The Zeriba And Palisades Were Knocked About
In Many Places, And At A Quarter To Seven A Cluster Of Straw Huts Caught
Fire And Began To Burn Briskly.
At a quarter-past seven the infantry were
ordered to form in column for assault.
The plan of the attack for the army was simple. The long,
deployed line were to advance steadily against the entrenchments,
subduing by their continual fire that of the enemy. They were then to
tear the zeriba to pieces. Covered by their musketry, the dense columns
of assault which had followed the line were to enter the defences
through the gaps, deploy to the right, and march through the enclosure,
clearing it with the bayonet and by fire.
At twenty minutes to eight the Sirdar ordered his bugles to sound the
general advance. The call was repeated by all the brigades, and the clear
notes rang out above the noise of the artillery. The superior officers -
with the exception of Hunter, Maxwell, and MacDonald - dismounted and placed
themselves at the head of their commands. The whole mass of the infantry,
numbering nearly eleven thousand men, immediately began to move forward
upon the zeriba. The scene as this great force crested the ridge and
advanced down the slope was magnificent and tremendous. Large solid columns
of men, preceded by a long double line, with the sunlight flashing on their
bayonets and displaying their ensigns, marched to the assault in regular
and precise array. The pipes of the Highlanders, the bands of the
Soudanese, and the drums and fifes of the English regiments added a wild
and thrilling accompaniment.
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