The War in Syria, Volume 2 (of 2)

CHAPTER IX.

Examination of the Conduct of General Jochmus regarding Ibrahim Pacha’s Retreat—Sir Robert Stopford styled by him Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces—The General’s Reports to Sir Robert Stopford—Unwillingness of the Admiral to prolong the War—Reported Destruction of the Egyptian Army—Advance upon Gaza—Colonel Alderson’s Narrative of the Skirmish of Medjdel.

Whether Sir Robert Stopford, as commanding the allies by sea and land, wrote also to General Jochmus, as well as to General Michell and Captain Stewart, I am not aware. In the official correspondence laid before Parliament Sir Robert Stopford’s orders to these officers do not appear, and we only learn the fact from General Michell and Captain Stewart’s letters, but it is evident though General Jochmus commanded the army of operation he still considered himself under Sir Robert Stopford’s orders, for he writes to him officially from Jaffa, on the 13th of January, 1841^[29], sending him the details of his operations, in which he styles him Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces. It appears by his letter that he took charge of the army of operation on the 16th of December, 1840; at that period he could not have known of the submission of Mehemet Ali, and therefore he was quite right to make his arrangements for driving Ibrahim from Damascus, particularly after the rejection of the Convention, but he must have been quite aware of his submission by the 22nd, the day he shifted his head-quarters to Hasbeya. In one paragraph of the General’s letter he says Ibrahim had resolved to maintain himself as long as he could in Damascus; in another he states, that should circumstances force him to retire he had determined to march by El Mezereib, the bridge of MoÏadjumah on the Jordan, D’Jenin, Ramla, and Gaza, to El-Arish, and this was corroborated by the Admiral having authorized the embarkation of the sick, wounded, and women at Gaza, and the Carysfort frigate being then in the harbour of Alexandria. What does this prove? Why that General Jochmus must have known of the Pacha’s submission, and of the unwillingness of the Admiral to prolong the war.

In the next paragraph he writes (remember this is to his Commander-in-Chief, who disapproved of carrying on hostilities), “Under such circumstances I considered it a most positive duty on my part to defeat the intention of the Egyptian commander, and oblige him to quit Damascus, and follow the route of the Desert; for if a Convention had actually been signed while Ibrahim Pacha remained at Damascus, the military question remained undecided, and the complete conquest of Syria by the allied arms could be denied on the ground of our inability of driving a much superior force from its capital; while, if the Egyptian army made forcibly its way through Palestine to El Arish, its losses and sufferings would be small, the country being rich in every resource, and large government stores existing still at Safed, Tiberias, Ramla, and Gaza.” Now what does this mean? that neither General Jochmus nor Lord Ponsonby, under whose orders it appears, by General Michell’s letter, he was acting^[31], cared one straw about conventions or submission, but were determined, if they could, to destroy as many human beings as possible to give Éclat to themselves, and please the Sultan or his ministers. After describing what his plans were, the General writes, “It was at this time, and it remains still, my firm conviction^[30], that victory would have crowned the Sultan’s arms in a few hours, and that the whole of Ibrahim’s army would have been annihilated, or obliged to surrender; the only force of his still in some state of organization being his cavalry, and they would have been of no use in the rocky grounds of D’Jenin.”

Here the General reckoned without his host, for there was no necessity for Ibrahim passing by D’Jenin at all. He might have kept through the extensive plains of Esdraelon, until he arrived at the defiles of Kakoun between Mount Carmel and the Naplouse range, which he must have traversed to gain the sea shore; at this point he might have been attacked advantageously. But it appears that Ibrahim had no intention of taking that route; his apparent hesitation at El Mezereib for three days was probably, as General Jochmus says, to reconnoitre the Jordan, but he had another object in view, and which it will be seen he executed with great skill. By General Jochmus’s account he appears to have arrived at Remtha on the 7th or 8th of January, 1841; and on the 9th a foraging party was repulsed near Es-Salt.

“The Egyptian army,” says the General, “fairly launched into the Desert^[32], has not since been authentically heard of. When last seen, between El Mezereib and Kalat Mefrek, its infantry was reduced to 15,000 disorderly men; its artillery, though still numerous, was utterly disorganized, principally by desertion.”... We shall shortly see where this wandering, disorganized army next makes its appearance.

Ibrahim, the reader already knows, quitted Damascus on the 29th of December, 1840; General Jochmus says he left in consequence of his military dispositions, and being blocked up within the walls of Damascus; but surely irregular troops only, without either pay or commissariat, were not capable of blocking up an army of upwards of 50,000 men, including about 8000 cavalry, known to be in splendid order, 150 pieces of artillery, together with 4000 or 5000 irregulars, for he does not acquaint the Commander-in-Chief that there were any regular Turkish troops near Damascus. The fact is, Ibrahim had received orders from Mehemet Ali to return to Egypt, he knew of the enemy’s army advancing by land, and it would have been imprudent, even if he had not received orders, any longer to have delayed his retreat. Captain De l’Or reports that in three days he lost 10,000 men and 20 guns. “The hail and intense cold,” writes the General, “caused numerous deaths amongst the nearly naked soldiery, in summer clothing, and the sword of the fierce and revengeful Haouranees, the victims of Ibrahim’s abominable oppression, was unmerciful to small detachments of straggling deserters.” All this reputed loss of life took place after Mehemet Ali’s submission, and after that submission was known, and the unfortunate wretches destroyed, if they were destroyed, were the Sultan’s own subjects.

General Jochmus also tells the Commander-in-Chief the valour of the Imperial and Allied troops had done much in the conquest of a vast country like Syria, in a short period of glory and success. How he makes this out I am at a loss to know, for up to this time the Allied and Imperial troops had not fired a shot since the capture of Acre, so if the reports sent to General Jochmus were correct the whole mischief was done by the mountaineers and irregular cavalry.

“The God of battle,” says the General, “may lead Ibrahim and his shattered forces through the desert, and bring some troops back to the banks of the Nile.” (We shall shortly see how many he brought to the banks of the Nile.) “I have taken, as in duty bound, such means as may as much as possible delay his march or diminish his chance of escape.” And again, “It is to me an agreeable duty to state to your Excellency the perfect unanimity which has actuated all the men of the Turkish and allied forces during these late and extensive operations^[33], which by mere strategic combinations and movements, and with very little loss of life, have produced great and important results; the clear proof of Ibrahim’s having lost Syria by force of arms, and without negotiations, the salvation of Palestine from pillage and destruction, and finally, the enormous loss of the Egyptian General, only as far as El-Mezereib, since he left Damascus, without calculating those reserved for him by the sufferings of the Desert.”

By this dispatch one would suppose that the gallant General had been destroying the Russians, the natural foes of the Porte, and not the Egyptians, who had submitted to Turkish sway, and who ought to have been preserved instead of destroyed. What could have been the use of all this boasted destruction of human life? Syria would have been evacuated, the country would have suffered less, and humanity would not have been outraged, had not a single Turkish soldier quitted his cantonments, or at least, had they confined themselves to precautionary and defensive measures, so strongly recommended by General Michell and Captain Stewart.

We now come to General Jochmus’ report of the affair of Gaza^[34], against which it has already been shown that both General Michell and Captain Stewart protested so strongly. It appears the division intended for the attack arrived at El-Medjdel on the 15th of January, where it halted. Here the General changed his mind, and decided on returning to Jaffa, and against this movement General Michell protested as strongly as he had before done against the advance: the first he thought quite unnecessary, and the last he thought quite improper.

Before the General retired, a party of the enemy’s irregular horse reconnoitred his position, and were fired upon by several field-pieces planted in an open grove, in advance of Medjdel. At this moment Colonel Rose, who had been in search of some stray baggage with a small party of irregular horse, accidentally coming up, charged them in the most gallant style, and beat them; this being observed by Captains Harvey and Wilbraham from the Turkish camp, they sallied out with a few horse, joined Rose, and pursued the enemy for a considerable time, until the Colonel was severely wounded, when the pursuit ended. Whether it is to this that the General alludes I do not know, but it appears strange that no mention is made of the British officers in the dispatch to Sir Robert Stopford.

The account of this affair, by Colonel Alderson, of the Royal Engineers, one of the British officers engaged, is so graphic that it cannot fail to be highly interesting to the reader. I give it at length:

“We selected an encampment at the outskirts of the village of Medjdel, but whilst the tents were being pitched, the assembly sounded, and it was understood the enemy were advancing to attack our position.

“It appeared that Colonel Rose, not being able to find his servant and baggage mule, had taken the Gaza road, to ascertain if they were in advance, and in doing this fell in with one of our picquets patroling the outskirts of the village; and, whilst in their company, perceived some cavalry advancing, the main body of which appeared to consist of several hundred men, with a picquet like our own in front. Having therefore sent to inform the Commander-in-Chief of the advance of the enemy, and finding that our troops were forming, he induced the Turkish picquet to charge that of the enemy. Whilst Colonel Rose, who was gallantly leading them on, was in the act of cutting down one of the enemy, he received two slight wounds,—one in the breast and the other in the back.

“By this time the whole of the Turkish force had got under arms, and the light artillery were placed in position, and opened fire on the main body of cavalry, now within cannon-shot. The fire of the artillery took effect, and, as we afterwards learned, killed their colonel. They retired immediately, and our irregular cavalry commenced the pursuit.

“I had, with two other officers, gone to Ascalon to ascertain if it were possible to communicate with the steamers, and finding it not so, owing to the heavy sea and thick state of the weather, was returning with them, when we heard the report of the artillery, and putting spurs to our horses, and gaining the summit of the high sandy ridge separating the sea shore from the plain of Medjdel, (or possibly those of Ascalon, the scene of the encounter of Richard Coeur-de-Leon and Saladin, at the end of the twelfth century,) perceived our regular cavalry at the caravanserai forming, and several other horsemen, apparently flying or pursuing.

“We were not long in coming up with them, and found Colonel Bridgeman and Major Wilbraham encouraging the irregular cavalry to pursue and attack the flying foe. We joined them, and for upwards of an hour continued the pursuit, the regular cavalry bringing up the rear, though at a slower pace.

“As it may never be my lot to witness so extraordinary a sight again, as the one which now took place, I will endeavour in a few words to explain the affair of Medjdel. The irregular cavalry, on both sides, appeared to consist of several tribes; each tribe had its standard bearer, and little drums or tom-toms^[35]. The standard-bearer is, I suppose, selected for his bravery; as he gallops in advance, shouting with all his might, when his followers rush up to defend the standard. If the enemy is too strong, and he has to retire, they cover his retreat; the object appearing, in each case, to out-manoeuvre each other, principally by feats of horsemanship. If the retiring party are under-horsed, their pursuers seldom fail to do execution. If, on the other hand, they have a superiority, the retreat is a feint only to separate a portion from the main body, when they suddenly wheel round and become in turn the assailants, cutting down those in advance before they can rejoin their companions.

“There did not appear, as far as I could see, any desire to cross spears or weapons. Their dress was of the most picturesque description, from the embroidered mushalla to the simple sheepskin; nor were their arms less various,—the musket with the bayonet fixed, the lance, blunderbuss, pistol, sabre, dagger, and crease; and I confess the danger appeared to me greater from our own troops in our rear, who were firing over our heads, than from the retiring foe, who had to turn half-round to discharge his piece, whilst his horse was at speed. Our pursuit lasted for upwards of an hour, during which time about twenty-five of the enemy were killed, and twenty-seven taken prisoners; when, finding General Jochmus did not advance from his position, and the regular cavalry had halted on a high sand-hill, some distance in the rear, we counselled our motley brothers in arms, with whom we were enabled to communicate through Major Wilbraham, to call together their separate tribes, and return to the camp, as the enemy had now joined their main body, and we were no match for them.

“We returned by the Gaza road, our pursuit having been on the sandy hills, partially covered with grass, between it and the sea.

“The rain fell in torrents, and we returned to as wretched an encampment as I ever remember to have witnessed. Late that night General Michell, having received no communication from General Jochmus, sent a staff officer to ask for the orders. They were, to march at daylight,—not, however, to our surprise, on the road to Gaza, but back to Jaffa, General Jochmus assigning as a reason, that the heavy rains had rendered the roads impassable for artillery.

“General Michell had not been consulted, nor had any questions been asked of Colonel Bridgeman, Majors Robe and Wilbraham, or myself, as to the state of the Gaza road, although we had been nearly halfway to that place. I will merely add, (having, since that period, twice travelled the road by daylight,) that nearly the whole of it is a sandy soil, and I should say the rain which had fallen had rather been beneficial than otherwise.

“If we had disapproved of the expedition in the first instance, how much greater was our mortification at having to abandon it after having come in contact with the enemy.

“We learned afterwards that the Egyptian cavalry, with whom we had been engaged at Medjdel, was making its customary reconnoissance to ascertain if any movement had been made on the part of the Turks, as well as to forage: and that, in all probability, the action had been brought on by the dashing conduct of Colonel Rose in charging their advanced picquet.”

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