Dr. Johnson's account of his captivity among the Abyssinians—Saved from death by Welled Sallassee—Death of Dr. Mehemet Ali—Sad case of Major Dorholtz—Terribly wounded and brutally treated—Slain in a duel with Count Turnheysen after returning to Egypt—Implication of Prince Hassan in the matter—Incidents farcical and tragical before Abyssinia—Evil influences which sapped the military régime—Deep-seated hostility of officers and men to the Abyssinian war—Statu quo ante bellum—Unfortunate effects of Egyptian failure on the Khedive's power and prestige—A personal word about the relations of General Loring with the Khedive and his court—Decorations received for distinguished service.
THE campaign being virtually over with the change of troops from Fort Gura to Khaya Khor, it was not long before this stronghold was also abandoned. For the time being a strong force was placed in it, and the army was ordered to Massowah. I am indebted to Dr. T. D. Johnson, now of Clarkesville, Tennessee, for much information concerning the habits and customs of the Abyssinians in their camp and on the march. It will be recollected that the doctor was wounded and captured in the affair of the 7th of March, after displaying great courage in the discharge of duty. During his first few days in the hands of the enemy he underwent most painful suffering, until by good fortune he came under the observation of the noted chief Raz Welled Sallassee, who controlled the powerful provinces of Amhara and Semien, and was, next to the king, the most distinguished man in the army. This prince, the descendant of the famous Welled Sellassee, claimed royal lineage. His ancestors more than seventy years before had supreme power in Abyssinia, and were even in that early day spoken of as singularly able and merciful, brave in war and amiable in peace. Fond of white men, he loved to have them around him. This man, to whom the doctor owes his life, inherited his ancestors' generous qualities of mind and heart. Protecting this gallant gentleman in his extreme peril, though savage in his instincts and training, it is agreeable to record that he displayed in this instance a generous humanity. The doctor, naked and bound, was taken out on several occasions to die, and was saved only because the man who had captured him, and who, according to Abyssinian custom, had the right to kill him, relented upon looking into the face of his prisoner. It was on one of these occasions that the prince learned of his intended fate and interposed his authority. From that time Dr. Johnson remained under his protection for the forty-five days of captivity that he endured. “ The prince was sixty years of age, six feet high, with fine features, stout and muscular, and agile as a cat. He was grave and dignified in his bearing, unless warmed with strong drink, when he became a jolly good fellow. He longed for his home in the city of Gondar, where his family lived under the shadow of the old Portuguese palace, a relic of that adventurous people.”[*] The doctor says the fighting strength was represented as nearly 60,000, but their total, including women and children, was over 100,000. He states that on the morning of the 10th from four hundred to five hundred Egyptian prisoners were shot dead in the Abyssinian camp. Their manner of killing was to make them run by striking them with their clubs, or pricking them with their spears, and then, amid jeers and laughter, to shoot them in the back as they ran. He speaks of seeing Mehemet Ali, the celebrated Egyptian surgeon, after he was taken prisoner by them, who upon meeting him seemed very much affected, throwing his arms around his neck and saying to him in French, “ Mon ami;” but they were immediately torn asunder, and he never saw him again. This noted man was gentle and kind in his nature, and had been liberally educated in Europe, where he had a high reputation as a surgeon. It is said that the Abyssinians on the march left him in the charge of another prisoner, one of the Soudanese (black) Egyptian soldiers, to hurry on with him. The doctor, aged and infirm, was on foot, and this soldier, afraid of being left behind, murdered him. It is said that this crime was avenged by executing the brutal assassin.
It now becomes a painful duty to speak of one most unfortunate in his sufferings and sad fate. I know the story will appeal to the heart wherever human sympathy exists. Major Dorholtz had seen service in Switzerland, where he was born, and was in the Sicilian army for a short time. Through General Stone he was appointed major of the staff, and had rendered constant service before coming to Abyssinia. Always ready for duty, he performed good service during the campaign—far more so than those of greater pretension, who, nerved by envy and malice, sought to injure him. In scouting or as an engineer, he gave his days and nights to the service. The major, as I have stated, when the enemy's cavalry was near him, had dismounted to adjust his bridle. Losing his spectacles, and having a defective vision, he did not see his imminent peril. Though told to mount and take the chance of his horse following, he did not do so, and was soon pierced through the lower part of his face with a lance, which tore the flesh from his entire chin leaving it hanging merely by a shred. The side of his head was cut to the bone just above the ear by a sword slash. His captors, taking his entire clothing, carried him, naked and bound, into their camp. The agony that this officer suffered in the hands of these savages I have not the heart to describe. Getting his hands loose, he bound up his bleeding head and held the reeking flesh to his chin until he could obtain a bandage with which to bind it still more closely. Starved and without clothing, exposed to the burning sun by day and the frightful cold by night, he became a blister and a running sore. His sufferings must have moved some savage heart, as in the case of Dr. Johnson, to spare his life. Unlike him, however, he suffered horribly nearly his entire time with the enemy. During this time he prayed to the Almighty for death as a release from his excruciating agony. After forty-five days of mental and bodily suffering he was ordered to the tent of the Egyptian commissioners who had come to arrange for a delivery of the prisoners, and subsequently to the tent of the king. I give the next scene in the tragedy in Dr. Johnson's own words. “ I found, on arriving at the commissioners, all the prisoners, and a more motley crowd was never seen. Many of them were entirely naked, and a majority of them had nothing on but a ragged, dirty piece of cloth tied round their loins. The appearance of poor Major Dorholtz, a Swiss officer of the staff, and the only white man except myself captured, would have moved a heart of stone. The clothing he wore when captured was all gone except a short gray sack coat, and that was filled with dried blood, with which it had been saturated from the wounds he had received on the 7th of March. He had an Abyssinian shirt and drawers much the worse for wear, and attached to his feet without socks were sandals. His feet had been blistered by the sun and were now a complete sore. His chin was turned one side from the spear wound he had received, and he looked as if he had not eaten anything during his whole captivity. The prisoners were soon marched to the quarters of the king, where we were detained for several hours. Finally the Peace Commissioner and one of the ministers of King John came to the guard line, when three Arab officers and myself were invited to enter the king's tent. They stopped Major Dorholtz when he attempted to follow, because, as I supposed, he was not considered presentable.” This gentleman, who had been so cruelly treated, it seems was in too horrible a condition for even his savage majesty to gaze on, though King John had revelled in carnage and massacre only a few days before. Major Dorholtz, through a foul slander, fell under the displeasure of Prince Hassan when he was in great suffering and nigh unto death in the enemy's power. The falsehood, hatched in camp by some infamous scoundrel, was that when a prisoner he had served the single cannon of the enemy in the battle which has been described as happening on the 9th of March. I have not sufficient evidence to enable me to name the author. Prince Hassan gave me the information that such a malicious story was talked about in his coterie. I was astounded that in relating it he gave me to understand that it was true. I indignantly denounced it as an infamous lie, and subsequently the deplorable situation of the major too painfully proved the injustice that had been done him. On coming to Cairo, his mind disturbed, and his nervous system shattered by his suffering from long confinement, and with his wounds still bleeding, he became involved in a duel with Count Turnheysen, an Austrian, who had as his second a Count Sormani, both of these officers having served with the army in the Abyssinian war. The count was an experienced swordsman, and Major Dorholtz, who had but slight knowledge of the small sword, the weapon used, was unfortunately run through the body and instantly killed. This terrible affair sent a thrill of horror through the entire foreign population of Egypt, and particularly that of Cairo, where the duel occurred. What caused the sensation to be still more profound, and subjected Prince Hassan and the government of the Khedive to the severest criticism was that these two officers were immediately promoted as aides-de-camp to the prince, who was then Minister of War, and that they were also decorated through his recommendation. His connection with the story concerning this unfortunate officer and his subsequent act point to him as particeps criminis, and he was so regarded by every humane and right-thinking man in Egypt. History will record that if Prince Hassan did not flesh his maiden sword with much distinction in Abyssinia, or later in the Turkish war with Russia bind many green laurels around his brow, he certainly earned the remarkable renown of having his reputation stained with the blood of the brave Dorholtz, though the deed was done without any personal danger to himself.
Before our leaving for Massowah a tragic scene took place at Khaya Khor. It seems that, after the fighting was all over in the valley, there was a major of the guards accompanying and attached to Ismail Pacha Kamil's regiment, then marching to the front, who, frightened, it is said, and only malingering, was refused a place on the sick list by the doctor and remained at one of the depots in the rear. Upon coming to the front he was reduced to the ranks. Colonel Lockett, who accompanied the regiment in which this major was serving on its march from the rear, gives the most ludicrous account of their march to the front, which shows only too plainly the state of mind of the soldiers even as far back as Bahr Rezza, some thirty miles in rear of all danger. The commander of the regiment, a noted fellow by the name of Ismail Pacha Kamil, had with him 2000 men. Their road began by winding round a rocky chasm with high cliffs on each side and thickly wooded. Receiving wondrous accounts from those who had gone to the rear, of the daring and numbers of the enemy, and having their fears excited, they imagined a foe in every turn of the road as they marched. Keenly on the alert, shortly after leaving the post they saw a number of the large-sized monkeys (Cenocephalus), so common in Abyssinia, prowling on the sides of the mountain just above them, and frisking gayly about. The monkeys accidentally loosening the rock upon which they were treading, it came tumbling down the cliff. The monkeys stood up, chattering and grinning alongside the trees to which they were holding on by one paw. Attracted by the falling of the stones, on looking up and seeing these strange creatures and wise-looking gray-whiskered old gentlemen, the troops took them for Abyssinians, and thereupon the whole regiment, seized with sudden fright, went pell-mell, making tracks to the rear in what is called in America a regular “ stampede.”
After leaving the next station (Addi Rasso) a short distance they were again stampeded. This time they succeeded in forming squares. One officer, high in rank, lost his hat in getting upon his knees behind a horse inside of the square, and thus they awaited further developments. The formidable enemy proved to be two friendly Abyssinians with a yoke of oxen going quietly along the road.
Another incident is told of a battalion coming to Addi Rasso after the place had been abandoned by the troops in advance. In moving away quite a large quantity of grain was scattered about. In the absence of any other command, these large monkeys of which we have already discoursed, marched into the fort and taking possession, seized the scattered corn left behind, enjoying the repast and feeling happy. It was their pleasure to add amusement to the scene, and they commenced the performance by rolling and tumbling upon the broad, level parapet of the old fort. Just as they were in the midst of these gymnastics the battalion came within sight, and suddenly the command was halted in great excitement. Upon seeing that the fort was occupied, it was supposed that the enemy was in possession. Field-glasses were in requisition, and a reconnoitring party was sent in advance. Luckily they found that the monkeys were not their bete noir, and they resumed their advance. The monkeys next reconnoitered, and finding the enemy too strong for them, packed their grain and their young warriors upon their backs and deliberately marched out in regular order as the new arrivals marched in.
A lieutenant belonging to the regiment commanded by Osman Bey Ghalib was struck by his colonel, the bey, just named. The lieutenant, mortified at the degradation put upon him, told the colonel that, beaten without cause, he did not think he was worthy of holding a commission. Upon this he was at once reduced to the ranks. A bright, well-educated young officer, he had served gallantly in the Arrendrup affair, and this gallant bey was one of the distinguished officers, belonging to the command of Osman Pacha, who skulked behind the breastworks at Khaya Khor with the redoubtable pacha at the time of the affair of the 7th of March and was coward enough to strike the lieutenant a blow which he knew he could not return without death. Subsequently it is said he joined the magnificent Osman in telling the unblushing lie that he had slain 800 men on that day (7th of March).
These two officers, the major already mentioned and the lieutenant, though both had been already punished for any crime they had been charged with, were, on the day we left Khaya Khor, chained by the neck to eight or ten deserters and led out of the fort and shot to death in the back. I cannot answer for the major, but I look upon the killing of the lieutenant as a base, unmitigated murder, instigated and carried into effect without just cause by men who ought to have been themselves shot for worse than cowardice. It would have been well if some of those could have been shot who by every act showed hostility to the war from the commencement, who by their example and counsel impaired the morale and discipline of the army, and who in a thousand ways destroyed the confidence of the soldiers in their officers, which, reacting, destroyed all confidence in the soldiers on the part of the officers. If some of those who thwarted the movements of the army, being well known, had been dealt with in the outset as they deserved, there would have been a far different result to record. The soldiers were taught in every conceivable manner by their commander and many of his officers to believe that they were engaged in an unnecessary war ; that Egypt had more territory now than she could manage, and that it was cruel to bring them all the way to Abyssinia to be butchered. It was instilled into their minds that they were in constant danger at every step they took in advance ; that they had neither the courage, strength, nor experience to cope with the enemy, who were so much more brave, powerful, and warlike than they.
In the first fight their commanding general and his higher officers were seen to run deliberately from the field of battle, deserting the army, when with a little courage they could have saved it. Others skulked behind breastworks when they should have been in battle.
It was not to be expected that under such circumstances an ignorant, semi-civilized soldiery should have acted differently from what I have described. After an unpleasant residence at Massowah, the hottest place on the border of the Red Sea, we were ordered to Cairo.
Ratib, always sick of the war, neglecting sanitary precautions, permitted his forts and depots to become cesspools, and this added to the great desire of the Egyptians to end the war. Many at Cairo lending their aid, he finally succeeded in accomplishing his purpose. Those equally disgusted with him were finally made happy in engineering themselves out of the country by persuading the Khedive to give up the enterprise. With it they abandoned every prospect of conquest and all hope of thereafter visiting Abyssinia with punishment for the terrible destruction of the lives of the Egyptian soldiers, or recovering the enormous treasure that the war had cost Egypt. The peace left King John as hostile as ever and much more formidable, so that whenever it suits his interest or pleasure he can without danger harass with havoc and war Bogos, Gallibat, and the whole extensive frontier of Egypt which borders Abyssinia.
In closing this short history of the campaign in Abyssinia and of my service in Egypt I wish to correct some statements which do wrong to the kindness and hospitality of the Khedive. It is well to state that the Khedive, Ismail Pacha, was a good deal distressed by the results of the Abyssinian war, bringing as it did more financial trouble upon him, and placing him still further in the meshes of his unrelenting bondholders. As a natural consequence he was not as good-natured as, perhaps, he ought to have been in listening to the details of the campaign. After the storm blew over, no one was more ready to learn the facts and to do justice to those who had served him in good faith. It so happened that those whose incapacity did him most harm had their friends at court, and as it often happens in Mahometan countries, there was no more potent influence in propping them up than the women of the harems, an influence the more powerful because unseen. What did they care for the war when their bey or pacha was concerned? It mattered little to them whether their lords came back with honor or not, so that they returned. Living out of the world, in perfect seclusion and ignorance, never reading a book or newspaper or conversing with any intelligent human being about subjects of such small importance as war, it was impossible for them to know anything of it, even if it had been desirable that they should. There was one respect in which they were learned in a sublime degree—namely, in all the secret, subtile windings and intricacies of court intrigues. There is no disguising the fact that these women and their coadjutors environed the Khedive and bound him tightly with their invisible threads, and thus the hated war question was kept from him. It often happened that invitations were ordered by him in person to be sent to Americans to assist at his soirées and dinners, and sometimes for important purposes. The officials through whom they were sent often failed to transmit the notices, trusting that in the numbers invited the Khedive might overlook the special instances, and if he complained of the non-appearance of any one, particularly those invited upon business, a convenient lie was always ready to serve the purpose, and their object was thus gained through delay. The difficulty with him was to fix responsibility. Upon these occasions he often sought those who were neglected or whom he wished to see on business, and expressed regret that he had not met them. I am the more particular in stating these facts because it has been said, in criticism of the Khedive, that he failed to invite myself and others on the occasion of a dinner to General Grant, while that distinguished American was in Egypt. It is due the Khedive to say that he especially ordered a number of Americans to be invited (there were but two, I believe, present), and he was surprised that there were so few there. It was a compliment to the general, and he would have been glad, as he subsequently said, to have had more of his own countrymen present. Who interposed to prevent it in this particular instance it is unprofitable to inquire. I have never known a more thoughtful and generous-hearted man in all the courtesies of life than Ismail. During the last few years of my stay in that country, owing to his financial embarrassments, these entertainments, at first so profuse, were exceedingly rare, and only on special occasions were they given. It was not true, except possibly in isolated cases, that access was ever denied by the Khedive to Americans, and I believe in these isolated cases it was through the interference of some designing person who had a sinister end to gain in preventing it. As a rule it was of their own accord that they stayed away.
During the ten years of my residence in Egypt, in no single instance was I ever refused an interview, nor was there ever lacking the most perfect courtesy and consideration, nor was I ever denied any request that I made of him. I received two distinguished decorations from the Khedive, and was promoted from a Lewan Pacha to the rank of Féreek Pacha, the latter one of the highest military grades in Egypt or Turkey. The Osmanli, the first decoration I received, was presented to me in person by the Khedive. It was given to me for the first year of my service. The decoration of the Grand Officer of the Medjidieh was bestowed for subsequent services, through the chief of staff of the Egyptian army, the most usual channel of giving these decorations to the individual honored, particularly when there are several, as there were in this instance, to receive them. It was presented to me in person by General Stone in the name of the Khedive in the most complimentary manner.
In order that I might know all the facts connected with the bestowal of these decorations by the Khedive, and correct statements which have been made on the subject, I addressed a letter to General Stone, chief of staff of the army, and received from him the following reply :
“ I recommended to the Khedive, as was my duty as chief of staff, the bestowal upon you of the decoration of Grand Officer of the Medjidieh, and it was cheerfully and in the most complimentary manner accorded. Upon its coming into my keeping, it was my great desire to make its presentation as pleasing as possible, and that you should appreciate it as deserved so high a compliment.
“ I applied to the Khedive for decorations for Colston, Field, Lockett, Derrick, Irgins, Wilson, and Johnson, and all were given in the most complimentary manner, except in the case of Lockett, which was prevented by the intrigue of a foreigner. Colonel Dye having stated that in case a decoration should be offered without promotion, he would refuse it, I made no official application for a decoration for him, because it would have been an intended insult to the Khedive had the decoration been tendered and refused. It was, of course, my duty to prevent such an occurrence. I thought that Dye by his service and his wound was entitled to a decoration, but he having (in advance and before it was tendered) declared that he would refuse it, I made no application for him.”
When decorations were conferred, it was expected that those honored should call in an informal manner upon the Khedive and his Minister of War. I had already returned my thanks, in writing, to the Khedive. With another who had been a recipient, I made this visit. The Khedive expressed himself pleased with the visit ; and this duty of simple etiquette ended, we next paid our respects to Prince Hassan, the Minister of War. I do not think the young gentleman, though he was extremely complaisant, recovered from his surprise during our stay with him ; for it was evident that it was the first information he had received of our being decorated by the Khedive. This, of course, was not strange, for the prince was only put in office to keep somebody else out, being a mere instrument for special purposes, and it made little difference whether he was informed or not. Confused in his ignorance, he muttered in response something intended for a compliment, but it seemed as if the matter disturbed him. Having performed the duty expected under such circumstances, an early opportunity was taken to relieve Hassan of his embarrassment.
For the many honors bestowed upon me by Ismail Pacha, I cannot but feel kindly, particularly as they were given me without any personal application to him or through any of my friends. So far as it has come to my knowledge, no person or official ever mentioned my name to him for these honors except General Stone, the chief of staff of the Egyptian army, who did it in his official capacity from a sense of duty. I have simply referred to these incidents, though of a personal character, in order that the Khedive may be properly understood in the matter, inasmuch as they have been differently represented.
I was especially gratified, after ten years of varied service in his government, that he should have publicly expressed not only his pleasure with it, but a request at the same time that I should remain still longer in it. Though I had been desirous for more than a year to return to my own country, having made all my arrangements to do so, I should not have left had I known the troubles which beset this extraordinary man, and which resulted most unjustly in his abdication. In his exile he has my sympathies, and he will always find at least one who respects and honors him.
* As everything connected with the Portuguese, who lived so long in Abyssinia, beginning as early as the middle of the 16th century, is interesting, I shall speak further of the evidences of their enterprise in that country. Their principal city was Gondar, in the province of Amhara. It is the capital of Abyssinia and par excellence their most famous Christian city, having no less than forty-three churches. It has always been the residence of their emperors and kings. Many of its buildings are of stone. The most remarkable is the palace, constructed by the Portuguese of a beautiful red stone, still admirably preserved for the use of the sovereigns. This grand old building is situated on an immense plateau, and notwithstanding the corroding touch of time and the desecrating hand of man, its massive walls still stand intact, surrounded by an outer wall pierced with vaulted doorways, through which the inner building is entered. The main building is partially preserved, and is still inhabited, its massive square tower and numerous smaller ones giving it a castellated and majestic appearance. There are numerous spacious halls which by stairways lead to a broad platform, and there were once extensive balconies, but they are now scarcely recognizable. The windows and doors, miserably patched to make it habitable for the semi-barbarians, give it a hideous and dilapidated look, and detract from its character as a grand old ruin. Connected with this palace is a smaller one, the home of the queen. It is more graceful and ornamental, and is adorned with Greek crosses, cornices, and balustrades. Its architecture is good, and reflects credit upon the Portuguese both for their attainments and gallantry. There are many other structures which tell the traveller that the stranger was building up beautiful cities and massive works, when the people with savage ferocity either forced them from their country or destroyed them in it. There are other structures connected with this immense palace which have interested travellers. Gondar is more important for its commerce and manufactures than any other city in Abyssinia. It is also the residence of the abouna and his assistant, the etchekia, of whom we have already written so fully. [Back]