CHAPTER XIX

THE EGYPTIAN WAR (_Continued_)

II. THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

My appointment to H.M.S. _Condor_ was dated 31st December, 1881. The

_Condor_ was a single-screw composite sloop gun-vessel of 780 tons and

770 h.p., carrying one 4½-ton gun amidships, one 64-pr. forward and one

64-pr. aft, all muzzle-loading guns. In June, 1882, the _Condor_

formed part of the squadron lying off Alexandria under the command of

Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour.

On Sunday, 11th June, calling upon Captain Blomfield, the

harbour-master, I found him in great distress. He had heard that there

was trouble in the city, into which his wife had gone, and he was

extremely anxious about her safety. We took a light carriage harnessed

to a pair of Arab horses and drove into the town. Presently a great

crowd came running down the street towards us. They were mostly

Greeks, many of whom were wounded and bleeding. The next moment we

were surrounded by a raging mob, armed with _naboots_, or long sticks,

with which they attacked us. The street was blocked from end to end;

and to have attempted to drive through the mob would have been certain

death. I seized the reins, swung the horses round, cleared the crowd,

and drove back to the harbour-master's house. In the meantime his wife

had taken refuge in an hotel, whence she safely returned later in the

day.

The officers and men of the Fleet were ordered back to {186} their

ships. I went on board the flagship and reported to the admiral the

condition of the town. With the trifling force at his disposal, it was

impossible that he should send a landing-party ashore. Had he done so,

in contravention of his orders, the handful of British seamen and

Marines would have had no chance against the thousands of Egyptian

soldiers who, under Arabi's instructions, were waiting in their

barracks under arms, ready to turn out at the first attempt at

intervention on the part of the Fleet.

During the ensuing month there poured out of Alexandria an immense

number of refugees of all nations and every class of society. These

were placed on board various vessels and were dispatched to the ports

of their several countries. I was placed in charge of these

operations; which included the chartering of ships, their preparation

for passengers, and the embarkation of the refugees. In the course of

the work there fell to me a task rarely included even among the

infinite variety of the duties of a naval officer. My working-party

was stowing native refugees in the hold of a collier, when a coloured

lady was taken ill. She said: "Baby he come, sare, directly, sare,

myself, sare." And so it was. We rigged up a screen, and my coxswain

and I performed the office of midwives thus thrust upon us, and all

went well.

On the 10th July all merchant vessels and all foreign men-of-war left

the harbour, and the British Fleet prepared for action. Admiral

Seymour's squadron consisted of fifteen vessels: the ironclads

_Alexandra_ (flagship), Captain C. F. Hotham; _Superb_, Captain T. Le

Hunte Ward; _Sultan_, Captain W. J. Hunt-Grubbe; _Téméraire_, Captain

H. F. Nicholson; _Inflexible_, Captain J. A. Fisher; _Monarch_, Captain

H. Fairfax, C.B.; _Invincible_, Captain R. H. M. Molyneux; _Penelope_,

Captain S. J. C. D'Arcy-Irvine: the torpedo-vessel _Hecla_, Captain A.

K. Wilson; gunboats _Condor_, Commander Lord C. Beresford; _Bittern_,

Commander Hon. T. S. Brand; _Beacon_, Commander G. W. Hand; _Cygnet_,

Lieutenant H. C. D. Ryder; _Decoy_, Lieutenant A. H. Boldero; and

dispatch vessel {187} _Helicon_, Lieutenant W. L. Morrison. The coast

fortifications extended over a front of rather more than nine miles,

from Fort Marabout on the south-west to Fort Silsileh on the

north-east. Midway between the two, projects the forked spit of land

whose northern arm encircles the new Port, and whose southern arm,

extending in a breakwater, encloses the old Port. The twelve forts or

batteries mounted in all 261 guns and mortars.

[Illustration: THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, 11TH JULY, 1882. FROM

CHART DRAW BY AUTHOR AT THE TIME]

The bombardment of Alexandria has been so thoroughly described in

standard works that repetition must be unnecessary; and such interest

as the present narrative may contain, must reside in the record of

personal experience. I may say at once that any notoriety attached to

the part borne by the _Condor_ in the action was due to accidental

circumstance. She happened to fight apart from the rest of the Fleet

and in full view of the foreign warships and merchant vessels; and, in

obedience to the orders of the admiral, she had on board the

correspondent of _The Times_, the late Mr. Moberly Bell. The _Condor_

was actually under way when I received instructions to embark Mr. Bell.

Mr. Frederic Villiers, the artist war-correspondent, by permission of

the admiral, had been my guest on board for several days.

The following account of the action is taken from a private letter

written at the time:--

"The night before the action, I turned up all hands and made them a

speech. I said that the admiral's orders were to keep out of range

until an opportunity occurred. So I said to the men, 'Now, my lads, if

you will rely upon me to find the opportunity, I will rely upon you to

make the most of it when it occurs.' ... The Marabout Fort was the

second largest fort, but a long way off from the places to be attacked

by the ironclads. So the admiral had decided not to attack it at all,

as he could not spare one heavy ship, and of course he would not order

the small ships down there, as it was thought that they would be sunk.

The orders given to the small ships were to keep out of fire, and to

watch for an opportunity to occur, after the forts were silenced, to

assist. {188} _Helicon_ and _Condor_ were repeating ships for signals.

I took station just between the two attacking fleets.

"Just as the action began the _Téméraire_ parted her cable and got

ashore. I ran down to her and towed her off and while doing so, saw

Fort Marabout giving pepper to _Monarch_, _Invincible_ and _Penelope_.

Not one of these ships could be spared, as they were getting it hot and

could not spare a gun for Marabout from the forts they were engaging.

Seeing the difficulty, directly I had got the _Téméraire_ afloat I

steamed down at full speed and engaged Fort Marabout, on the principle

that according to orders 'an opportunity' had occurred.... I thought

we should have a real rough time of it, as I knew of the heavy guns,

and I knew that one shot fairly placed must sink us. But I hoped to be

able to dodge the shoals, of which there were many, and get close in,

when I was quite sure they would fire over us. That is exactly what

occurred. I got in close and manoeuvred the ship on the angle of the

fort, so that the heavy guns could hardly bear on me, if I was very

careful. The smooth-bores rained on us, but only two shots hit, the

rest went short or over. One heavy shot struck the water about six

feet from the ship, wetting everyone on the upper deck with spray, and

bounded over us in a ricochet.

"I did not fire on the smooth-bores at all until I had silenced the

heavy guns which were annoying _Invincible_, _Monarch_, and _Penelope_.

The men fired splendidly. I put all down to the lectures I have given

them at target practice, telling them never to throw a shot away, but

always to wait until they got the sights on.

[Illustration: ON BOARD H.M.S. "CONDOR," 11TH JULY, 1882. FROM A

DRAWING BY FREDERIC VILLIERS]

"Hedworth Lambton told me afterwards that the admiral had just sent on

the signal for the _Monarch_ to go to Fort Marabout as soon as she

could be spared, when he heard a cheer from his own men. He asked,

'What's that?' and they told him they were cheering the _Condor_. Just

then our three guns were fired, and each shot hit in the middle of the

heavy battery, and the _Invincible's_ men burst into a cheer. The

admiral said, 'Good God, she'll be sunk!' when off {189} went our guns

again, cheers rang out again from the flagship and the admiral, instead

of making 'Recall _Condor_; made 'Well done, _Condor_' ... at the

suggestion of Hedworth Lambton, the flag-lieutenant.

"We then remained there two and a half hours, and had silenced the fort

all except one gun, when the signal was made to all the other small

craft to assist _Condor_, and down they came and pegged away. I was

not sorry, as the men were getting a bit beat. We were then recalled

to the flagship, 'Captain repair on board,' and the admiral's ship's

company gave us three cheers, and he himself on the quarterdeck shook

me warmly by the hand, and told me he was extremely pleased.... I

never saw such pluck as the Egyptians showed. We shelled them and shot

them, but still they kept on till only one gun was left in action. It

was splendid.... Nothing could have been more clever than the way the

admiral placed his ships.... The wounded are all doing well. One man

had his foot shot off, and he picked it up in his hand and hopped down

to the doctor with it.... The troops hoisted a flag of truce the day

after the action; and while we waited I sent to find out why it was

they were marched away, having set fire to the town in many places. It

has been burning ever since." ...

The day after the bombardment, Captain Wilson (now Admiral of the Fleet

Sir A. K. Wilson, V.C., G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O) hauled down the flag of

the Marabout Fort and presented it to me. It is now in the Museum of

the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The commandant of Fort Marabout

was so excellent an officer that when I was appointed provost-marshal

and governor of the town by the admiral, I placed him on my staff to

assist me in restoring order.

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