _Northumberland_ (ironclads) arrived from Port Sad with the 38th (South Staffordshire) Regiment, 860 strong, and a battalion of the 60th Rifles, 1,700 in all.

The _Salamis_, with General Sir Archibald Alison and staff, also arrived, and the General a.s.sumed the command of the land forces, now numbering 3,686 men.

On the same day, Commander Maude, of the _Temeraire_, rode out to within 300 yards of Arabi's position at Kafr Dowar. At Millaha Junction, Commander Maude found several human bodies lying about in various stages of decomposition. There were signs of loot in all directions, and the bodies were evidently those of looters who had in their turn been robbed by the soldiers.

The rebel camp was reported to consist of 6,000 men, with six batteries of rifled guns, one battery of Gatlings, and 300 marine artillery, besides Bedouins. They were intrenching themselves behind earthworks on the line of railway.

The Khedive now announced that Arabi had been suspended from his functions as Minister of War. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in communicating to the Admiral the dismissal of Arabi, stated that "the publication of the Decree was deferred for fear of seeing reproduced in Cairo and other towns the disorder which had taken place in Alexandria."

On the 18th, the troopship _Orontes_ arrived from Malta, but through some unaccountable blundering of the authorities, she came without a single soldier.

By this time order was beginning to be re-established in Alexandria; the fires, too, had either burnt themselves out or been extinguished. The Egyptian Post Office was reopened in the town, and the work of clearing the streets was proceeded with rapidly. For this purpose many natives and others out of employment were utilized.

The first day's work in street-clearing was marked by the first public execution. A negro, who had been caught setting fire to some houses, was, after a court-martial, tied to a tree in the Place Mehemet Ali, and shot by a party of sailors. The people too began to return to the town.

These, however, required to be watched, as they were almost to a man Arabists, and ready to resume the work of incendiarism and plunder on the first opportunity. Looters were still to be found lurking in odd corners, notably in the Minet-el-Ba.s.sel quarter, where there were stores containing sugar and grain.

The sanitary condition of the town now began to give rise to apprehension. Disagreeable odours, indicating the presence of dead bodies, were perceived proceeding from many of the houses. These were, no doubt, the victims of the pillagers, left to lie where they fell.

On the 18th the land defence of the city was definitely a.s.sumed by the army, a.s.sisted at the Rosetta Gate by marines from the ships, and elsewhere by the bluejackets with their Gatling guns.

At this period it was found that the supply of provisions in Alexandria was running short, and steps had to be considered for stopping the return of the European fugitives.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SITUATION.

On the 19th July, Dervish Pasha, the Sultan's Envoy, whose pacifying mission to Egypt had so signally failed, left Alexandria for Constantinople.

On the 20th a proclamation was issued by Admiral Seymour, with the permission of the Khedive. It announced that "Orders had been given to officers commanding patrols to shoot any person taken in the act of incendiarism; that any person taken in the act of pillage would be sent to the Zaptieh to be tried and punished; that any person taken a second time for the same offence would be shot; and that no person would be allowed to enter or leave the town after sunset."

On the 23rd three natives and one Greek were shot for incendiarism.

It may be interesting to know how things were going on in the interior.

Omar Pasha Loutfi, Governor of Alexandria, returning from Cairo, reported that he had seen Europeans ma.s.sacred, and their houses pillaged, at Damanhour, Tantah, and Mehalleh. The Governor also stated that he had seen a European and his wife murdered at the Tookh Station, half-an-hour distant by rail from Cairo.

According to an inquiry made by the Prefect of Police at Tantah, the number of Europeans murdered, and subsequently buried, in that town, amounted to fifty-one, and there were about an equal number ma.s.sacred and thrown into the ca.n.a.l. At Kafr Zayat, six persons were killed. Ten Greeks and three Jews were murdered at Benha. Disturbances also occurred at Zag-a-zig, but no persons were killed there, although one was wounded. At Galioub, a family was taken out of the railway train, put under the carriages, and crushed by the wheels. The inspector of the "Cadastre" at Mehalleh Kebir reported that fifteen Europeans were killed there. At Kafr Dowar also some Europeans were ma.s.sacred. The exact number is not known. Five Europeans were killed at Mehalla-Abou-Ali.

In Cairo, Omar Loutfi found that the greatest excitement and panic prevailed. The Prefects of Menoufieh and Garbieh, and the Mudir (or Governor) of Galioubieh, were imprisoned in the Citadel for obeying the Khedive.

A general Council had been summoned at the Ministry of the Interior to consider the question of continuing the military preparations. It was attended by about a hundred Pashas, Ulemas, and merchants. After a number of violent speeches against the Khedive, the Coptic Patriarch remarked that the a.s.sembly had as yet heard only one side of the question, viz., that of Arabi, and that before coming to any decision it was necessary to hear the Khedive's side as well. The views of the Coptic Patriarch were adopted by the majority of the a.s.sembly, which proceeded to nominate a delegation.

The delegation consisted of Ali Pasha Moubarek (a former Minister) and five others, who were directed to proceed to Alexandria to see the Khedive, and ask His Highness what truth there was in the charges of the Arabists; they were also directed to ascertain whether all the Ministers were really in prison, as had been stated.

As regards the rebel military preparations, Mahmoud Pasha Sami had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army corps stationed in the neighbourhood of the Suez Ca.n.a.l. Arabi demanded that one-sixth of the male population of every province should be sent to Kafr Dowar. All old soldiers of every description were called upon to serve again, and horses and provisions were everywhere requisitioned for the army.

"Arabi's chief strength," wrote Mr. Cartwright, the Acting British Consul-General, "lay in his unscrupulous and barbarous mode of warfare."

At the moment, there was such a terrible dread among the officials at the Palace of what might happen to their property in Cairo and elsewhere, that the Khedive's action was paralyzed, and His Highness was deterred from denouncing Arabi as a rebel by his unwillingness to incur the consequences of Arabi's retaliation. At an interview with the Khedive, Mr. Cartwright endeavoured to represent to him the moral effect which such a denunciation would produce, and the encouragement it would afford to those who remained faithful to His Highness.

On the 22nd the Khedive published a Decree dismissing Arabi from his post of Minister of War, and proclaiming him a rebel. Omar Loutfi was appointed in his place. The reasons for Arabi's dismissal as set forth in the Decree were the insufficient resistance offered to the British Fleet, the loss of 400 guns, allowing the English to land without resistance, the retreat to Kafr Dowar, and his disobedience in not coming to the Khedive when summoned.

Considering the relations existing between the Khedive and the British forces at this time, the Decree, issued at a period when Tewfik was no longer under any sort of coercion, is as curious a specimen of an Oriental doc.u.ment as generally comes to light. The proclamation itself may be regarded as a reply to one issued by Arabi against the Khedive, and transmitted to the Governors of the various provinces in Egypt.

On the 26th, Arabi telegraphed to the Sultan protesting his fidelity to the Khalifate, and saying, "That being provoked into a war, he was in possession of all that was necessary to overcome his enemies, thanks to the Divine a.s.sistance." He added, "That he did not believe that, as the enemies of his country and religion a.s.serted, he would find Ottoman troops on his path, which would place him under the cruel necessity of treating as enemies his brethren in the faith."

Ali Pasha Moubarek succeeded in reaching Alexandria. He reported that at Kafr Dowar large numbers of soldiers were flocking to Arabi from the villages, arms were being distributed to all comers, and a total force of 30,000 men had been got together. Raouf Pasha, however, who came from the camp a few days later, gave the number of Arabi's men as only 15,000, and related that much sickness prevailed amongst them.

On the 3rd August the official journal of Cairo published the decision of a great National Council of the week before, to the effect that--

"In consequence of the occupation of Alexandria by foreign troops, of the presence of the English squadron in Egyptian waters, and finally of the att.i.tude taken up by Arabi Pasha for the purpose of repulsing the enemy, Arabi Pasha was to be upheld as Minister of War and Marine, intrusted with the general command of the Egyptian army, and full authority in all that concerned military operations, and that the orders of the Khedive and his Ministers would be null and void."

The doc.u.ment bore the signatures of the three Princes Ibrahim, Ahmed, and Kamil (cousins of the Khedive), of the Sheikh of the El Azhar Mosque, of the Grand Cadi of Egypt, of the Coptic Patriarch, of the Grand Cadi of Cairo, besides those of the Ulemas and Judges, and in fact all the notabilities left in Cairo.

On the 19th July, at the request of the Foreign Office, additional troops were ordered to Malta and Cyprus to bring up the forces there to 15,000 men; and the next day the British Cabinet had so far realized the gravity of the situation as to decide on the despatch of an English expedition to Egypt, with or without the consent of the Powers.

The vote of credit for the expedition, 2,300,000, was asked in Parliament on the 24th July, Mr. Gladstone carefully explaining that the country "_was not at war_."

The Scots Guards sailed for Alexandria on the 30th July, the head of a column of ships and regiments which from that time until the occupation of the Suez Ca.n.a.l on the 20th August never ceased to stream towards its ultimate point of destination.

The force was originally fixed at 21,200 men, composed as follows:--Cavalry, 2,400; infantry, 13,400; artillery, 1,700; hospital and other non-combatant services, 3,700, with a reserve of 3,100, to sail at a later period. The entire force was to be under the command of General Sir Garnet Wolseley, G.C.B., with General Sir John Adye, K.C.B., as second in command, and Lieutenant-Generals G. H. Willis, C.B., and Sir E. B. Hamley as divisional commanders.

One hundred men of the 24th Middles.e.x (Post Office) Volunteers were chosen to accompany the forces and take charge of the postal arrangements during the campaign.[36]

Sir Garnet Wolseley's instructions were to take command of the army ordered for service in Egypt in support of the authority of the Khedive to suppress a military revolt in that country. He was told that Her Majesty's Government did not wish to fetter his discretion as to the particular military operations which might be necessary, but that the main object of the expedition was to re-establish the power of the Khedive. He was empowered, after successful operations against Arabi and those in arms against the Khedive, to enter into any military convention which the circ.u.mstances might warrant, but to make no arrangements involving a political settlement.

In despatching the British expedition, Mr. Gladstone's Government made a final plunge in the direction which they had from the first wished to avoid. No one can say that their intervention came too soon.

The Khedive on the 19th had sent for Sir Auckland Colvin, who was the right-hand man of the Acting British Consul-General, and begged him to urge Her Majesty's Government to take further action without delay. He pointed out that it was most necessary, as Arabi's power had become so great as to spread terror and consternation in the minds of all the natives. His possession of the country, and especially of Cairo, His Highness added, left at his mercy the families and property of all who remained loyal to the Khedive. His Highness concluded by saying he should be glad to receive an intimation as to the steps which were contemplated. Those steps, as has been seen, culminated in the despatch of the British expedition.

The means by which the British Government was gradually induced to adopt a resolute att.i.tude in regard to Egypt, and the degrees by which it arrived at a decision, will appear later on.

The general feeling of uneasiness at Alexandria was augmented by Omar Loutfi's report. It was further known that Arabi's forces were daily increasing, and scouts ascertained that his outposts had been advanced in the direction of the town. Repeated rumours of intended attacks from time to time prevailed, and scarcely a night pa.s.sed without an alarm of one kind or another.

The British authorities now began to employ themselves seriously in looking to the defences of the town, and on the 20th Major Ardagh and the engineers proceeded to repair the drawbridges, to mend the walls at Kom-el-Dyk, to mount guns at Rosetta Gate, to secure the railway station, and to place Gatlings in position. Three 9-pounder rifled guns were mounted in Fort Kom-el-Dyk, as part of the permanent defences of the city, and manned by bluejackets from the fleet.

On the 19th, a brisk wind fanned the embers of some of the ruins into flames, which occupied the fire brigade several hours to subdue.

The water supply of Alexandria at this time began to be a source of anxiety. The supply to the town comes from the Mahmoudieh Ca.n.a.l, which joins the Rosetta branch of the Nile at Atfeh, forty-five miles distant.

The ca.n.a.l itself adjoins the position taken by Arabi at Kafr Dowar.

Throughout the bombardment, and subsequently, the town had been abundantly supplied by the efforts of Mr. J. E. Cornish, the manager.

When, previous to the bombardment, all his countrymen, and the great ma.s.s of Europeans, sought safety afloat, he refused to desert his post.

He contrived an elaborate system of defence for the water-works. It comprised an arrangement for throwing jets of steam at any possible band of a.s.sailants, as well as a line of dynamite bombs, capable of being exploded by means of electricity. The upper part of the engine house was also converted into a kind of a.r.s.enal, into which he and his men could retire as a last resort, and where rifles and ammunition were in readiness. During the bombardment, the works happily escaped injury.