Goicouria's force was finally scattered, and
MacIver escaped from the Spanish soldiery only by putting to sea
in an open boat, in which he endeavored to make Jamaica.
On the third day out he was picked up by a steamer and again
landed at Nassau, from which place he returned to New York.
At that time in this city there was a very interesting man named
Thaddeus P. Mott, who had been an officer in our army and later
had entered the service of Ismail Pasha. By the Khedive he had
been appointed a general of division and had received permission
to reorganize the Egyptian army.
His object in coming to New York was to engage officers for that
service. He came at an opportune moment. At that time the city
was filled with men who, in the Rebellion, on one side or the
other, had held command, and many of these, unfitted by four
years of soldiering for any other calling, readily accepted the
commissions which Mott had authority to offer. New York was not
large enough to keep MacIver and Mott long apart, and they soon
came to an understanding. The agreement drawn up between them
is a curious document. It is written in a neat hand on sheets of
foolscap tied together like a Commencement-day address, with
blue ribbon. In it MacIver agrees to serve as colonel of cavalry in
the service of the Khedive. With a few legal phrases omitted, the
document reads as follows:
"Agreement entered into this 24th day of March, 1870, between
the Government of his Royal Highness and the Khedive of Egypt,
represented by General Thaddeus P.
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