Opposite The Soudanese, Who Were Armed Only With The
Martini-Henry Rifle, The Assailants Came Within 300 Yards; And One Brave
Old Man, Carrying A Flag, Fell At 150 Paces From The Shelter Trench.
But The Result Was Conclusive All Along The Line.
The attack was shattered.
The leader, clad in his new jibba of many colours, rode on steadfastly
towards the inexorable firing line, until, pierced by several bullets,
he fell lifeless.
Such was the end of that stubborn warrior of many
fights - wicked Osman Azrak, faithful unto death. The surviving Dervishes
lay down on the ground. Unable to advance, they were unwilling to retire;
and their riflemen, taking advantage of the folds of the plain, opened and
maintained an unequal combat. By eight o'clock it was evident that the
whole attack had failed. The loss of the enemy was more than 2,000 killed,
and perhaps as many wounded. To the infantry, who were busy with their
rifles, it had scarcely seemed a fight. Yet all along the front bullets had
whizzed over and into the ranks, and in every battalion there were
casualties. Captain Caldecott, of the Warwicks, was killed; the Camerons
had two officers, Captain Clarke and Lieutenant Nicholson, severely wounded;
the Grenadiers one, Captain Bagot. Colonel F. Rhodes, as he sat on his
horse near the Maxim battery of the 1st British Brigade, was shot through
the shoulder and carried from the field just as the attack reached
its climax. There were, besides these officers, about 150 casualties
among the soldiers.
The attack languished. The enemy's rifle fire continued, and as soon as
the heavy firing ceased it began to be annoying. The ground, although it
appeared flat and level to the eye, nevertheless contained depressions and
swellings which afforded good cover to the sharpshooters, and the solid
line behind the zeriba was an easy target. The artillery now began to
clear out these depressions by their shells, and in this work they
displayed a searching power very remarkable when their flat trajectory
is remembered. As the shells burst accurately above the Dervish skirmishers
and spearmen who were taking refuge in the folds of the plain, they rose by
hundreds and by fifties to fly. Instantly the hungry and attentive Maxims
and the watchful infantry opened on them, sweeping them all to the ground -
some in death, others in terror. Again the shells followed them to their
new concealment. Again they rose, fewer than before, and ran. Again the
Maxims and the rifles spluttered. Again they fell. And so on until the
front of the zeriba was clear of unwounded men for at least half a mile.
A few escaped. Some, notwithstanding the vices of which they have been
accused and the perils with which they were encompassed, gloriously
carried off their injured comrades.
After the attack had been broken, and while the front of the zeriba
was being cleared of the Dervish riflemen, the 21st Lancers were again
called upon to act. The Sirdar and his generals were all agreed on
one point.
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