AN ARMY CHAPLAIN'S REMINISCENCES.*
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* Scenes through the Battle' Smoke. By the Rev. Arthur Male, Army Chaplain t Lateknnw, and in the Afghan end Egyptian Campaigns. London : Dean and on.
THE soldier is a creature of great ingenuity, especially when his faculties are sharpened by the necessities of actual cam- paigning. In the early days of the Egyptian Campaign, as Mr. Male tells us, before the lines of Tel-el-Kebir were approached, and when the hardy British soldier was nerving himself for the coming struggle by plucky and occasionally successful efforts to chew, swallow, and digest commissariat beef, a member of one lucky mess was found to have provided himself with a mincing-machine, through which previously invincible rations could be passed and reduced to a more or less eatable condition. The name of the officer whose fore- sight enabled him so far to alleviate the sufferings of his comrades, is not given; but there can be no doubt that, if merit is properly recognised in the Army, he should in time become a Field-Marshal, V.C., G.C.B., and generally every- thing that a soldier can be. In the meanvehile, we can only regret that we who live at home at ease, and are consequently lucking in invention, could not imagine any similar process to apply to the book before us. This is the more unfortunate that Mr. Male's recollections—unlike the commissariat beef— would be rendered not only palatable, but even enjoyable, by a little judicious mincing. There is plenty that is interesting to read, and—though we do not suppose Mr. Male to possess any great literary experience—his stories are well told ; it is only to be regretted that it should have been thought neces- ary to swell them out, by the interposition of trivial and ften tedious details, into such a corpulent, not to say puffy, olume. o As a peace-loving nation, we of course take great delight in tales of fighting, and these are in the main what Mr. Male has to tell us. He is by his profession a non-combatant, though he does not always appear quite to appreciate the advantages of this exemption. It gives us no leas favourable an idea of the writer himself, and much more confidence in the genuine- ness of his descriptions, that he is not ashamed to confess this fact. "It would have been quite consonant with one's spirits," be writes of an occasion in the Egyptian Campaign when a squadron of cavalry which he had ridden up to were suddenly ordered to charge the enemy, "to have gone off with the cavalry, and ridden with them in the charge, for I found, alas! that the wild exhilaration of the battlefield seizes parsons as well as other men ; but this course, though per- haps as safe as any, would scarcely have been within the strict lines of duty." Later on in the same day, our author was very nearly obliged to show himself a thoroughly militant member of the Church. He was staying by the body of an unfortunate trooper of the Life Guards, whose leg had been shattered by a shell, waiting and hoping for assistance to carry away and attend to the wounded man, when he saw " a strange group, mostly white-clad, approaching." The chaplain, after examining them as well as he could,—
" Could only conclude that they were Egyptians, and that we were in a desperate case. I had no doubt or hesitancy what to do. Parson or no parson, not only my own life, but the life of another was in lay hands. Easily enough could I have cleared off, for my swift-footed Selim ' stood by me, and no Egyptian horse could come on his heels I knew. But the poor lad in whose body I had managed to keep life for the last hour was my charge, and I could not leave him. Very easefully, therefore, I examined my weapon, and placed it ready to my hand. I said nothing to my man ; indeed, I thought in his semi-conscious state he would notice nothing ; but I resolved to do all I could for him and myself, and felt perfectly justified for once in assuming the militant. I mounted my horse, and through my glass watched the on-comers, Nearer and nearer they came, toiling through the sand or else using great caution. How long the moments seemed ! Not a soul of our men was near to give us a hand, for the tide of battle had r)lled on far to our right front."
Fortunately, on a nearer view, the advancing ptrty were found to be no enemies, but am. English surgeon and some of the Bearer Company, almost exhausted with hours of weary walking over the deep sand. Years afterwards, Mr. Male met the trooper restored to health, and as active as a man with a mechanical leg can be ; and found to his astonishment that, though apparently unconscious, the wounded man had seen everything, and fully realised the apparent danger. "I thought it was all up with me," he said, "when I saw those fellows coming and you draw your revolver." Another cir- cumstance connected with 'this anecdote is worth noting. Though the chaplains following the Tel-el.Kebir Expedition were mounted, the surgeons—no doubt with a view to pro- mote their general utility, expedite their movements, and prevent them from being incapacitated by fatigue—were required to follow the army on foot. It is through such regulations as these that the name of the War Office has become honoured and beloved in all branches of the service.
As a non-combatant, our author naturally enjoys the lookerton's privilege of seeing most of the game. It is interesting to find the immense importance which he attaches to the much-criticised night-charge of the cavalry at Kassassin. "Without it who can say but that, perchance, the catastrophes of Isandhlwana and Maiwand might have been repeated here in Egypt." This is strong language ; but the position of the British troops that evening does indeed seem to have been a most perilous one. The force under Sir Gerald Graham occupying Kassassin was only 1,800 strong, and had been engaged all day with an army greatly superior in numbers, which was being continually augmented by fresh reinforce- ments. For artillery, they had only one Krupp gun, taken from the enemy, and two 13-pounders, and the stock of ammunition for the latter bad given out by evening. In these critical circumstances, the assistance of the cavalry squadron—which had halted some miles off, under the impres- sion that its services would not be required—was called in, and the great charge made which knocked the Egyptian force to pieces, and -put a decisive end to the attack. An interesting account is also given of the night-march across the desert preceding the attack on Arabi's position at Tel-el- ICebir, showing the extraordinary good fortune which attended the British troops. When day broke, the advancing columns
found themselves within three hundred yards of the enemy's stockade, and the assault was made at once. The defenders, on the other hand, had naturally expected to catch sight of the attacking force at a much greater distance, and their rifles were sighted for eight hundred yards, so that the tremendous fire which they immediately opened swept over the heads of the stormers, and only took effect on the Guards' Brigade, who were in reserve, and who suffered considerably, their leader, the Duke of Connaught, having apparently a narrow escape. But for this circumstance, Mr. Male supposes that "no troops in the world could have stood against that fearful opening fire."
Many stories of devotion and heroism are naturally to be found in these pages, as well as many instances of passive fortitude and resignation to suffering, of which a chaplain is likely to see more than any other officer. As examples, we need only refer to such scenes as that of the calm resolution with which Lord St. Vincent composed himself to his death in the desert, after ordering off the surgeons to look after men who might yet be saved ; or the touching appeal of the dying Wyatt 'Rawson, the naval officer who guided the attacking
force in their march on Tel-el-Kehir : "Didn't I lead them straight, General?" Among less tragical tales of gallantry is that of the Engineer officer, Lieutenant Burn Murdoch, who rode on to seize the town of Zagazig after the final rout of Arabi's forces, attended only by five troopers of the Gth Bengal Cavalry. "Dashing into the station, he found four crowded trains, with steam up, just preparing to make off. Reining up in front of the foremost, be ordered the driver to dismount, but he refused and had to be shot." At the sound of the shot, numbers of the fugitive troops and others who were hoping to make their escape, left the carriages and fled in panic, and Zagazig—the capture of which, as a great rail- way centre, was of the utmost importance—was held by the gallant Engineer and his five Indian troopers till sufficient reinforcements arrived. Among many deeds of daring, we are glad to and one achieved by men who are professionally non-combatants. It was during the first day at Kassassin :—
" Soule of the 1st Bearer Company of the Army Hospital Corps hail the wounded under care in a certain part of the field, which presently, by the movements of the troops, became isolated. The surgoon, howaver, in charge would not allow any change of posi- tion lest the wounded should suffer. So the forty men, filling their haversacks with sand, made a little defence with them ; and then, with the rifles of the wounded, themselves defended the spot, until the cavalry had scattered their foe."
So far the reminiscences we have quoted show rather more of the Army than of the Chaplain, the Sword rather than the Word. This is not, however, to be taken as a proof of our author having devoted himself to stories of battle rather than to more peaceful and improving scenes ; but to our own estimate of the fallen nature of man, which is likely to find most interest where there is most fighting. For this reason we have deliberarely confined our remarks to the part of the work which deals with the Egyptian Campaign, and have taken no notice of Mr. Male's lees exciting experiences in Afghanistan. There is one story, however, of the relations of Tommy Atkins to his pastor in more or less peaceful times, which is worth recording. Sir Samuel Browne's Afghan expeditionary force was eating its head off in camp outside Jellalaba.d in idleness and discomfort, when some of Mr. Male's congregation asked why, as they seemed likely to be there for some time, perhaps for the whole summer, they should not build a church ? The chaplain laughed, but the men were in earnest, and the question was seriously considered, as well as how it should be done. There were plenty of stones all over the country, but there seemed no way of utilising them :—
" We concluded that we could not in any wise build up, lint that it might not be su dillittit- to (lig town. Already good. deal of excavation in connection with the tents had taken place. Why might we not adopt the same contrivance on a larger scale and dig out our church ? First it was necessary to sketch, in amateur architect fashion, a rough design of the groundwork of the church. This was not difficult. Moreover, it was, as far as I can describe it, pure Gothic in style. Then a number of strong fellows set to work with pick and shovel, and commenced to excavate the seating and aisles according to the delineation on our plan, digging down about a foot and a half. In a very short time this part of the work was completed, and seating accommodation was provided for more than a hundred men, with lectern at one end--in fact, the ground- work of a little church in all respects complete. Then remained the question of walls and roof. And here we came to a full stop —for awhile. I thought it possible that the Commissariat Stores I might afford us some help in the way of disused tents. This, I however, was out of the question„ on inquiry, until, at the last
moment, two Sepoy pais, or native tents, were found, which were not in immediate use, and were handed over to us for a time at any rate. Admirably they met the case. Their very style was Gothic when pitched ; and this being done, our church was com- plete. Rome was not built in a day, but our sanctuary at Jellalabad was constructed in a day, or thereabouts ; and the men were heartily proud of having thus put up the first and only Protestant Church in all Afghanistan."
Of his own claims to rank as Anglican Apostle of that country, our author is too modest to say anything.
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