CHAPTER XX

THE EGYPTIAN WAR (_Continued_)

III. CHIEF OF POLICE

The bombardment took place on the 11th July. On the 12th, as I have

narrated, the Egyptian soldiery fired the city, looted it, and

evacuated the defences. On the same day the Khedive was surrounded in

his Palace at Ramleh by some 400 of Arabi's cavalry and infantry, a

force subsequently reduced to about 250 men. That evening Admiral

Seymour was informed that the Khedive was in danger. The admiral

dispatched the _Condor_ to lie off Ramleh; and there we lay all that

night, rolling heavily, with a spring on the cable to enable the guns

to be trained upon the sandy lane down which the soldiers must advance

if they intended to take the Palace.

It was arranged that, if the Palace were attacked, the Khedive should

hang a white sheet from a window, and I would at once take measures to

secure his safety. The night went by without alarm; and next day

Tewfik, escorted by a guard of native cavalry, went to the Ras-el-Tin

Palace, where he was received by Admiral Seymour and a guard of

Marines. Commander Hammill (who afterwards performed excellent service

on the Nile), with a landing-party of 250 bluejackets and 150 Marines,

had already taken possession of the Ras-el-Tin Peninsula.

Upon the same day Captain John Fisher, H.M.S. _Inflexible_ (afterwards

Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone, O.M.), was ordered to

take command of the {191} landing-party whose business was to secure

the outer defences of the city. Captain Fisher, having occupied the

lines, had a zone of anarchy, incendiarism and chaos, comprising the

whole city, in the rear of his position. He at once made application

for an officer to be appointed provost-marshal and chief of police,

suggesting my name for the post; and the admiral gave me orders to

assume this office. As a narrative written at the time owns a certain

intrinsic interest, I make no apology for transcribing further passages

from private letters.

"CHIEF OF POLICE OFFICE

HEADQUARTERS, ALEXANDRIA

THE ARSENAL, 25_th July_, 1882

"... I landed on the 14th July, armed myself, got a horse and a guide

and an escort of about thirty Egyptian cavalry, and started to overhaul

the town, and see how I could best carry out my orders to 'restore law

and order as soon as possible, put out fires, bury the dead, and clear

the streets.' I never saw anything so awful as the town on that

Friday; streets, square, and blocks of buildings all on fire, roaring

and crackling and tumbling about like a hell, let loose Arabs murdering

each other for loot under my nose, wretches running about with

fire-balls and torches to light up new places, all the main

thoroughfares impassable from burning fallen houses, streets with many

corpses in them, mostly murdered by the Arab soldiers for loot--these

corpses were Arabs murdered by each other--in fact, a pandemonium of

hell and its devils.

"I took a chart with me and arranged the different parts of the town

where I should make depots and police stations. The admiral could only

spare me 60 bluejackets and 70 Marines from the British Fleet; but he

obtained a proportionate number from the foreign warships. By sunset I

had 620 men in the different depots, mostly foreigners.... I had only

140 men to patrol the town, to stop the looting, to stop the 'fresh

burning' of houses, to bury the corpses, and to protect the lives of

those who had come on shore. By {192} quickly sending the men about in

parties in different parts of the town, and by employing Arabs to

inform me when and where certain houses might be burnt, I often managed

to get a patrol there just in time to stop it, and the people thought

there were 600 police in the town instead of 140. For the foreign

bluejackets were ordered to occupy their respective Legations and not

to take any part in restoring order. This was of course in the first

seventy-two hours, during which time neither myself nor my men slept

one wink, as at 12 o'clock on two occasions an alarm was sounded that

Arabi was attacking the lines, and all of us had to peg away to the

front, where we had to remain until daylight, expecting attack every

moment. These alarms lost many houses, as the mob set them alight

while we were at the front; however, it was unavoidable.

[Illustration: PROVOST-MARSHAL AND CHIEF OF POLICE. ALEXANDRIA. JULY,

1882. FROM A DRAWING BY FREDERICK VILLIERS]

"On Monday, 17th July, I was sent 400 more men (bluejackets) in answer

to my urgent appeal to the admiral, as so many fanatic Arabs were

coming into the town, ... but on Tuesday the 18th the bluejackets were

all ordered off to their ships and 600 picked Marines were sent in

their place.... After I had planned to get the town into order on the

Friday (14th) I went to the Arsenal and wrote a Proclamation....

"I went off to the admiral on the following (Saturday) morning, and

submitted that I should be allowed to post the Proclamation throughout

the town. Sir A. Colvin and the Khedive were strongly opposed to the

Proclamation; but the admiral approved of the scheme. Some of the

authorities suggested that if I shot anybody it would be well to shoot

him at night, or in the prisons, and then no one would know, and there

would be no row. This I stoutly refused, demanding my own way for

restoring order, and saying that a fair honest Proclamation was the

proper line to take, as all persons would then know what would happen

to them if they committed certain specified acts. I carried my point,

and the admiral supported me, and on Saturday night (15th) I had the

whole town proclaimed in Arabic, stating that persons {193} caught

firing houses would be shot, persons caught looting twice would be

shot; all persons to return to their homes, etc., with confidence, and

anyone wanting to get information or to lodge complaints to repair

instantly to the chief of police.

"By Wednesday (19th) I had perfect order in the town, and all firing of

houses had been stopped, life was comparatively safe, looting nearly

stopped. By Friday the 21st, one week after taking charge, all the

fires were put out, all the corpses buried, and things were generally

ship-shape. I could not have done this unless the admiral had trusted

entirely to me, and given me absolute power of life and death, or to

flog, or to blow down houses, or to do anything that I thought fit to

restore law and order and to put the fires out. I only had to shoot

five men by drumhead court-martial sentence, besides flogging a certain

number, to effect what I have told you.

"I had a clear thoroughfare through every street in the town by Monday

(24th), and all _débris_ from fallen houses piled up each side and all

dangerous walls pulled down. These things were done by organising

large working parties of from 100 to 200 hired Arabs. At first I

collected them at the point of the bayonet and made them work, but I

paid them a good wage every evening, and the bayonets were unnecessary

after the first day, when they found that England would pay well.

"I also collected all the fire-engines I could find, bought some, and

requisitioned others, got some artificers from the Fleet and got the

engines in order, had a bluejacket fire-brigade, and also a working

party of Arabs on the same footing as the road brigade. These worked

exclusively at the fires, and not at patrolling unless at urgent

necessity. Besides these I had a sanitary committee, which buried any

bodies we might have missed, burned refuse and remains of loot about

the streets, and reburied any bodies which might not have been buried

deep enough, besides enforcing cleanliness directly the town began to

get a little bit shipshape. There was a corps of native police to work

under {194} my patrols, and when I turned all the affairs over, I had

260 of these men.

"I disarmed all Europeans found in the streets with revolvers, and by

so doing saved many a row in the town, as the class I have mentioned

returned in thousands after the bombardment, and they treated the Arabs

as if they, the Europeans, had silenced the forts and policed the town.

I put many in irons for looting, and for shooting at inoffensive Arabs.

"The greatest triumph was the formation of an Egyptian court to try the

serious cases I had on hand for life and death and long terms of

imprisonment. Not only did tret the court formed to try what cases I

chose to bring before it but after sentence of death I insisted on

Egyptian authorities making the Egyptian soldiers (the loyal ones)

themselves shooting the prisoners whom the court sentenced....

"I had four gallopers and four Marine orderly gallopers, in default of

whom I could not have done things so quickly in the many different

departments, nineteen horses, and a telephone to each station. I paid

all the carts requisitioned in the town for carrying my men's

provisions, loot, etc. etc. The officer using them signed a chit

stating the hour he had taken a cart and for what service, and then the

man came to my office to be paid, which he was instantly. By this

means good feeling was established between the people and the military

police. Each depot had two interpreters attached to it to avoid any

misunderstanding, and for explanations when trying prisoners and

interrogating witnesses....

"The Marine officer thoroughly investigated each case, examined all

witnesses, and then placed the evidence on a regular charge-sheet,

stating whether he believed the prisoner guilty or not guilty, and his

reason for that opinion. If it was a serious case, I again tried it

myself and judged accordingly. There were several cases of

blackmailing at first, but these were soon stopped....

"Besides the courts held at the Police Depots, courts were {195} held

at the Tribunal Zaptieh and the Caracol l'A'ban, at which Egyptian

officers acted as judges. In each court were three shorthand-writers,

each placed behind a separate screen, and under the charge of a

sergeant of Marines, to prevent collusion, who submitted their reports

to me, in order that I should receive three independent accounts of the

proceedings, upon which I could intervene if necessary, in order to

prevent anyone being shot if there were not the clearest and most

uncompromising evidence of his guilt. If there were any discrepancy in

the reports, I had the prisoner retried. I did this in three cases.

Another case, in which the circumstantial evidence, though very strong,

was not conclusive, I reprieved."

The following troops assisted the British forces in restoring order:

125 Americans, about the American Consulate; 30 Germans, about the

German Consulate and Hospital; and 140 Greeks about the Greek Consulate

and Hospital. On the 16th July, Captain Briscoe (a son of an old

Waterford man who hunted the Curraghmore hounds after the death of my

uncle, Henry Lord Waterford) of the P. and O. _Tanjore_ volunteered his

services, and with 20 Italians of his crew, did excellent work. Other

volunteers who assisted me were Mr. Towrest, a member of the Customs,

and Mr. Wallace. Major Hemel, R.M.L.I., and Captain Creaghi, R.M.L.I.,

were appointed magistrates. These Marine officers performed invaluable

services.

I had special reason to be grateful to Mr. John Ross, a British

merchant of Alexandria, who gave me every assistance in his power. He

knew every yard of the place. He gave me invaluable advice with regard

to the organisation of the city, obtained interpreters, and helped to

supply the troops, placing his stores at my disposal. He would have

dispensed with receipts for articles supplied, had I not insisted upon

his taking them. Mr. Ross supplied the whole Fleet with coal, fresh

meat, and all necessaries; his help was quite inestimable, his energy

and patriotism beyond praise; {196} but although he must have suffered

considerable losses, he received no recognition of any kind from the

Governnment except the naval medal.

Mr. Ross gave me great assistance also in parcelling out Mehemet Ali

Square among the country purveyors of produce, each of whom received a

permit, written in English and in Arabic, to occupy a certain space,

duly pegged out, in which to put up their booths. This measure

restored confidence. One old lady, a stout person of Levantine origin,

thought that the permit entitled her to perpetual freehold; and she

subsequently attempted to sue the Egyptian Government for damages,

producing my permit as evidence.

Upon first going ashore to restore order, I found whole streets blocked

with smouldering ruins. Putting my horse at one such obstacle, I

scrambled over it; and I had scarce reached the other side when a wall

fell bodily behind me, cutting off my escort, who had to fetch a

compass round the side streets to rejoin me.

Without taking the smallest notice of me or of my escort, men were

shooting at one another, quarrelling over loot, and staggering along,

laden with great bundles, like walking balloons. The streets were

speedily cleared of these rioters by the use of machine guns. The

method adopted was to fire the gun over their heads, and as they fled,

to run the gun round turnings and head them off again, so that they

received the impression that the town was full of guns. On no occasion

did I fire the gun _at_ them. The principles upon which order was

restored were to punish disobedience, to enlist labour and to pay for

it fairly.

The prisoners taken were organised in separate gangs set to work, and

paid less than the rest of the labourers! The most critical part of

the business of extinguishing fires and preventing incendiarism

occurred at the Tribunal, which was stored with property worth many

thousands of pounds. A fire-engine was purchased for its protection at

a cost of £160, 18s. 1d. The total expenses of the restoration or

{197} order were, I think, under £2000. During the fortnight I was on

shore, every station and port was visited at least once a day and twice

a night.

On one such inspection I gave my horse to an Arab lad to hold. A few

minutes afterwards there was the crack of a pistol. I ran out, and

there was the boy lying on the ground a bullet-wound in his chest. To

satisfy his curiosity he had been fingering the 4-barrel Lancaster

pistol in the holster, and that was the end of _him_, poor lad.

Upon another occasion, when I was at work in one of my stations, a

sudden tumult arose in the street. I went put, to perceive a huge

Irish Marine Artilleryman engaged in furious conflict with five or six

men of the patrol. They had got handcuffs on him, and he was fighting

with manacled hands. I asked the sergeant what was the matter.

"He's drunk, sir. We are going to lock him up."

"Let him go," I said.

The men fell back; and the Irishman, seeing an iron railing, raised his

hands above his head and brought them down upon the iron, smashing the

handcuffs, and turned upon me like a wild beast at bay. The man was in

a frenzy. Standing directly in front of him, I spoke to him quietly.

"Now, my lad, listen to me. You're an Irishman." He looked down at

me. "You're an Irishman, and you've had a little too much to drink,

like many of us at times. But you are all right. Think a moment.

Irishmen don't behave like this in the presence of the enemy. Nor will

you. Why, we may be in a tight place to-morrow, and who's going to

back me then? You are. You're worth fifty of the enemy. You're the

man I want."

As I talked to him, the expression of his face changed from desperation

to a look of bewilderment, and from bewilderment to understanding; and

then he suddenly broke down. He turned his head aside and cried. I

told the sergeant to take him away and give him some tea.

Having heard from the Governor of Alexandria that a {198} quantity of

arms was concealed in a village lying a few miles outside the city, I

took thither a party of Egyptian military police and a guard of

Marines. On the way we were joined by some 800 British soldiers, who

surrounded the village, while the police conducted a house-to-house

search. A certain newspaper correspondent accompanied me. The police

knocked at the door of a house, and received no reply; whereupon the

correspondent drew his revolver and incontinently blew in the lock. I

told him that he had no right to do such a thing; that he might have

killed innocent persons; and that he must not do it again.

"Oh, but," says he, "you don't understand how to do these things."

I requested him to understand that I was provost-marshal, and that

unless he obeyed orders, he would be sent back to Alexandria.

"Oh, but," says he, "you can't do that. You don't understand----"

"Sergeant!" said I, "a file of Marines."

"Oh, but," protested the correspondent, "you can't----"

"Sergeant, take this gentleman back to Alexandria."

It was a long walk and a hot walk home.

On the 17th July, General Sir Archibald Alison took command of the land

forces. At the request of the general, the admiral ordered me to

remain in command of the police until 1st August, when I was relieved

by Major Gordon. It was about this time that Captain Fisher devised

his armoured train, which, carrying armed bluejackets, made daily

sorties. A bluejacket sitting on the rail was ordered to come down by

his officer.

"I can't see 'em from down below," he said. The next moment he was hit

by a bullet. "They've found the range, sir," said he, as he tumbled

over.

Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour was good enough to address to me a very

gratifying letter of commendation for my services. Among the many kind

congratulations I {199} received, I valued especially the letters from

the captains under whom I had served in various ships, and many

admirals with whom I had served. On 11th July I was promoted to the

rank of captain. In the following September the Admiralty forwarded to

Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour (raised in November to a peerage as Baron

Alcester) the expression of their satisfaction at the services of

Captain Fisher and of myself.

I overheard a lady finding great fault with my old chief, Sir Beauchamp

Seymour. I asked her what she had against Lord Alcester.

"Why," said she, "he is a Goth and a Vandal. Did he not burn the

Alexandrian Library?"

A sequel to the work in Alexandria was my conversation with Mr.

Gladstone on the subject, which took place upon my return home some

weeks later. Mr. Gladstone sent for me; and after most courteously

expressing his appreciation of my services, he discussed the question

of compensation to the inhabitants of Alexandria who had suffered loss

and damage. The information he required I had carefully collected in

Alexandria by means of an organised intelligence corps, upon each of

whom was impressed the fact that if he gave false information he would

most certainly be punished. My view was then, and is now, that the

whole of the claims might have been justly settled for a million

sterling, upon these conditions: that the question should be tackled at

once; that all palpably unwarranted claims should be repudiated from

the outset, because if they were recorded as claims there would

eventually be no way of rebutting them, and it would be found necessary

to pay them ultimately; that doubtful claims should be held over for

consideration; and that the proved claims should be paid immediately.

The important point was that in order to avoid difficulties in disputes

in the future, the matter should be dealt with at once.

I knew of a case (and of other similar cases) in which a jeweller who

had contrived to remove the whole of his stock {200} into safety after

the riot, put in a claim for the value of the whole of the said goods.

These considerations I laid before Mr. Gladstone, informing him also,

in the light of the special information which had come to my knowledge,

that if the matter were allowed to drift, the sum to be disbursed,

instead of being about a million, would probably amount to some four

millions.

In the event, the International Commission of Indemnities paid

£4,341,011.

{201}