The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885 Part 54

Notwithstanding that Omdurman, which had become the Khalifa's capital, was ravaged by famine and small-pox, the preparations for the advance continued, and by the early part of August Debbeh and Old Dongola were occupied by the forces of Abd-el-Medjid, numbering 4,000 men. By the end of the month the whole of the country south of Dongola was in the hands of the Khalifa's troops. On the 24th, Wad-en-Nejumi, one of the chief Emirs, was reported as having left Omdurman with a large force, going north. It must not be supposed that the expedition was popular with the Khalifa's soldiers, but unfortunately they had no choice in the matter.

They are said to have declared, "Our brothers are dead; the English shoot well, and we have nothing to eat."

From Dongola the invaders proceeded north along the Nile, till, on the 20th September, they had reached as far as Hafir. The Dervish forces at that place, and at Dongola, were estimated at 7,000 by the beginning of October.

Meanwhile, another army was marching on Abu Hamid, where 3,000 men arrived in the latter part of October.

Seeing that the Dervish attack was impending, steps were taken to meet the emergency. Two gunboats were sent to patrol the river above Akasheh, and the post at that place was strengthened by the sending of a force of Egyptian Mounted Infantry, and a half battalion of black troops.

On the 26th October General Grenfell telegraphed from a.s.souan to General Stephenson for another battalion to be sent him from Cairo, adding, "We should now look upon an advance on Egypt as merely a question of time, and be thoroughly prepared." On 4th November, Captain Hunter (now Sir Archibald Hunter), of the Intelligence Department, reported that 8,000 of the enemy had crossed to Abu Fatmeh, and that everything indicated an immediate advance. On the next day news was received that the enemy was advancing on both banks, Mohammed-el-Kheir on the east, and Abd-el-Medjid on the west, with the object of cutting off the communications of the advanced force, and preventing reinforcements reaching it.

A few days later, viz., on the 17th, it became known that 8,000 Dervishes had reached Dulgo,[140] and that the advanced guard was at Absarat, whence it was to march on Khanak, to cut the Wady Haifa railway.

On the 27th, it was reported that 7,000 of the enemy were occupying the heights near Ammara, a few miles south of Ginnis, and that 4,000 more were now at Abu Hamid. Three days afterwards a spy gave information that 1,000 mounted men had left by the desert for the north of Akasheh, and that another thousand had crossed the river to the west bank, the intention being to make a simultaneous attack on Kosheh, Akasheh, and the railway.

The news of the Dervish advance now caused widespread alarm in Cairo, as well as in Egypt generally, and, to preserve public order, the police force had to be reinforced, more especially in the frontier provinces.

Steps were, at the same time, taken to strengthen the Army of Occupation by sending two additional battalions from the United Kingdom.

On the 30th November, General Butler and his staff left Wady Halfa for the front at Akasheh, and General Grenfell moved up to Wady Halfa. At this date the frontier force was disposed as follows:--At Kosheh, 600 British and 300 Egyptians; at Mograkeh, 260 Egyptians; at Sarkamatto and Dal, 200 Egyptians; at Akasheh, 600 British and 350 Egyptians; and at Wady Halfa, 500 British and 350 Egyptians; total, 3,160 men. In addition to these, small detachments were posted at Ambigol Wells, Sarras, and other places.

A skirmish, which took place at Ginnis on the 29th, showed that the main body of the enemy was posted in front of Kosheh, where it had arrived on the previous day.[141]

On the 3rd December, Captain Hunter engaged the advance party of the enemy, with Gardner guns and rifles, with considerable effect, several hors.e.m.e.n and foot-soldiers being killed.

Meanwhile an attempt had been made by the Dervishes to cut the line of communications at Ambigol Wells, where a small post of only thirty men of the Berkshire and West Kent Regiments was established in a fort. The Dervish force attacked with men, mounted and on foot, and one gun. They were driven off with some loss on the 2nd December, but on the two following days returned to the attack. Several sorties were made by the little garrison, until the arrival of reinforcements on the 4th caused the besiegers to retire.

At 6.15 a.m. on the 12th, 3,000 Dervishes attacked a fort constructed at Mograkeh, near Kosheh, and got within 100 yards of it. The garrison of the fort, consisting of 300 men of the Egyptian army, behaved with great steadiness, and repulsed the attack. After the skirmish, the enemy moved to the village of Ferket, a place on the river north of Ginnis, and occupied it, From this point they retired to the hills. Two men killed and half a dozen wounded represented the Egyptian loss.

This was followed, on the night of the 15th, by a further attack on Kosheh from a battery erected on sand hills on the western bank, which was silenced, and the attacking force driven off on the 16th.

All the posts were now rapidly reinforced. General Grenfell had already arrived at Wady Halfa on the 4th December, and on the 19th December General Stephenson came from Cairo and a.s.sumed the command of the frontier force, with Grenfell as Chief of the Staff.

Arrangements were promptly made to inflict a crushing blow on the enemy, who, encouraged by the slight resistance to their advance hitherto made, had pushed their foremost troops north of the village of Ginnis, where the main body was established.

At the same time, about 1,000 men, with a gun, threatened the zeriba on the west bank, held by the Egyptian troops.

On the 29th, Generals Stephenson and Grenfell marched from Ferket and bivouacked on the east bank below the fort of Kosheh, where the whole of the fighting force was by this time concentrated.

The troops consisted of--_Cavalry_,20th Hussars; British Mounted Infantry and Camel Corps; Egyptian Cavalry and Camel Corps: _Artillery_, 1 battery Royal Artillery; 1 Egyptian camel battery and Gardner guns: _Royal Engineers_, 1 company: _Infantry_, 1st Brigade, under General Butler--Berkshire Regiment, West Kent Regiment, and Durham Regiment; 2nd Brigade, under Colonel Huyshe--Cameron Highlanders; Yorkshire Regiment; 1st and 9th Battalions (part only) of the Egyptian army. Total, about 5,000 men.

On the morning of the 30th, Stephenson attacked and defeated the Khalifa's forces at Kosheh and the neighbouring village of Ginnis.

On the two preceding days, artillery fire had been kept up on the enemy's position. At 5 a.m. on the 30th, the whole force advanced.

By daylight the 2nd Brigade and the 1st Egyptian Battalion had taken up a strong position on the heights above Kosheh, at a distance of about 1,200 yards from, and directly opposite, the village. At 6.10 a.m. the British battery attached to this brigade began to sh.e.l.l Kosheh. A quarter of an hour later the Cameron Highlanders and two companies of the 9th Soudanese rushed the houses in gallant style.

The village was captured, together with a bra.s.s gun, at 6.50 a.m. The gunboat _Lotus_ co-operated in this movement, and by her fire inflicted considerable loss on the retreating Dervishes.

Whilst this was going on, the 1st Brigade, under Butler, had swept round to the south end of the village of Ginnis, and by daybreak had gained a position on the hills about a mile from the river. Up to this time, the advance made along the flank of the enemy's position had escaped observation, but as the eastern sky behind the advancing troops brightened, the Dervishes, who were completely surprised, came out from the low ground along the river, and streamed to the front. Thence they opened an irregular fire, which, in spite of the Martini-Henrys of the brigade, was maintained for about forty minutes.

In the meanwhile, the Egyptian battery, attached to the 1st Brigade, had been brought into action on the right of the position, and was doing good service. The infantry deploying in line, the West Kent on the right, and the Berkshire and Durham Regiments on the left of the guns, kept up a steady fire, a.s.sisted by the Egyptian Camel Corps.

Notwithstanding the volleys of the Martini-Henrys, a large body of spearmen managed to creep up un.o.bserved, through a deep ravine in front of the line of infantry, to a spot where the dismounted camels of the Egyptian Camel Corps had been placed.

The spearmen then made so rapid a rush that the men of the Camel Corps had not time to mount, and so were driven back fighting hand to hand with their a.s.sailants, who pressed them closely. The West Kent Regiment, which on the attack developing had been moved to the left of the line, came to the a.s.sistance of the Camel Corps, and shooting down numbers of the enemy, the rest fell back and fled to the hills. The brigade, then swinging round to the left, was directed upon the village of Ginnis, and, though time after time attempts at a stand were made, the enemy were eventually all dispersed, and at 9.15 the village was occupied, the Dervishes fleeing south, in the direction of Atab.

The 2nd Brigade, after disposing of Kosheh, had continued its advance in the direction of Ginnis, which it entered on the eastern side, a quarter of an hour after the 1st Brigade had taken possession.

The cavalry went in pursuit of the fugitives until 10 a.m., and by that time the Dervish army had been dissolved into a ma.s.s of disorganized and terror-stricken Arabs. Many of them crossed over to the west bank and escaped into the desert.

The camp at Ginnis was seized, and four guns and twenty standards captured.

The British and Egyptian loss in the fight was only seven killed and thirty-four wounded, and if, as estimated, out of a force of 6,000 men, the Khalifa's troops had 500 killed and 300 wounded, it must be admitted that the engagement partook more of the nature of a _battu_ than a battle.

After the fight, and on the same day, the 1st Brigade advanced to Atab, five miles to the west of Giniss, whilst the cavalry continued the pursuit to Abri, which on the following day was occupied by Buller's brigade.

The action at Ginnis was a serious check to the Khalifa. Not only had his emir Abd-el-Medjid with eighteen minor chiefs been killed, but the prestige which the Mahdi's successor enjoyed amongst his followers had also sustained a severe blow.

The remainder of his scattered-forces was now collected at Kermeh, about 30 miles north of Dongola, where, under the command of Mohammed-el-Kheir, they awaited reinforcements.

CHAPTER LIV.

FINANCE, THE SUEZ Ca.n.a.l, AND THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION.

In the year 1885, each of the subjects mentioned in the heading of the present chapter came prominently to the front. In the following pages it is proposed to deal with the different matters in succession.

_Finance._ In July, 1885, Egypt, thanks to the good offices of Great Britain, was enabled to arrange a very th.o.r.n.y question which had arisen with regard to her finance. To explain what occurred, it is necessary to refer to the events which had previously taken place.

Under the financial decrees of Ismail Pasha, certain revenues were a.s.signed to the Public Debt Commissioners to provide for the interest and Sinking Fund of the debt. Although, by the Law of Liquidation accepted by the Powers in 1880, the rate of interest was reduced, the provision for the Sinking Fund was left untouched, and the result was that the debt was gradually reduced by about a million. This, however, was too good a state of things to last. The expenses caused by the insurrection in the Soudan, the necessity of providing for the payment of the Alexandria indemnities, and other pressing claims, not only rendered it impossible for Egypt to continue the reduction of her existing debt, but made it indispensable to contract a fresh one in the shape of a new loan.

In March, 1884, at the invitation of Lord Granville, a conference of the Great Powers was held in London to discuss the situation. To purchase the goodwill of France, what became known as "The Anglo-French Convention" was entered into. By this, subject to the acceptance by the Powers of the British financial proposals, the British troops in Egypt were to be withdrawn at a fixed date, unless the Powers, in the meantime, should agree to their remaining. Lord Granville pointed out the absurdity of Egypt continuing to pay off her old debts at a moment when the funds at her disposal were insufficient to meet her current expenditure. The British proposals, which involved not only a suspension of the Sinking Fund, but also a further diminution in the rate of interest, were opposed by the French representative; and Lord Granville, in a somewhat summary manner, dissolved the conference. Lord Northbrook was then despatched to Egypt as High Commissioner, and in September, 1884, no means having been discovered of relieving the financial tension, the Egyptian Government, under his advice, adopted the strong measure of directing the governors of the provinces, as well as the heads of the customs and railway administrations, to pay directly to the Treasury the balance of their receipts for the current half-year (which closed on the 25th October), instead of to the "Caisse" of the debt. It is worthy of remark that there was at this time sufficient money in the "Caisse" to pay the interest on the debt, and the funds intercepted would simply have gone to swell the Sinking Fund. The step, nevertheless, was a clear violation of the existing arrangements between Egypt and her creditors, and naturally raised a storm. Protests rained in from all quarters; and some of the Powers, notably France, Germany, and Russia, used strong language. The Commissioners of the debt also attacked the Khedive's Ministers in the Mixed Tribunals. The Egyptian Government, realizing that it had got into a "tight place," again by British advice, meekly bowed its head and directed the payments to the "Caisse" to be resumed. The Cairo Mixed Tribunal on the 18th December gave judgment directing the Government to refund the money diverted.

This they were absolutely unable to do, and an appeal was lodged, partly to gain time and partly because the negotiations with the Powers, abruptly broken off by Lord Granville, had been in the meantime renewed.

At last, on the 18th March, 1885, "The London Convention" came to the aid of Nubar Pasha and his Cabinet. The effect of this agreement and the declarations dated the 17th March annexed to it was that the Powers acquiesced in the issue of a new loan of 9,000,000. Foreigners were made liable to certain taxes, and the Law of Liquidation was modified.

Further than this, the Mixed Tribunals were declared incompetent to proceed with the action against the Government. On 27th July, 1885, a decree embodying these terms was signed, and a situation full of embarra.s.sment was happily put an end to.

_The Suez Ca.n.a.l._ It should be mentioned that in the declarations annexed to "The London Convention" was one which provided that a commission composed of delegates of the Great Powers should a.s.semble at an early date to consider the measures to be adopted to secure the free navigation of the Suez Ca.n.a.l in time of war. What possible connection there was between this question and that of Egyptian finance it is hard to say, but, the engagement having been made, it had to be carried out, and the negotiations were at once taken in hand.

The International Commission for dealing with the matter held its first sitting in Paris on the 30th March, 1885, and proceeded to discuss the various points involved.

As stated in a previous chapter, the attention of the Powers had been called to the matter by Lord Granville, then Foreign Secretary, as far back as the 3rd January, 1883, though thus far no progress had been made.

By the 13th June, 1885, the Commission had agreed on the text of a convention by which the freedom of navigation of the Ca.n.a.l in war-time was to be secured, and the Commission then concluded its sittings.

It should be mentioned that the British delegates, in approving the arrangement, formally declared that they did so under express reservation against the application of any of the clauses which might be incompatible with the existing situation in Egypt, or which might fetter the action of Her Majesty's Government or the movements of Her Majesty's forces during the British occupation of Egypt. From the date last mentioned, the question was under discussion by the respective Governments till more than three years later, when the Convention was concluded, and finally ratified by the Powers on the 22nd December, 1888.

The princ.i.p.al provisions of the Convention were the following, viz.:--