CHAPTER XL.

THE BATTLE OF ABU KLEA.

Upon the 17th inst. it was plain that the enemy were in force. During the night they had constructed works on the right flank of the column, from which a distant but well-aimed fire was maintained. Both on the right and in front the manoeuvring of their troops in line, with drums beating and banners waving, was apparent, and everything pointed to the probability of an attack being made. Under these circumstances Sir Herbert Stewart was in no particular hurry to advance, in the hope that his apparent dilatoriness might induce the enemy to make the attack.

The skirmishers had been engaged from early dawn, and bullets soon began to fall thicker and thicker around the British position; men who had jumped up to stretch their legs were not sorry to lie down again under cover of the little wall which surrounded the zeriba. After waiting some time for the attack which the enemy did not seem disposed to make, the General ordered breakfast to be served out at 9 a.m., and made his preparations for an advance. His intentions were, briefly, to fight his way to the wells of Abu Klea at any cost, leaving only a small garrison to protect the baggage and camels in the zeriba; the wells once won, to send back for the baggage, feed and water the column, and push on to Metammeh at once. Meanwhile the fire became hotter and hotter. Stewart seemed a favourite target for the enemy's marksmen, and brought grief to several. The first to fall was Major Dickson, of the Royals, shot through the knee. Colonel Burnaby's horse next received a wound, and was led limping to the rear. Major Gough (commanding the Mounted Infantry) was knocked senseless by a bullet on the temple, and Lieutenant Lyall, R.A., was struck in the back by another.

The camp was now strengthened to admit of its being held by a reduced garrison of 40 Mounted Infantry, 125 Sussex, and details; and the rest of the force, with the exception of the Hussars and a few of the Mounted Infantry, proceeded to form square, in which formation the advance was to be made.

The square was formed as follows:--Left front face, two companies Mounted Infantry; right front face, two companies Guards, with the three guns Royal Artillery in the centre. Left face, two companies Mounted Infantry; one company Heavy Camel Regiment. Right face, two companies Guards, detachment Royal Sussex. Rear face, four companies Heavy Camel Regiment, with Naval Brigade and one Gardner gun in the centre. In the centre were some thirty camels for carrying water, ammunition, &c.

It will be noticed that each face of the square, except the rear, was made up of a composite force, the object being, probably, to provide against a break of corps at the angles. Thus the Guards held the right forward angle, and the Mounted Infantry the left; the Heavy Camel Regiment held the rear face and the left rear angle; the Sussex Regiment filled the gap in the right rear face between the Guards and the Heavy Camel Regiment. Thus there was a break of corps only at the right rear angle.

It should be stated that after various experiments all idea of fighting on the camels had been abandoned, and that in the operations of the column at this time and subsequently the camels were simply used for purposes of locomotion. This being so, the terms "Camel Corps" and "Mounted Infantry," when used must in most cases be understood as meaning dismounted troops belonging to those corps respectively.

At about 10 a.m. the force advanced, its front and flanks being covered by skirmishers who engaged those of the enemy. A square formation is unsuited for rapid movement, and the men went forward at a slow march to allow of the guns and camels coming up, keeping always on open rocky ground, so as to avoid spots where the enemy could collect unseen.

No sooner had the advance commenced, than a redoubled fire from the enemy showed that these movements had attracted their attention. The hills on each side were alive with their sharpshooters and spearmen, running parallel to the square and keeping up a hot fire all the time. The skirmishers had to do their utmost before they succeeded in reducing the fire which at this time poured down upon Stewart's men. The ground was rough and uneven, and intersected with ruts and water-courses, which it was difficult to get over without disarranging the square, so that frequent halts had to be made.

At 11 a.m. the column brought its left face opposite the left flank of the enemy's position, and it became necessary for him to attack in order to avoid being enfiladed.

When about 1,500 yards from a line of flags on the left front marking the enemy's position, the guns fired four or five shells, and hundreds of men were seen to rise up and bolt, leaving only their standards visible. Then on a sudden came the enemy's attack. To resist it the square was halted on the face of a hill sloping towards the enemy's position, and a hurried attempt was made to close up the rear. When the order to close up was given, the Naval Brigade had begun to move the Gardner gun from its position in middle of the rear face and put it at the left rear corner of the square. In order to do this it had to be taken through the camels, which were crowded together between the two positions, and in the confusion when the rear closed up the gun and the sailors round it were left outside the formation; they were thus at first dangerously exposed, but, happily, just before the rush the Gardner gun was drawn back, taken through the left face, and brought into action a few paces in front of it.

The first intimation of the impending charge was the running in at full speed of the skirmishers. They were followed by a black mass of Arabs, said to have been 5,000 in number, who, rising suddenly out of cover when the troops were at a distance of 450 yards from the flags, made straight for the square. Their shouts as they came on were described by an eye-witness as being like the roar of the sea. Headed by mounted emirs or sheikhs with banners in hand, they neared the left front of the square, where they were received with such a deadly fire from the (dismounted) Mounted Infantry that they swerved round the left flank and made a furious onslaught on the left rear of the square, where the Heavy Camel Regiment was stationed.

The rush was so sudden that the skirmishers had barely time to reach the square before the enemy fell upon the Heavy Camel Corps,[109] who, to avoid killing their own men, were for some minutes compelled to reserve their fire. Among the first to feel the effects of the charge were the Naval Brigade, which had, as already stated, put their gun outside of the square. After firing eight rounds at the advancing enemy, it was noticed that the elevation was too great. This was rectified, but after six more rounds the gun jammed and became useless. When Lord Charles Beresford was attempting to clear it with the assistance of his chief boatswain's mate, the enemy came on them, spearing the latter, and knocking Lord Charles down under the gun. His two officers, Lieutenants Pigott and De Lisle, were speared, whilst the rest of the Naval Brigade were driven back for a few minutes, when a rush was made, and the gun recaptured, Lord Charles then getting back unhurt into the square.

With such impetuosity was the charge made that the Heavy Camel Corps were borne back, and the square penetrated by the sheer weight of numbers.

Frantic shouts to the Guards to stand firm were heard. Both officers and men still faced the enemy, although the line of the Heavies was bent into an irregular semicircle extending into the square as far as the kneeling camels behind. These camels formed a useful breastwork, beyond which the assailants could not penetrate, and over and around the animals the battle raged, both parties fighting hand to hand, bayonet against spear.

For ten minutes a desperate struggle extended from the left rear to the centre. It was at this period that Colonel Burnaby fell, a spear having severed his jugular vein, but not until he had killed with his own hand more than one of his assailants. Stewart's horse was thrown off his legs and then speared, and his orderly was killed beside him. The General's life was only saved by the coolness and presence of mind of Sir Charles Wilson, who was standing next to him. A few of the enemy had crawled in between the camels, and one man who had succeeded in doing this was making, spear in hand, for the General. Sir Charles Wilson observed the move, whipped out his revolver, and shot the man dead.

Many of the camels were speared by the assailants, and the interior of the square formed a mass of falling camels and struggling combatants, half hidden amid dust and smoke. The issue could not, however, be said to have been a moment in doubt, for the Heavy Camel Corps were soon supported by soldiers from the other side of the square. These were in readiness to oppose any further advance had the line given way, though they were obliged to withhold their fire so long as the two parties were mingled in the strife. Later on they faced about and fired into the square, killing no doubt both friends and foes.

It was not long before every Arab who had entered the square was killed, the rest beaten back, and amid three hearty cheers the square re-formed on fresh ground away from the killed and wounded.

It was now half-past three, and as the enemy moved off the guns opened on them with grape at 500 yards range, and hastened their retreat.[110] They withdrew in a slow, sullen way, turning round from time to time as if anxious to come on again. Eventually the last of them disappeared over the sand-hills.

The force opposed to Stewart was stated by the prisoners taken to consist of ten tribes of about 800 men each. According to the report of the Intelligence Department, their numbers were still greater, and were made up of Ababdeh, Bisharin, and other Arabs from Berber, soldiers of the old Egyptian army, Arabs and others from Metammeh, men of the Mahdi's regular army (400 armed with rifles), and Arabs of various tribes from Kordofan.

The rifles with which some of the enemy were armed were all of the Remington pattern, and formed part of the arms captured from Hicks Pasha's army. The rest of the enemy carried the heavy Soudan sword or a long spear, supplemented in most cases by a shield of tough hide. The Berber force, which had a contingent of 250 horsemen, retreated towards Berber after the action.

Throughout the battle the enemy fought with the most reckless courage and absolute disregard of death.

The troops on the right attack were led by Abu Saleh, Emir of Metammeh, on the left by Mahommed Khair, Emir of Berber. The latter was wounded, and retired early; but Saleh came desperately on at the head of a hundred fanatics, escaping the fire of the Martinis marvellously, until at last he was shot down in the square.

The loss of the enemy was not less than 1,200 killed and wounded, 800 bodies being counted on the open space flanking the square. The slaughter would have been greater still had the square been able to open fire as soon as the charge commenced, instead of having to wait till the skirmishers had run in. But for this, in spite of their bravery, comparatively few of the assailants would have succeeded in coming to close quarters.

The British loss, viz., ten officers and sixty-five non-commissioned officers and men killed, and eighty-five wounded, was very heavy for a force whose total number was only 1,800 men. The following is the list of officers killed:--

Colonel Burnaby, Royal Horse Guards; Major Carmichael, 5th Lancers; Major Atherton, 5th Dragoon Guards; Major Gough, Royal Dragoons; Captain Darley, 4th Dragoon Guards; Lieutenant Law, 4th Dragoon Guards; Lieutenant Wolfe, Scots Greys; Lieutenants Pigott and De Lisle, Naval Brigade; Lord St. Vincent.[111]

The greatest loss on Stewart's side fell on the Heavy Cavalry Camel Corps, of whose officers six were killed and two wounded. The extraordinary disproportion of killed and wounded officers as compared with the rank and file is remarkable, and speaks volumes for the self-sacrificing devotion of the officers of both services.

The seizure of the Abu Klea wells was a matter of paramount importance, and the detachment of the 19th Hussars, which had come up too late to strike at the retreating foe, was pushed forward to perform this service. This they were able to accomplish without resistance, a fact which goes far to prove the demoralization of the enemy. The Hussars, as stated in Stewart's report, took possession of the wells at 5 p.m. They then sent back filled water-skins for their comrades at the zeriba. Jaded as the rest of the men were by marching, by night alarms, by a fierce heat, and an encounter with an enemy seven times their number, they reached the wells soon after.

The water was plentiful, and though of a muddy yellow colour, it was fit for drinking. At eight at night a portion of the Guards, with some of the Heavy Camel Corps and Mounted Infantry, were sent back to fetch the occupants of the zeriba in the rear. The force then bivouacked on the ground near the wells without tents, provisions, or baggage. The night was piercingly cold, and the men had to get between the camels, and cover themselves with the baggage nets for warmth and shelter.

Next morning the party despatched to the zeriba returned, and the whole column, including camels and baggage, was now concentrated at the wells. On the arrival of the zeriba detachment with stores and provisions, the force partook of its first meal since the morning of the previous day.