A Black Corps d'Elite: An Egyptian Sudanese Conscript Battalion with the French Army in Mexico, 1863-1867, and its Survivors in Subsequent African History

8. War in 1866

Chapter 8 War in 1866 1. 'Ali Jirun Carries the Dispatches In the new Sudanese cavalry detachment was Trooper'Ali Jifun who describes his adventures as a mounted man on a dangerous mission: Fifty of us under an Egyptian officer, by name'Abd ai-Rahman Efendi Musa, were now formed into a troop of cavalry for patrolling and general duty on the lines of communication....While I was [based] at Veracruz employed as a trooper I used to carry the mail between the railhead at Paso del Macho and Cordoba, and, being a wakil ombashi,I usually had charge of a small party of men. Originally the mail had been entrusted to Mexican irregular horsemen, but these had been so often intercepted that the General decided to try the Sudanese. Just as we started on our first expedition several dispatch-riders had been cut off and killed, so that at this moment it was practically impossible to get the letters through. Bazaine gave orders for us to do the work, and on our bey calling for volunteers, we all stepped forward and said we were willing to go. Finally I was selected to go in charge of five picked men mounted on the best horses of the detachment and one evening at sunset we started off. We rode all night, taking care to keep well clear of the beaten track, and so soon as dawn came we hid in the forest. Next night we traveled on as before and in the morning we found ourselves in the middle of an Indian village. The Indians however, turned out to be a friendly tribe who had wandered into this hostile district; so after giving us food and warning us that we must not stop for fear of being seen by the Mexicans, they sent us on our way. Presently we 95 96 Black Corps d'Elite met a single Mexican who told us that we would certainly be taken as the whole road to Cordoba was beset by horsemen. So we turned off into the wood and hid once more till night. At sunrise we started again and rode until morning when we found the forest ended and, far away on the great plain stretching out before us was Cordoba. So we put off our disguise and waving a white handkerchief on a spear we galloped in. The commandant was greatly pleased with our successful ride as he had been unable to get his dispatches or to hold any communication with the base for several days.2 2. Another Combined Operation: Captain Testart's Patrol In his report on 28 March to the war minister, Bazaine explained his plan for a combined operation to land troops from the sea to reinforce Tlacotalpan and connect with a second force. These would advance from Cordoba by way of Omealca via Cosamaloapan to meet Commandant Cloue's gunboats waiting at Tlacotalpan. The object of this land and river movement was to attempt to clear the vast delta of enemy forces commanded by General Alejandro Garcia, second in command to the prestigious Porfirio Diaz, chief of the Republican eastern military zone. Bazaine informed Paris that he was determined to place a more permanent, reinforced, garrison in Tlacotalpan by dispatching from Veracruz by sea 200 Egyptians and 100 Tirailleurs. Tlacotalpan would never be safe until the enemy had been ejected from the countryside round the town. Meanwhile, to distract the enemy from sending reinforcements from the interior, the Imperial commander-in-chief, General Count Thun, from his headquarters at Puebla, would threaten the country round Tuxtepec, the riverhead for navigation by the smallest craft on the Rio Papaloapan. Captain Testart3 in command of the land column set out from Cordoba with a force composed of 100 Sudanese, 100 Tirailleurs, a section of light artillery, and a troop of Imperial cavalry under Colonel Figuerero. They crossed the bridge over Rio Blanco at OmeaJca and, following the river, passed through Cosamoloapan, which the enemy had abandoned, and arrived at Tlacotalpan simultaneously with three gunboats: Pique, Tactique, and Diligence sent from Alvarado by Commandant Cloue, commanding the French naval squadron in the Gulf of Mexico. Testart had taken only two days on the march. By 9 May, Bazaine could inform Paris that the combined operation had been completed and that the units involved had returned to their posts, the Sudanese to Veracruz.4 War in 1866 97 Captain...