Chapter 1

Mahsamah, Monday, August 28, 1882.

At seven this morning, guns were heard in the direction of Kassassin, which is four miles to our front. The troops were called under arms, the Cavalry, consisting of the Household Cavalry and 7th Dragoon Guards, saddled up, and the Infantry fell in in readiness to march to the assistance of the force there under General Graham. That officer, however, sent a message saying that the firing was in the enemy’s camp, and was inexplicable, except upon the supposition that the Egyptians were fighting among themselves.

At eleven o’clock, however, the flags of the signallers at Kassassin were in motion, and (S. 104, N. 19) the news came that the enemy were approaching. The Cavalry again turned out and rode off to Kassassin. As the enemy approached, General Graham opened fire with his two guns, and the Egyptian artillery replied. The 19th Hussars came on to the place from Mahuta, where General Willis has his headquarters.

The enemy made no attack, but halted at a considerable distance from the camp, and kept up a continued shell-fire, but at a distance altogether out of range. Their conduct was, indeed, altogether inexplicable. The Cavalry remained out all day, and the Infantry here were kept in readiness to march at a moment’s notice, but as the enemy made no movement in advance, they were not called forward to the front.

The heat was terrific all day, the sun beating down with almost insupportable force upon the wide sand waste. It had been hard work for horses and men. No shade was obtainable, and the hot wind raised great dust storms, which penetrated everywhere and made breathing difficult. The brigade of Guards (S. 36, N. 7, A) fell in under arms ready to march, but the Cavalry returned and reported that the enemy had fallen back, after keeping the troops the whole day out in the full force of the sun.

+bei+. The very graphic account of the Battle of Kassassin given in Sections 173-177 was written by the correspondent of the London ‘Standard’, who was with the cavalry at Mahsamah. Kassassin (also called Kassassin Lock) is four miles west from Mahsamah Station, which, only a few days previous to this action, was captured from the Egyptians by General Drury Lowe. The Egyptians had established a camp at that place, and, after the capture, the Household Cavalry and the Dragoon Guards were stationed there, under the command of General Drury Lowe, as a reserve to the small force that held Kassassin Lock, an important fortified position occupied by General Graham. The enemy, under the rebel-leader Arabi, held the strongly fortified camp of Tel-el-Kebir, about twelve miles west from Kassassin. Arabi’s stronghold (Tel-el-Kebir) was stormed and captured by the English under their skilful Commander-in-chief Sir Garnet Wolseley (now Lord Wolseley of Cairo), on Wednesday, September 13, when the rebel-army was totally beaten, and the Egyptian war brought to a successful issue.

Say ‘This (+Heute+) morning at 7 o’clock we (+man+) heard the thunder of cannons (comp. n.)’, etc.

= is situated; to our front = before us.

to call under arms, +zu den Waffen rufen+.

Nom. Pl. +Gardekürassiere+; the 1st Dragoon Guards, +das erste Dragoner Garderegiment+.

fell — readiness, +stellte sich in Reih und Glied+.

+um den dort unter General Graham stehenden Truppen zu Hülfe zu eilen.+

a — saying = a messenger with the information (+Nachricht+, f.).

and — supposition, +und daß man sich dasselbe nur durch die Vermutung erklären könne+.

The rebels fight among themselves, +die Empörer bekämpfen sich unter einander+.

= At 11 o’clock, however, we (+man+) saw the flag-signals (S. 76, N. 22, A) at Kassassin.

+heran´rücken+. Comp. S. 107, N. 13.

= got ready (+sich fertig machen+).

which was answered (+erwiedern+) by the Egyptian artillery.

+Husarenregiment+, n.

on — place = here (+hieher+).

at a = +in+.

to keep up a continued shell-fire, +ein ununterbrochenes Bombardement+ (pronounced as in French) +unterhal´ten+.

+welche außer dem Bereiche der Schußweite lag.+

+Handlungsweise+, f.; indeed = really; altogether, +ganz+.

at — notice = any moment.

to make a movement in advance, +vor´rücken+.

= extraordinary great.

= and the sun shone down, etc.; ‘force’, here +Glut+, f.

= Horses and men had had hard work (here +einen schweren Stand haben+).

= to be found.

+Staubwolken auf´treiben.+

here +hin´dringen+.

to fall in under arms, +unter Waffen treten+.

= and held itself ready to march (+sich zum Abmarsch bereit halten+).

to fall back, +sich zurück´ziehen+. See App. §§ 28 and 22. The auxiliary in this clause is best omitted to avoid its repetition, the next sentence containing the same.

= after he (i.e. the enemy) had kept (+zurückhalten+, App. § 30) the troops the whole day at (+bei+) the great heat of the sun (comp. n. S. 76, N. 22; use +n+ as a connecting link, since fem. nouns ending in +e+ in olden times used to take +n+ as an inflection for the Gen., Dat., and Acc. Sing., as well as for the Pl.) in the field.

Section 174.

THE BATTLE OF KASSASSIN.