death of colonel macleod—appearance of the mamelukes—the last stand—wounded and a prisoner—a friend in need—"all's well that ends well"
while watching the movements and repelling the attacks of the turkish horsemen, we had, i fear, given little thought to macleod's division; but now we had a moment's breathing time, we remembered our comrades, and became doubly anxious as to their fate. heavy firing was still to be heard to the right, and as we strained our ears it became evident that the sound was drawing nearer.
"be the powers! they're fighting their way towards us," exclaimed cantillon.
"there's no doubt of it," said holroyd, after listening intently for a moment.
"i wish we could get a look at them," major vogelsang added.
"see yonder mound, major?" said paddy; "'tis a thrifle higher than the rest. i'm the tallest man among ye, and maybe, if ye'll let me slip out, i could get a peep at them. sorra a bit of danger, major dear. i'll take corporal jones with me;" and without waiting for permission, he called to the corporal to follow him, and slipped out of the square.
the mound was less than a hundred yards distant. on reaching the summit, cantillon sprang on the corporal's shoulders—jones was a very powerful, athletic man—and stood upright. from this coign of vantage he gazed intently in the direction of the firing; while we watched him anxiously, fearing lest he should be shot by some lurking foe.
presently cantillon gave a shout, and jumping down, ran back at full speed, followed by corporal jones.
"they're close at hand," he cried as he came up to the square, "fighting like divils. we must go to their assistance, major, and join forces, if possible."
"are they broken?" asked vogelsang.
"divil a bit, sir," was the reply; "but they're attacked on all sides by ten times their number, and the haythins who have been hammering at us are now having——"
"that's enough," interrupted the major; "it is plain there is no time to lose. put the wounded on the limbers and waggons, and we will move at once."
we hastened to carry out the major's orders; but closer and closer drew the tide of battle, and ere we could put the square in motion, macleod's little band of heroes appeared in sight. alas! a fatal change had occurred. the division was no longer in solid order, as when seen by cantillon, but broken up into small parties and groups, each fighting desperately against overwhelming numbers of turkish cavalry and albanian infantry.
to rush to their rescue was our first impulse; but vogelsang restrained us, pointing out that we could not possibly render our brave comrades any effectual aid, and that once we broke our formation we should infallibly be cut to pieces. we did what little lay in our power, firing at the enemy whenever we could do so without injury to our own people; and a section of our company sallying out, at a critical moment, under holroyd and cantillon, succeeded in bringing captain mackay and a few of the 78th into the square.
with the exception of this slender party, macleod's division was destroyed, not a man escaping. the gallant macleod fell, as became him, claymore in hand, in the midst of his highlanders, who, with the devotion of clansmen for their chief, threw themselves in the way of certain destruction in their vain attempts to save him.
while this terrible scene was taking place we were not molested by the enemy; but, the other divisions destroyed, they now combined their forces against us. the albanian infantry commenced the attack by lining the sand ridges and pouring a furious fusillade upon the square, the horsemen keeping out of range, ready to sweep down upon us when the right moment arrived. the albanians were expert marksmen, and their fire proved very disastrous to us. vogelsang, holroyd, and cantillon were amongst the first wounded, the latter severely, and many of our men fell to rise no more. we replied with the six-pounders, as well as with musketry; but the albanians being scattered and well covered, our fire was not very effective. to add to our misfortunes, the sun was now beating down upon us with full force, and we had little water to quench our burning thirst; officers and men were pretty nigh worn out, and we all felt that, unless general stewart came to our aid, the end must come quickly.
at length, when more than one-third of our number were killed or wounded, there was a cessation of the firing, followed by great commotion amongst the enemy's cavalry. we jumped to the conclusion that, at last, stewart must have arrived, and our drooping spirits revived. alas! we were speedily undeceived; for as the smoke cleared away, there appeared in sight a large body of arab horsemen, advancing in loose, but not disorderly array. that the new-comers were foes, not friends, we could not doubt, for as they advanced across the plain the turkish host welcomed them with a mighty shout and waving of flags.
though faint from loss of blood, major vogelsang still retained command, and he now mounted a limber-box and examined the advancing troops through his glass.
"they are the mamelukes!" he exclaimed, "and mohammed ali himself is at their head. my men, we have now nothing to do but to sell our lives dearly."
"possibly they have come to our aid," i suggested, hoping against hope. "are you sure the vizier is with them?"
vogelsang shook his head sadly, and replied that he recognised mohammed ali, having seen him before; his presence with the mamelukes was sufficient to prove that they had come, not as allies, but as our most formidable enemies.
we rapidly made preparations for the struggle before us. the wounded—at least those who were totally disabled from taking part in the defence—were placed in a trench hastily made in the sand; the six-pounders were loaded with grape and with musket-balls to the very muzzle; and each soldier dropped over his cartridge, not only a running ball, but three or four slugs.
the attack was not long delayed, and opened with a renewal of the musketry fire by the albanians. this lasted for the best part of an hour, and wrought us great mischief. suddenly it ceased, and the albanians leisurely retired. then, with lightning speed, the mamelukes bore down on our sadly-diminished square.
"keep steady, men," cried vogelsang, "and reserve your fire until your foes are within forty yards. then give them a volley, and load again."
the mamelukes came on in somewhat loose order, their line extending to, perhaps, twice the width of the square. we let them approach to within thirty yards; then both guns and muskets opened on them with terrible effect. the charge was arrested; and before they could retire out of range, we gave them a second volley only less destructive than the first. then they galloped away in confusion. before we had time to congratulate ourselves, the albanians again came to the front, and annoyed us with their fire.
after a while the mamelukes made a second attempt to break our square, only to retire discomfited. three times did our slender band repulse these magnificent horsemen, inflicting heavy punishment on each occasion; but after each repulse the albanians renewed their galling fire, doing us, in proportion, more harm than we did to the mamelukes.
"i dropped senseless to the ground."
after the third attack, and while the albanians were firing at us, the artillery officer reported that only one charge per gun was left.
"we must break up a cask of small-arm ammunition, and make the best use we can of that," replied major vogelsang. "you, sir," he added, turning to me, "take a couple of men, and collect the rounds from the cartouch-boxes of the slain."
i was about to execute this gruesome order, when a bullet, glancing from one of the guns, struck me on the head, and i dropped senseless to the ground.
when consciousness returned i found myself lying in the arms of corporal jones, who was bathing my head with muddy water. all sound of strife had ceased, and our men were sitting or standing around, disarmed. several mamelukes were stalking about with a triumphant air, and in the distance was assembled the vizier's army. i asked the corporal what had happened.
"we're prisoners, mr. cotton, the few of us that's left," he replied. "we hadn't a blessed cartridge left, when a turkish officer came up with a flag of truce, and told the captain as how our lives should be spared if we surrendered."
"do you mean captain holroyd?"
"yes, sir. the furrin major was knocked over just after you was, and, though badly hurt, our captain took command. there he is yonder, talking to the officer to whom we surrendered. the rum thing is," continued corporal jones, "that the turkish orficer ain't a turk at all, but a frenchman. d'you remember, sir, the french leftenant as used to come so often to your quarters when we lay at messina?"
"not m'sieur de vignes?" i exclaimed.
"that's the name, sir. well, he's the orficer i'm tellin' you about—and here he comes!"
i looked up and saw a mameluke approaching, whose rich attire bespoke him an officer of rank. leaning on his arm was charlie holroyd, his head and shoulder bandaged.
"tom," said holroyd, in a faint voice, "here is an old friend—one who has indeed proved a friend in need. it is to m'sieur de vignes we owe our lives."
"pouf!" cried the mameluke, whom i at once recognised as my former acquaintance; "i have but repaid the debt i owed you, mon ami. when last we met i played you a scurvy trick, and happy am i to be able to make some reparation." and with that he embraced me, much to the horror of corporal jones.
holroyd then told me how, struck with admiration at our heroic defence, m. drovetti, the french consul-general at cairo (who had accompanied the turkish army), had induced the vizier to offer us quarter. de vignes was selected to bear the flag of truce, and recognising holroyd, persuaded him to surrender. in spite of our surrender, the mamelukes, furious at the losses they had sustained, attempted to massacre the survivors of our force, and were only prevented by the exertions of eugene de vignes, who saved our lives at the risk of his own. as it was, several of our wounded were butchered; amongst others, poor paddy cantillon.
naturally i was curious to learn how the french lieutenant had been transformed into an officer of mamelukes, and that evening i asked him to tell me his story.
"mais certainement, mon cher," he replied. "at messina i met, and fell in love with, the lady who is now my wife. her father, prince t——, objecting to my attentions, sent his daughter to the convent. by bribing one of the lay-sisters, i obtained an interview, and persuaded beatrice to elope with me. to return to france would have been difficult, if not impossible, so i determined to fly to egypt, where my mother's brother, m'sieur drovetti, was consul-general. i hired a small coasting-vessel, and made all arrangements for our flight. on the appointed night i repaired to the convent. with the assistance of the lay-sister, beatrice effected her escape from the building, and joined me outside the walls. but somehow her father had got wind of the affair—i believe the lay-sister betrayed us—and while making off, we were attacked by four of his servants. i had just time to tell beatrice to fly up the road, conceal herself, and await events, whilst i covered her retreat. happily my assailants—probably acting on their master's orders—were so intent upon killing me, that they did not attempt to follow her. you, mon ami, came to my aid, and the fellows ran off, leaving one of their number with my sword through his heart. to get rid of you, i pretended the rascal was only wounded, and sent you off for assistance. the moment you had gone, i picked the dead body up, carried it a few yards, and threw it in a ditch. then i rejoined beatrice, and we hastened to the boat which was awaiting us. in the end we got safely to cairo, and were married by my good uncle's chaplain. through my uncle's influence, i was appointed an officer in the vizier's service, and am now in high favour. voila tout!"
my story is finished. we were carried prisoners to cairo, but, thanks to the influence of m. drovetti, were allowed to take up our quarters with eugene de vignes and his charming wife; thus escaping the hardships and indignities which, as we afterwards learned, many of our fellow-prisoners suffered.
in due course we were exchanged, and rejoined our regiment. many years have passed since then. my brother-in-law, charles holroyd, is a general and a k.c.b.; i have long ago left the army, and settled down to a country life; but we still retain a vivid recollection of the "disaster of el hamet," and tell our children the story of "a frenchman's gratitude."
