GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 71 the infantry werebusy carrying the enemy's works, the cavalry had been actively occupiedin another part of the field. Up to the time of the deliveryof the first assault theyhad been disposedon the left rearof theinfantry, at a sufficient distance to avoid masking the fire of the latter,and at the same time in readiness to move upon any givenpoint when necessary. About twelve o'clock, as the square advanced, numbers of the enemy were visible intheplainbeyondtheridge,andBrigadier-General Stewart, swinging his force round theinfantry's right, gave the order to charge. The cavalry were in three lines, the 1OthHussars under Colonel Wood forming the first, the 19th Hussars under Lieut-Colonel Barrow, the second, and one hundred of the 10th mounted on Englishhorses,under Lieut-Colonel Webster, formed the third.

10th Hussars, was struck by a thrown spear that pierced his arm and side, still he rode on until his horse fell.

The colonel's trumpeter, coming to his rescue, was severely mauled;two sergeants and a trooper, however, with great courage, succeeded in saving their wounded commander. One, sergeant Marshall,caught the colonel as he was falling, and, seizing a loose horse, sought to place him uponit. The horse, however,fill,and at this moment trooper Bosely, to whom it belonged,came up, and, onfoot, and under a heavy fire, aided by sergeant Fenton,he supported the wounded officer through masses of the enemyinto the infantry lines. The gallantry of this act may be inferred from the circumstance that no other seriously woundedofficer or man escapeddeath on that day.

The first line, missing its commander, and not fully realising the position, swept straight on, whereasits lost leader would no doubt have wheeled it to the right. GeneralStewart, who was ridingsomewhatin advanceof the left flank of the second line, notingat once the flaw, drove spurs into his horse, and with his staff galloped hard to bringround the erringsquadrons. It was a race between this small band, the general and staff, and a cloud of Arabs rushing from the right. The former won, and caught up the firstline;but in this conflict, during* the unfaltering sweep of the 10th Hussars, as they followed, wheelingwith admirable precision to the left, the most mournful casualtiesof theday occurred. Lieutenant Probynof the 9th Bengal cavalry, attached to the10th Hussars, was among the first to fall in this charge. Of the General's four orderlies one was killed and two were wounded. MajorSlade, as fineasoldier as everbreathed, was found lying dead,pierced with seven spear wounds, and his horse hamstrung to the bone. Another officer whoperishedin the conflict was LieutenantFreeman.

The enemy were now in full flight to the left, and since the chase of them would havebrought the pursuers across aninfantryfile, the men of the leading line were dismountedso as to use their carbines. The maineffect of the cavalry action was to disperse andcut the enemy in two,forcing them from their lineofretreat, and giving support to the infantry attack. The Mounted Infantry, on their part, earned distinctionin the battle. With two-thirds of their hundred men dismounted for firing, they,with the left, held the enemy in check while the infantry square advanced, and afterwards, taking up a position on the left flank of the square,maintained an effective cross fire. The value of this corps may be judgedbythe fact that, whereasthe men firedan average of eighty rounds a man, not a single life among them was lost, and only two of them were wounded. The system pursued of disposing the horses and rifles in scattered order under all availablecover, contributed to this excellentresult.

This formation was maintained when the cavalry beganto gallop, causing the rebels to splitinto twolarge bodies, one to the right, the other to theleft. It was a gallop of three good miles before any of the retreating Soudanese werecaught. The first was a woman,though her sex was unrecognisable, who miraculously escaped through thefirstlineunhurt. Beingdiscernedandspared by the second, she displayed her savage gratitude by tiring a musket after the men whohad savedher. The enemy were now very thin in front, and a halt was sounded, when news came that Colonel Webster, who, with the third line,had turned to the right, was being vigorouslyattacked. "Troops, left about," was sounded immediately. The enemy appeared in great force, some mounted, some on foot, and all armed with spears.

Those on foot were lying among the tufted hillocks of which the whole plain was made up, thoughfrom a distance it presented an almost level aspect. Their comparative safety was therefore assured when the charge was made, shortly before one o'clock. On went Colonel Barrow, his squadrons as regular as if onparade, though theyhad a dangerous enemy to deal with, for theyfound themselves confronted by a large body of Soudanese, mountedon camels and horses, the formermasking the latter,behind whomagain considerable numbers of spearmen on foot werecongregated.

Some thirty rebel horsemen, armed with two-edged swords,rode withfullforceand boldlyagainstthe wholeadvancing squadron, not a sign of trepidation anywhere amongthem. Three camestraight throughsafely,andundismayed either by the shock they had survived, or the equalperil of the secondline sweepingdown upon them, wheeledtheir horses, whichthey wereriding barebacked, withwonderfulrapidity, anddidnot hesitateto followin full pursuit the squadrons whosesuperior power theyhad sonarrowly escaped. Very littleharmhoweverresulted from their daring. The real oppositioncame from the spearmen who lay scattered among the hillocks and mounds of sand, and who,rising at the precise moment, attempted to hamstring the horses of the cavalry as they leapt over them or swerved aside, or else drove home their heavyspears, throwing them whenever they were unable to reach their foe by hand. The spears werelike Zulu assegais in form,except that,being weighted witha rollof iron at the extreme end of the shaft, theyhad a greater momentum and piercing power. The hussars' swords were too short to reach the crouching foe, and weremoreover badly tempered compared with the Arab spears, which wouldhave proved most effective weapons ina cavalrypursuit. General Stewartin fact saw this, and after the fight procured about six hundred of these spears,and armed the cavalry with them.

Colonel Barrow, whilst leading the charge with the 'The British loss at the battle of El Teb amounted to no more than thirty killed, and about one hundred and fifty wounded. Amongthe former were Major Slade, Lieutenants Freeman and Probyn; Quartermaster Wilkins and Lieutenant Royds of the Royal Navy. The principalofficers woundedwere Baker Pasha and Colonel Barrow. General Graham* constantly exposedhimself, * Major-General Sir Gerald Graham, K.C.B., V.C., -was born in 1831, and educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He entered the Royal Engineersin 1850,and was in the Crimean War, at Alma and Inkermann, and at the assault onthe Redan: was twice wounded, and twice mentioned in despatches; was employed in destroying the docks of Sevastopol, and received the Victoria Cross, with all the medals and decorations for that campaign. In the Chinese war of 1S60 he was at the attack of the TakuForts and .at the surrender of Pekin, and was again severely wounded. He com-5 F