diagram: troop positions and movements near the River Nile
At 6.45 Major Williams's battery of Royal Artillery, on the left of the position, opened fire at a range of 2,800 yards. Theguns made good practice, the shells bursting in the midst of the Dervish ranks. The enemy replied with a few rounds from some guns on the Khalifa's left, but their shells all fell short. The intention appeared to be to cross the Sirdar's front, but, suddenly swerving to their right, the main body of the Dervish forces bore down towards the southern face, where the British division was posted. Simultaneously with this movement another mass of Dervishes swarmed out from behind Jebel Surgham, to assail the left flank of the position. Though their riflemen, mounting the hill, opened a long range fire on the zeriba, this attack, being checked by the fire of the gunboats, was not pressed home.
Thus far the fire of the artillery, which had been supplemented by that from the Maxim-Nordenfeldts, though it thinned the enemy's ranks, failed to stop their advance, and in a short time the troops on the left and front were hotly engaged.
The Guards, who were the first of the British infantry to engage, opened with section volleys from their Lee-Metfords at a range of 2,000 yards. Then, as the range diminished, the fire ran along to the Warwicks, the Highlanders, the Lincolns, and later on to Maxwell's brigade. From one end to the other there was a continuous blaze of flame, the men firing both in volleys and independently. The Lee-Metfords grew so hot that the men in the firing line had to change them for others held by their comrades in the rear. The weapons gave out no smoke, so the view was uninterrupted. The Dervishes were seen falling in heaps, whilst the ground in front was white with dead men's clothing. Constantly reinforced from the rear, the assailants made repeated efforts to reach the lines of infantry, and as whole ranks went down others rushed in to fill their places. When the front rank got within 800 yards of the British force, the fire became even more deadly, and the further advance was practically arrested. Even at this range, here and there, small bodies of Dervishes continued to make isolated attempts to reach the lines, but only to perish in the effort. What took place became less a fight than an execution. One old sheikh, bearing a banner, headed one of the rushes. In a few seconds he was left with but five comrades, who in their turn all dropped, and he alone charged to within 200 yards, at which point he folded his arms across his face and fell dead.
Up to this period there had been but few casualties, and thefight had been for the Sirdar's force about the least dangerous that a soldier ever took part in. While the original advance was being made, a few only of the Dervish riflemen paused to fire, and, more for the purpose of working up their martial ardour than anything else, discharged their weapons in the air. Even when they took the trouble to aim, the bullets from their Remingtons all fell short. As soon as the opposing forces got closer together, things changed, and the enemy's fire began to tell. At the moment when the Dervish spearmen were being shot down in their mad rushes, a party of 200 of their riflemen managed to get within about 300 yards of the front, from which point, under cover of a bank, they opened fire. The riflemen on Jebel Surgham, though shelled by the gunboats, persisted in their fusillade, and casualties became frequent. Captain Caldecott, of the Warwicks, was shot through the head, and died an hour later. One or two other officers, as well as two newspaper correspondents, were wounded, and twenty-five of the Camerons and over a dozen of the Seaforths had to be carried to the rear. Eventually the riflemen in front were dislodged by Major Williams's battery, which, firing shell among them, caused them to get up and run, only, however, to be shot down by the Warwicks, Camerons, and Lincolns, not a single rifleman being left alive.
The attack had hitherto been almost entirely directed on the British troops, but as the fight proceeded the enemy were gradually driven more and more to the right, thus leaving the 2nd Brigade (Lyttelton's) out of action, and giving the 1st Brigade (Wauchope's) and Maxwell's Egyptians all the work to do. Seeing this, Lyttelton moved up the Lancashires and the Rifles in support of the 1st Brigade.
After a while the enemy's onrushes began to diminish. It was not so much that the charging spearmen were driven back, as that they were all killed. The fire of the troops then slackened. Just before it ceased altogether a last Dervish effort was made. This time it took the form of a cavalry attack. A party of Baggara horsemen, about 200 in number, formed up at a distance of about 1,200 yards and gallantly charged Maxwell's whole brigade. A more hopeless enterprise could scarcely be imagined. Nevertheless, though swept down by rifle and Maxim fire, the remnant courageously dashed on till within 200 yards ofthe fighting line, when all that was left of them was a struggling mass of men and horses lying on the ground.
It was now about 8 a.m., the main attack was finished, and the great body of the enemy was gradually retiring in a westerly direction toward some hills three miles distant.
Whilst the Khalifa was delivering his first attack on the front and left of the Sirdar's position, a large and compact body of Dervishes, under the Khalifa's son, Sheikh-el-Din, and the Emir Wad Helu, marched round to attack the right of the position. Here, posted on the Kerreri ridge of hills, were the Egyptian mounted troops, under Colonel Broadwood, with whom, at 7 a.m., about 10,000 of the enemy, advancing rapidly, soon became engaged. On the approach of the Dervish force, the guns of the Egyptian horse battery at once opened fire at a range of 1,500 yards, and the cavalry and Camel Corps dismounting, joined in with their Martini-Henry carbines. The Dervishes, however, continued to advance, firing as they came on. The force was in far too great a number for Broadwood to hope to operate against it alone with any prospect of success, and seeing that the intention was to surround him and cut him off from the zeriba, he directed the Camel Corps and guns, covered by the cavalry, to fall back upon the right flank of the position.
There was some delay in getting the camels to move, and afterwards in taking them and the guns over the rough and broken ground. The Dervishes pursued closely, firing all the while. The Egyptians from time to time halted, and fired volleys in return. So hardly was Broadwood's force pressed at one moment, that two of his guns had to be abandoned. For some minutes the fighting was most severe, hand-to-hand encounters took place, and over sixty of his men fell.
The Egyptian force had by this time fallen back to a point not far distant from the river, and fortunately at the critical moment one of the gunboats told off to protect the flanks steamed down to afford assistance. It at once opened with shell fire at close range, and inflicted heavy loss on the enemy, upwards of 450 bodies being afterwards counted within a comparatively small area. The intervention of the steamers effectually checked the onslaught, and enabled the Camel Corps to get to the zeriba, although the Dervishes for some time continued the pursuit of the cavalry. After this encounter the Dervishes made no attempt to pushhome their attack on the right, but drew off in good order and retired under cover of the hills. This, with the repulse of the Dervish attack already recorded on the left flank, terminated the first stage of the fight.
All attacks on the position having now failed, the 21st Lancers, about 320 in number, under Colonel Martin, were sent out to clear the ground on the left front, and to head off any retreating Dervishes from the direction of Omdurman. They moved off about 9 a.m., and after crossing the eastern slopes of Jebel Surgham perceived what looked like a force of from 250 to 300 of the enemy concealed in a khor or ravine, from which a few scattered shots were fired. The Lancers then wheeled into line and charged. When they got to a distance of only 200 yards from the position, a body of Dervishes, variously estimated at from 1,500 to 3,000 in number, suddenly rose from the khor and opened fire. The trap laid was now evident enough, but the Lancers continued the charge, and, headed by their colonel, dashed on into the khor, fought their way through the Dervish ranks, and out at the opposite side.
This was not accomplished without the loss of several of their comrades. There was a three-foot drop into the ravine, and this caused many disasters. Colonel Martin's horse fell at this point, but, with the spearmen cutting and slashing all around him, he managed to get his charger on its legs again, and, with only a stick in his hand, rode through the fight uninjured.
The Dervishes made a desperate resistance. They reverted to their usual tactics of first hamstringing the horses and then spearing their riders.
Of the troopers who were unhorsed, hardly a man escaped alive. Lieutenant Grenfell was killed by a sword-cut received early in the fight, when charging by the side of his men. As soon as he was missed, Captain Kenna and Lieutenant de Montmorency rode back to search for him. Finding Grenfell's body, de Montmorency dismounted and proceeded to put it on his horse, which unluckily bolted, leaving him alone to face the Dervishes with his revolver. Happily Captain Kenna, with the aid of Corporal Swarbrick, succeeded in catching the animal, and De Montmorency was enabled to join his troop.
Major Wyndham's horse, after carrying him clear of the Dervishes, fell dead as he was mounting the slope of the khor.Captain Kenna, who was at the moment on foot searching for Grenfell, put the Major on Kenna's own horse and mounted behind him, and though the horse kicked them both off, they got safely out of themélée.
When the Lancers had reached the opposite side they continued their gallop for a distance of about 400 yards, when they rallied. Then taking up a position whence they could fire down the khor, they dismounted, and with their carbines opened fire on the enemy, eventually driving them off to the westward. As soon as the Dervishes had retired, a party of troopers advanced and recovered the bodies of Lieutenant Grenfell and others who had fallen. They were hastily buried on the spot.
The loss of the Lancers in the charge was one officer and twenty men killed, and four officers and forty-six men wounded. Besides this, there were 130 horses either killed or injured. The charge itself has been the subject of much criticism. Most military men appear to consider that for cavalry to charge unbroken infantry of unknown quantity, over unknown ground, was, to put it mildly, a mistake. Its result, so far as the enemy was concerned, was practically nil. By the loss which the cavalry sustained in horses alone they were put out of action, instead of being reserved for the moment when they were required for the purpose of pursuing the fugitives. With the public, however, these considerations were lost sight of in the gallantry displayed by both officers and men, and the charge has long been one of the most popular episodes of the fight.172
Meanwhile the Sirdar about 8.30 a.m. had given orders to evacuate the camp and march upon Omdurman. The army advanceden échelonof brigades from the left, Collinson's brigade in reserve covering the rear of the transport column, and the Egyptian cavalry and camel corps on the right and left rear.
At 9.30, the front brigades having reached the sand ridge running from the west end of Jebel Surgham to the river, a halt was ordered to enable the rear brigades to get into position.
Information was then received that the Khalifa, with alarge force, was present on the left slopes of Jebel Surgham, from the summit of which a party of the enemy were now firing.
It appears that the Dervish army had not returned to Omdurman on the previous night, but had bivouacked, some 40,000 strong, behind Jebel Surgham. When daylight appeared, and no attack was made on the Khalifa, he divided his forces into three sections. One of these, as already related, attacked the front and left of the Sirdar's position, the next moved towards the Kerreri heights with the object of enveloping his right, whilst the third, under Abdullah himself, remained concealed behind Jebel Surgham, ready to fall on the Sirdar's flank in the advance upon Omdurman.
The Sirdar realized the situation at once, and a change of front half right of the three leading brigades was ordered, whilst two companies of Maxwell's brigade stormed and occupied Jebel Surgham.
When the change of front was being effected, the sound of heavy firing on the right was heard, where Macdonald's brigade was by this time hotly engaged.
To enable Macdonald's men to take up position on the right of the echelon, his brigade had to change places with that of Lewis, and to move out to the right, so as to allow the latter to come into position on Macdonald's left front. Whilst carrying out this movement, and at the moment when he was separated by about a mile from the rest of the army, Macdonald found himself faced by a strong body of Dervishes, advancing from the west, from the direction of Jebel Surgham. He at once halted and deployed into line to the front to meet the attack. It was not long coming. The Dervishes, estimated at 20,000 in number, commanded by the Khalifa himself, made a determined onslaught on the brigade. The main attack was preceded by a charge of between 300 and 400 mounted Baggara, who, advancing in loose order, made straight for the long line of rifles which awaited them. The evident intention was to break Macdonald's line and give the men on foot an opening. The attempt was hopeless from the first; it was simply riding to certain death. Then the fusillade began, and horseman after horseman rolled in the dust.
diagram: troop positions and movements near the Nile
Undismayed by the fate of their comrades, the Dervish footmen next came on, only to see their front ranks swept away byMaxim and rifle fire. Not a man got within 300 yards of the fighting line. The plain became dotted with white figures and black upturned faces. The Dervishes planted their banners in the ground and gathered round them, only to fall lifelessimmediately after. At length the men behind, seeing the slaughter of those in front, stopped at a distance of about 400 yards, whence they continued firing, though assailed by the rifles of Lewis's brigade, which by this time was advancing to Macdonald's support.
The Sirdar, learning from General Hunter of Macdonald's position, despatched Wauchope's (British) brigade to his assistance, and ordered the remaining brigades to make a further change of front half right. Before, however, the reinforcements reached Macdonald, he had practically disposed of the first great attack.
Still, the fight was not nearly over. Whilst Macdonald was yet engaged with the Khalifa's force, and just at the moment when the order to advance was about to be given, the Dervishes behind the Kerreri heights emerged into the plain, and moved rapidly forward to deliver a second attack.
This new onslaught necessitated a further complete change in the disposition of Macdonald's brigade. Seeing his front and rear both threatened, and finding himself also in danger of being outflanked, he moved some of his battalions to the right, and deployed them into line, so as to form with the remainder of his brigade a sort of arrow-head, one side facing north and the other west.
The Dervishes came on in two masses, one commanded by Sheikh-el-Din, and the other by Wad Helu, and spread themselves out as if to envelop Macdonald's brigade. Between this and Lewis's there was a gap, into which the Warwicks, the Seaforths, and the Camerons were now rushing at the double, whilst the Lincolns hurried off to complete the line on Macdonald's right. As the Dervishes advanced, Macdonald's Soudanese received them with a fire so deadly, delivered in the open ground, that nothing could live in the face of it.
Whilst Macdonald was repelling the new assault on his right, Lewis's brigade was enfilading the Khalifa's attack on the left.
The Dervish onslaught now began to weaken, and shortly after, as Wauchope's brigade came up, ceased altogether. The enemy, who had made their last despairing effort without having been able to push home, now broke and fled.
diagram: troop positions and movements near the Nile
Thus Macdonald, with the aid of Lewis's and Wauchope's brigades, crushed this second and determined attack. The masterly way in which he handled his force was the theme of general admiration.
The slaughter which took place is described as something appalling, and the ground around the scene of the fight was literally strewn with dead and dying Dervishes.
Meantime Maxwell's and Lyttelton's brigades, accompanied by the 32nd Field Battery, had been pushed on over the slopes of Jebel Surgham, and driving before them the Dervish forces under Sheikh-el-Din, they established themselves in a position which cut off the retreat on Omdurman of the bulk of the Khalifa's army, who were soon seen streaming off in a disorganized mass towards the high hills many miles to the west, closely pursued by the mounted troops, who cleared the right and front flanks of all hesitating and detached parties of the enemy.
The battle was now practically over, and Lyttelton's and Maxwell's brigades marched down to Khor Shambat, in the direction of Omdurman, which spot was reached at 12.30 a.m.; and here the troops rested and watered. The remainder of Hunter's division and Wauchope's brigade arrived at the same place an hour and a half later.
The result of the fight before Omdurman was declared in the Sirdar's despatch to be "the practical annihilation of the Khalifa's army, the consequent extinction of Mahdism in the Soudan, and the submission of nearly the whole country formerly ruled under Egyptian authority."
The Sirdar, for the skilful generalship and judicious disposition of his forces, which secured him the victory, is entitled to the highest praise, and no one will grudge him the honours with which his services were recognized.173
As to the fight itself, it was in many ways, no doubt, a walkover. At the same time it was a lesson in the power of modern arms such as had never been seen before. It showed that against weapons of precision such as those carried by the Anglo-Egyptian troops even an overwhelming superiority of numbers is not in itself of any avail. It demonstrated once more the pluck and endurance of the British soldier, as well as the good fighting material of which his Egyptian allies are composed.
Whilst giving the Sirdar every credit for his victory, it is impossible not to see that the Khalifa, by his repeated blunders, completely played into his adversary's hands.
The first mistake of the Dervish leader was in not remaining within the fortifications of Omdurman, from which it would have been impossible to have dislodged him, except at a great sacrifice, instead of advancing out into the open and exposing his imperfectly armed legions to the deadly fire of the Sirdar's rifles. In doing this the Khalifa chose the one form of attack which gave him the least chance of success. He knew that his men had on other occasions broken the British and Egyptian squares, and was desirous of seeing if it could not be done again. In making this calculation the Dervish leader totally lost sight of the fact that his enemies possessed both better weapons and superior organization than in days gone by.
A second and fatal mistake was in not making a night attack on the Sirdar's position, where, if the Dervishes had attacked in the darkness with the same impetuous courage which they displayed in daylight, it is by no means impossible that they might have got within the Anglo-Egyptian lines.
A third error was in not originally occupying Jebel Surgham, which, situated on the left front of the Anglo-Egyptian force, possessed for defensive purposes unquestionable advantages. Had the Khalifa occupied this commanding position, the Sirdar would have been left with two alternatives. He might either have accepted the challenge, and have taken the hill at a heavy loss, or he might have elected to pass it by, and by making a wide detour in the desert so reach Omdurman. This last operation, with the Khalifa's forces still unbroken in the Anglo-Egyptian rear, would have been a hazardous undertaking, and would, moreover, have left the Khalifa free to continue his resistance.
A further fault was in directing the first attack mainly on the Sirdar's left, where the British troops were posted, instead of assailing the Egyptian and Soudanese battalions on the front and right. By adopting these tactics the Khalifa attacked his enemy at the very strongest instead of the very weakest point.
In short, the Khalifa, as a general, may be said to have been a complete failure, leaving undone those things which he ought to have done and doing those things which he ought not to have done, and there was no skill in him.
The Dervish loss was immense. No less than 10,800 bodies were counted on the field of battle in addition to over 300 inthe town of Omdurman. Their wounded, estimated from the number who crawled down to the river and into the town, was 16,000 more, making a total of 27,000 altogether out of a fighting force of 52,000 men.174Besides these, 4,000 black troops surrendered and were made prisoners, and three of Gordon's old steamers were captured.
Bearing in mind the nature of the fight, the Anglo-Egyptian losses were remarkably slight.
The British killed were but two officers and twenty-five men; of these no less than twenty-one fell in the mistaken charge of the Lancers. The British wounded were eleven officers and 136 men. Of the Egyptian force one officer and twenty rank and file were killed, and thirteen officers and 222 rank and file were wounded. The total number of casualties in the Sirdar's entire army was forty-eight killed and 382 wounded.
The Sirdar in his despatch reporting the victory did full justice to the officers and men under his command, upwards of 300 of whom were specially mentioned for good service. Indeed, so long was the list that it excited a good deal of comment when the nature of the contest and the character of the enemy were taken into account. As a contrast to the above it may be mentioned that in Wellington's despatches after Waterloo, a fight in which the loss of the British alone was 1,759 killed and 5,892 wounded, only the names of thirty-two officers are specially mentioned.
At 2 p.m. on the day of the fight, the Sirdar, having ascertained that little or no resistance was to be expected in the town, advanced, with Maxwell's brigade and the 32nd Field Batteryof Royal Artillery, through the suburbs of Omdurman to the great wall forming the Khalifa's inclosure.
On their way the force was met by a number of sheikhs, bearing a flag of truce, who informed the Sirdar that the inhabitants desired to surrender. This was accepted on condition that all the fighting men at once laid down their arms, and gave themselves up. The inhabitants then swarmed out in thousands from their houses, and cheered the troops.
Leaving two guns and three battalions to guard the approaches, the 13th Battalion and four guns of the field battery were pushed down by the north side of the wall to the river, and, covered by three gunboats, which had been previously ordered to be ready for this movement, the troops penetrated the breaches made in the walls by the howitzers of the 37th Battery, stationed on the opposite bank, marched south along the line of forts, and, turning in at the main gateway, found a straight road leading to the Khalifa's house and the Mahdi's tomb. The gates of the Khalifa's house were found to be barred, and the gunboats proceeded to shell the building from the river. In doing this they narrowly escaped killing the Sirdar, who had taken up a position close by. The Hon. Hubert Howard, one of the newspaper correspondents, was struck by a fragment of one of the last shells fired into Omdurman, and killed on the spot. The house was shortly after entered, but not without resistance from some of the Baggaras concealed there, and who had to be killed.
On the house being taken, a move was made on the mosque containing the tomb of the Mahdi. Here a couple of Dervishes rushed out and charged Maxwell's men, killing one, and wounding another. Both the assailants were bayoneted. The mosque was then entered, and found to be quite deserted.
The portion of the mosque in which was the wooden sarcophagus containing the Mahdi's remains was thirty-six feet square, and was surmounted by a dome some seventy feet in height. The building was much damaged by the fire from the howitzer battery and gunboats.
To the great disappointment of every one, there were no signs of the Khalifa, whose capture was the only thing necessary to complete the Sirdar's triumph. It appears that the Dervish leader had quitted the town only a short time before the entry of thetroops, and after he had made a vain effort to collect his men for further resistance. So rapid was his flight that some of the least attractive of his wives, and other incumbrances, were dropped on the road, and over 100 of the baggage camels, which had been told off to accompany him, fell into the hands of the victors.
On the subject of the Khalifa's last days at Omdurman and his subsequent flight, Mr. Charles Neufeld (a German subject, who after eleven years' captivity was found and released by the Sirdar), in his lately published book, "A Prisoner of the Khalifa," writes asfollows:—
"The Khalifa had been sitting for eight days in the mosque in communion with the Prophet and the Mahdi, and it was either on the Tuesday night or Wednesday morning immediately preceding the battle that the decision to move out of town was arrived at. On the Wednesday afternoon a grand parade of all the troops was held on the new parade ground, and, while it was being held, alarming news was brought by Abd-el-Baagi's messengers.... That night the rain came down in torrents, and the following day the army arose uncomfortable, and maybe a little dispirited, but Abdullah restored their good spirits by the relation of a vision. During the night the Prophet and the Mahdi had come to him and let him see beforehand the result of the battle; the souls of the faithful killed were all rising to paradise, while the legions of hell were seen tearing into shreds the spirits of the infidels."But all the time the gunboats were approaching, and soon shells were screeching through the air over the little shuddering group of prisoners. At night the soft thud of thousands of feet told of the host of fugitives entering the town. It was all very well for the Khalifa to order a salute to be fired in honour of a victory; other messengers were hurrying in with grave faces, and desiring to see one of the subordinate Emirs before facing Abdullah."Between ten and eleven at night a riderless horse from the British or Egyptian cavalry came slowly moving, head down, towards the Dervish lines. The Khalifa had related how, in one of his visions, he had seen the Prophet, mounted on his mare, riding at the head of the avenging angels, destroying the infidels. The apparition of the riderless horse was too much; at least one-third of the Khalifa's huge army deserted, terrified. When Yakoub told him of the desertions, Abdullah merely raised his head to say, 'The prophecy will be fulfilled, if only five people stay near me.' His Baggara and Taaishi stood by him, but they, too, were losing heart, for the Khalifa, on his knees, with head bowed to the ground, was groaning, instead of, as customary, repeating the name of the Deity. However, he pulled round a little as the night progressed, and invented visions enough to put spirits into the remaining but slightly despondent troops."When the day had gone hopelessly against him, and he had been persuaded to enter the town, he ordered the drums and ombeyehs to be sounded, and endeavoured to make a final stand at the large praying inclosure. But few obeyed the summons, and of those that came some slunk away, and others jeered at the disconsolate and discredited prophet. Finally he sent his secretary to collect his household, but the secretary did not return. Stopping two fugitives, he sent them to ascertain the whereaboutsof the enemy, and they came upon the Sirdar and his staff not 1,200 yards away. Abdullah, warned in time, contrived to slip away, whilst the Sirdar changed his direction and made the complete circuit of Omdurman."
"The Khalifa had been sitting for eight days in the mosque in communion with the Prophet and the Mahdi, and it was either on the Tuesday night or Wednesday morning immediately preceding the battle that the decision to move out of town was arrived at. On the Wednesday afternoon a grand parade of all the troops was held on the new parade ground, and, while it was being held, alarming news was brought by Abd-el-Baagi's messengers.... That night the rain came down in torrents, and the following day the army arose uncomfortable, and maybe a little dispirited, but Abdullah restored their good spirits by the relation of a vision. During the night the Prophet and the Mahdi had come to him and let him see beforehand the result of the battle; the souls of the faithful killed were all rising to paradise, while the legions of hell were seen tearing into shreds the spirits of the infidels.
"But all the time the gunboats were approaching, and soon shells were screeching through the air over the little shuddering group of prisoners. At night the soft thud of thousands of feet told of the host of fugitives entering the town. It was all very well for the Khalifa to order a salute to be fired in honour of a victory; other messengers were hurrying in with grave faces, and desiring to see one of the subordinate Emirs before facing Abdullah.
"Between ten and eleven at night a riderless horse from the British or Egyptian cavalry came slowly moving, head down, towards the Dervish lines. The Khalifa had related how, in one of his visions, he had seen the Prophet, mounted on his mare, riding at the head of the avenging angels, destroying the infidels. The apparition of the riderless horse was too much; at least one-third of the Khalifa's huge army deserted, terrified. When Yakoub told him of the desertions, Abdullah merely raised his head to say, 'The prophecy will be fulfilled, if only five people stay near me.' His Baggara and Taaishi stood by him, but they, too, were losing heart, for the Khalifa, on his knees, with head bowed to the ground, was groaning, instead of, as customary, repeating the name of the Deity. However, he pulled round a little as the night progressed, and invented visions enough to put spirits into the remaining but slightly despondent troops.
"When the day had gone hopelessly against him, and he had been persuaded to enter the town, he ordered the drums and ombeyehs to be sounded, and endeavoured to make a final stand at the large praying inclosure. But few obeyed the summons, and of those that came some slunk away, and others jeered at the disconsolate and discredited prophet. Finally he sent his secretary to collect his household, but the secretary did not return. Stopping two fugitives, he sent them to ascertain the whereaboutsof the enemy, and they came upon the Sirdar and his staff not 1,200 yards away. Abdullah, warned in time, contrived to slip away, whilst the Sirdar changed his direction and made the complete circuit of Omdurman."
The gunboats which had been employed in clearing the streets having returned, the remainder of Maxwell's brigade, which had been left at the corner of the wall, was now pushed forward, and occupied all the main positions of the town. Guards were at once mounted over the principal buildings and the Khalifa's stores, and the Sirdar then proceeded to visit the prisons and release the European prisoners.
Amongst the captives liberated, besides Neufeld, were Joseph Ragnotti, Sister Teresa Grigolini, and thirty Greeks. Neufeld was in chains, which had to be filed off before he was restored to liberty.175
In the arsenal were found large stores of ammunition, with thousands of weapons of all sorts, including some sixty cannon, also Dervish spears, swords, banners, drums, flint-lock muskets, rifles, camel equipments, and military odds and ends of various kinds, many of them captured from Hicks's army nearly fifteen years before.
Whilst Maxwell's brigade was thus occupied, the British brigades and the remainder of the Sirdar's army had moved up from Khor Shambat, which they quitted at 4.30 p.m. On arriving at the wall they met with no opposition, and shortly after sunset marched into the town, amidst shouts of welcome from the populace. They continued their march, amid sickening stenches and scenes of misery and desolation, till they reached the open ground on the west side of the town. Here, as the various troops came up, they bivouacked for the night.
There was a certain amount of street fighting in the darkness, when isolated bands of Dervishes from time to time fired upon the Soudanese, who could not be restrained from retaliating. These struggles were attended by some loss of life, and no doubt partly account for the 300 or 400 dead bodies found in the town.
Of the services rendered by the gunboats during the day'sfighting it is difficult to speak too highly. During the battle they guarded the left flank of the army, doing great execution with their guns on the dense masses of the enemy. As already related, when the Camel Corps were so hard pressed, one of the vessels was able, by dropping down stream, to turn back a large body of Dervishes coming round Kerreri Hill. As the Sirdar's victorious army advanced, the gunboats likewise pushed on, and went alongside the walls of Khartoum, helping to silence the fire from the houses near the river. Their services, however, did not end there, and at 8 p.m. they, together with the Egyptian cavalry and Camel Corps, started south in pursuit of the Khalifa, the gunboats proceeding up the White Nile. Unfortunately, they were unable to render much assistance owing to the state of the river, which, having overflown its banks, was, though two miles in breadth, only navigable near the middle.
In consequence of the flooded state of the country, which prevented the troops from communicating with the gunboats conveying the forage and rations of the troops, the latter were compelled to abandon the pursuit after following up the flying Khalifa for thirty miles over marshy ground.
The gunboats continued their course south for ninety miles, but were obliged to return without being able to come in touch with the Khalifa, who left the river and fled westward towards Kordofan.
At 4 a.m. on the 3rd September, the Anglo-Egyptian army marched out and bivouacked at a spot four miles south of Omdurman, whilst parties were told off to bury the soldiers who had fallen in the battle of the previous day.
The battlefield presented a sickening sight. The effect of the expanding bullet had been most deadly. The bodies of the slain lay closely strewn over acres and acres of ground, which were white with their calico uniforms. Some of the dead lay composedly with their slippers placed under their head for a last pillow; some knelt as if cut short in the middle of prayer; others were found literally torn to pieces by fragments of shells and by Gatling bullets. Mingled with the bodies were some seemingly as dead as the rest, but who sprang up when approached, and with sword or spear rushed at the nearest foe. These had in every case to be bayoneted or shot.
Incidents like those last referred to occurred not only duringthe search of the battlefield, but also at the period when, the Dervish attacks having been successively repulsed, the advance on Omdurman was resumed. They were taken advantage of to bring charges of cruelty against the Sirdar and his men, which on inquiry proved to be grossly exaggerated in those cases where they were not entirely unfounded.
It was alleged that the Sirdar ordered, or gave it to be understood, that the Dervish wounded were to be massacred; that the troops wantonly killed or wounded unarmed Dervishes when no longer in a position to do injury; that Omdurman was looted for three days after its occupation; that when the Sirdar's force was advancing on the town fire was opened by the gunboats on mixed masses of fugitives, including women and children, in the streets.
To these charges the Sirdar subsequently gave a categorical denial, which, so far as the allegations related to himself personally, was wholly needless.
Captain Adolf von Tiedemann, of the Royal Prussian General Staff, writing on the subject,says:—
"As regards the conduct of Lord Kitchener, I rode on the day of the battle from beginning to end—i.e., from 5.30 a.m. till 9 p.m.—with very short interruptions, in his immediate vicinity, and heard and saw everything ordered or done by him. It would be an insult to Lord Kitchener if I attempted to contradict the insinuations made against him personally; such evident calumnies would never be given credence to for a moment in the mind of any intelligent man possessed of common sense. If the Sirdar had been so bloodthirsty as the writer of the article in question176wishes us to believe, he would have found opportunities enough at every step during his entry into Omdurman to gratify his desires, for, after the Khalifa had fled from the town, crowds of unarmed Dervishes rushed towards him, and it would have been easy enough for his escort to have cut them down. Lord Kitchener received them with kindness, and, as every one on his staff can testify, he did all in his power to put a stop to the street fighting which broke out here and there in the town. Putting aside all regard for his personal safety, he, as I saw several times, rode into narrow streets and courtyards, with uplifted hand, calling out to the inhabitants gathered there, 'Amân!' ('Peace!')."As regards the killing of the wounded on the battlefield, that was a necessary measure which was as regrettable as it was indispensable. After the first attack of the Dervishes had been repulsed, and when the Anglo-Egyptian army was moving off by brigades to its left towards Omdurman, I myself left the staff and rode over a great part of the battlefield, but I registered a mental vow never to do so again. A wounded and apparently defenceless Dervish lying on the ground is much more dangerous than his fellow with a whole skin and arms in his hand rushing against one. One knows perfectly what to expect from the latter, while the apparent helplessnessof the former makes one forget the necessary caution and also the fact that a bullet fired by a wounded man makes quite as big a hole as one fired by an unhurt person. During my ride over the battlefield I several times saw Dervishes who had been lying on the ground suddenly rise and fire off their rifles into the ranks of the troops marching near them or who had already passed by them, and for these latter it was simply demanded, as a measure of self-preservation, that they should secure themselves against such attacks by a chain of scouts pushed to the front. It is not only the moral right, but the duty, of the soldier to make use of his arms against an enemy from whom it is to be expected that he will use his weapons to inflict loss on the troops to which he (the soldier) belongs, and the behaviour of the wounded Dervishes was such as to justify this belief. It is quite possible that here and there some wounded enemies may have been shot who had no hostile intentions, and who were only intent on saving their lives, but it is difficult to realize the peaceable intentions of such. To make out a few such isolated instances and accusations of useless cruelty against a whole army appears to me absurd."Besides, one heard of a large number of cases in which not only British, but also black, soldiers received and treated their wounded enemies with great kindness, although at times they had but a poor reward for it. I myself saw a man of the 32nd Field Battery giving a wounded Dervish a drink out of his water-bottle, holding up his head the while with his hand, and then leaving a piece of bread, which he took out of his own haversack, on the ground beside him."
"As regards the conduct of Lord Kitchener, I rode on the day of the battle from beginning to end—i.e., from 5.30 a.m. till 9 p.m.—with very short interruptions, in his immediate vicinity, and heard and saw everything ordered or done by him. It would be an insult to Lord Kitchener if I attempted to contradict the insinuations made against him personally; such evident calumnies would never be given credence to for a moment in the mind of any intelligent man possessed of common sense. If the Sirdar had been so bloodthirsty as the writer of the article in question176wishes us to believe, he would have found opportunities enough at every step during his entry into Omdurman to gratify his desires, for, after the Khalifa had fled from the town, crowds of unarmed Dervishes rushed towards him, and it would have been easy enough for his escort to have cut them down. Lord Kitchener received them with kindness, and, as every one on his staff can testify, he did all in his power to put a stop to the street fighting which broke out here and there in the town. Putting aside all regard for his personal safety, he, as I saw several times, rode into narrow streets and courtyards, with uplifted hand, calling out to the inhabitants gathered there, 'Amân!' ('Peace!').
"As regards the killing of the wounded on the battlefield, that was a necessary measure which was as regrettable as it was indispensable. After the first attack of the Dervishes had been repulsed, and when the Anglo-Egyptian army was moving off by brigades to its left towards Omdurman, I myself left the staff and rode over a great part of the battlefield, but I registered a mental vow never to do so again. A wounded and apparently defenceless Dervish lying on the ground is much more dangerous than his fellow with a whole skin and arms in his hand rushing against one. One knows perfectly what to expect from the latter, while the apparent helplessnessof the former makes one forget the necessary caution and also the fact that a bullet fired by a wounded man makes quite as big a hole as one fired by an unhurt person. During my ride over the battlefield I several times saw Dervishes who had been lying on the ground suddenly rise and fire off their rifles into the ranks of the troops marching near them or who had already passed by them, and for these latter it was simply demanded, as a measure of self-preservation, that they should secure themselves against such attacks by a chain of scouts pushed to the front. It is not only the moral right, but the duty, of the soldier to make use of his arms against an enemy from whom it is to be expected that he will use his weapons to inflict loss on the troops to which he (the soldier) belongs, and the behaviour of the wounded Dervishes was such as to justify this belief. It is quite possible that here and there some wounded enemies may have been shot who had no hostile intentions, and who were only intent on saving their lives, but it is difficult to realize the peaceable intentions of such. To make out a few such isolated instances and accusations of useless cruelty against a whole army appears to me absurd.
"Besides, one heard of a large number of cases in which not only British, but also black, soldiers received and treated their wounded enemies with great kindness, although at times they had but a poor reward for it. I myself saw a man of the 32nd Field Battery giving a wounded Dervish a drink out of his water-bottle, holding up his head the while with his hand, and then leaving a piece of bread, which he took out of his own haversack, on the ground beside him."
It may be admitted that in the heat of the battle some of the enemy were killed whose lives might have been spared, but this is no unusual occurrence in the best-disciplined armies, also that a number of wounded were killed after the fighting was over. But in all or nearly all such cases it appears that these acts were dictated by necessity, on account of the Dervish habit of pretending to be dead, only to make a last and unexpected onslaught on his enemy. Such tactics were common at the battle of Omdurman, and many of the Sirdar's men fell victims in consequence. Mr. Bennett himself related how he saw with his own eyes a "slightly wounded man suddenly rise up and stab no less than seven Egyptian cavalrymen before he was finally despatched." That the troops had to adopt somewhat drastic measures in consequence is likely enough, though what took place was far from being the wanton cruelty and indiscriminate slaughter which was alleged.
That Omdurman was looted for three days was a charge with even less foundation, inasmuch as the morning after the battle the troops were marched out of the town before daylight to a position some miles distant, and from that time until they went down the river they were not permitted to enter the place, except on one occasion, to which reference is made later on.Between the place of bivouac and the town, a line of sentries was established, and through this none but officers were allowed to pass.
The charge that the gunboats fired on the fugitives is, if true, only partially so. The fugitives who fled from the battlefield into Omdurman were naturally shelled as long as they were within range, otherwise time would have been afforded them to organize a fresh resistance, in which case the town could only have been occupied with heavy loss. As regards the women and children, the Sirdar, the day before he directed the gunboats to bombard, sent a warning to the Khalifa to withdraw the women and children. More than one person who visited Omdurman has reported that, although several bodies of men were seen lying about, in no case was the body of a woman or child found.
Another accusation was that no attempt was made either on the day of the fight, or on the following day, to do anything for the wounded Dervishes, who were left without food, surgical assistance, or water. With reference to this, the Sirdar states that, considering the condition of the troops and the means at his disposal, he did everything in his power to relieve suffering amongst the enemy. It must be remembered that the total number of Dervishes wounded was estimated at 16,000. To attempt the medical treatment of anything like that number was manifestly far beyond the capabilities of the field hospitals. Of these, the large hospital established at Khor Shambat administered first aid to the wounded, and passed them on to Omdurman; some were also treated in the smaller field hospitals in the camps; but in Omdurman itself great difficulty was experienced in attempting to administer aid to the large number of wounded, scattered as they were amongst the native houses and huts. To provide for this, an Egyptian doctor, Hassan Effendi Zeki, who had been a prisoner with the Dervishes, formed a hospital in a central position in the town where upwards of 400 of the worst cases were tended, many outpatients coming daily to have their wounds dressed. According to the "Daily News" correspondent, from 6,000 to 7,000 wounded Dervishes were treated in this hospital, to which, according to the same authority, the Sirdar, on entering Omdurman, directed the inhabitants to bring the wounded. It is difficult to see what more could have been done under the circumstances.
Besides the matters already referred to, the Sirdar was attacked in regard to a step which was taken by his direction, although in his absence (on the subsequent Fashoda Expedition), namely, the destruction of the Mahdi's tomb and the disposal of his remains.
What occurred was that the tomb was destroyed by charges of gun-cotton, the body was disinterred, cast into one of the steamer's furnaces, and the ashes thrown into the Nile. The head, it is stated, was retained by a British officer in the Egyptian service.
As what happened excited a good deal of indignation in Europe, it is only just to give the Sirdar's explanation. He stated that after the battle of Omdurman he thought that it was politically advisable, considering the condition of the country, that the Mahdi's tomb, which was the centre of pilgrimage and fanatical feeling, should be destroyed; the tomb was also in a dangerous condition owing to the damage done to it by shell fire, and might have caused loss of life if left as it was. He was advised by Mahommedan officers that it would be better to have the body removed, as otherwise many of the more ignorant people of Kordofan would consider that the sanctity with which they surrounded the Mahdi prevented this being done. The Sirdar added that "the skull of the Mahdi was now buried at Wady Halfa."
When to the above it is added that so high an authority as Lord Cromer has declared that, under the exceptional circumstances of the case, the destruction of the tomb and the removal of the body were "political necessities," there is little more to be said with respect to an act which, at first sight, every one was disposed to regard with abhorrence.177
On the morning of Sunday, the 4th September, the Sirdar visited Khartoum, being transported across the Nile in the gunboatMelik. At the same time representatives of every corps belonging to the expedition passed over in theDalandAkasheh. Khartoum, though in ruins, presented, as seen from the river, a picturesque and pleasing appearance, with its gardens and palm trees extending almost to the water's edge.
Gordon's palace, now a ruined mass of buildings, with the upperstory fallen in, was still conspicuous. The staircase in front, where he met his death, no longer existed. The adjoining grounds, long since fallen into neglect, were still full of blossoming shrubs, and orange, citron, and pomegranate trees.
As the troops disembarked, just thirteen years too late to save the man who had so long and so heroically defended Khartoum, a crowd of wondering natives assembled to watch what was about to take place.
No sooner had the troops landed than they were formed up into three sides of a square, facing the front of the ruined palace. In the centre were the Sirdar, his staff, and the general officers commanding the different brigades. At a signal from the Sirdar, the British and Egyptian flags were simultaneously hoisted on flag-staffs erected on the palace, and the bands played "God save the Queen" and the Khedivial Hymn, whilst the gunboat fired a royal salute of twenty-one guns, the officers and men all standing at attention.
"Three cheers for the Queen" were then given, the men shouting enthusiastically and waving their helmets in the air. This was followed by "Three cheers for the Khedive," and again all present heartily responded.
The various chaplains attached to the British division now came to the front. The Guards' band struck up the "Dead March" inSaul, followed by a funeral march from the Egyptian band. The chaplains then performed a short but impressive service, and the Soudanese band concluded the ceremony by playing Gordon's favourite hymn, "Abide with me."
The service finished, several of those present, guided by Slatin Pasha, walked through what were once the streets of Khartoum, now only a collection of rubbish heaps. All the stone and building material had been removed to construct the houses at Omdurman. The only edifices spared in any way were the palace, the arsenal, and the Austrian mission building. Only a few of the inhabitants remained in the place which was formerly the capital of the Soudan.
A detachment of the 11th Soudanese was left to guard the flags which remained floating over the palace, and the rest of the troops then returned to Omdurman.
On the following day, the whole of the Sirdar's army was paraded and marched, with full military display, through thestreets of Omdurman, as well to give the natives an idea of the strength of the Anglo-Egyptian force, as to impress on them that the Mahdist rule was a thing of the past. The place reeked with filth, and the smell was overpowering. Bodies of men and animals lay decomposing in the streets, and on every side was squalor and misery.
After this the British troops, with the exception of some companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers, were shipped off as rapidly as possible to Cairo. There was no more fighting to be done, and the men were beginning to feel the after-effects of the past week's marching and fatigue. In addition to this, enteric fever had begun to set in, and the hospital tents were crowded. However, by the end of the month, nearly the whole of the British division had left.
On the 7th September a surprising and unlooked-for incident occurred. One of Gordon's old steamers, theTewfikeyeh, which had been sent by the Khalifa up the White Nile, unexpectedly returned to Omdurman, only to find that the place had changed hands.
On being boarded she at once surrendered to the Sirdar. Her captain reported that on reaching Fashoda he had been fired on by a party of white men, and in support of his statement produced some nickel-plated bullets, of small calibre, and evidently of European manufacture.
There was no doubt that a European expedition of some kind had arrived at Fashoda, and opinions only differed as to its nationality and object.
The Sirdar's first step was to order all the newspaper correspondents back to Cairo.
At 6 a.m. on the 10th he left Omdurman in the postal steamerDal. The gunboatsSultan,Nazir, andFatteh, all towing barges, accompanied him. Later on he was joined by theAbu Klea. He took with him an Egyptian field battery, one company of the Camerons, and also the 11th and 13th,Soudanese Battalions. The river was at its height and very full. Steaming with all possible speed against the stream, the flotilla on the morning of the 15th reached a point called Renkh, 310 miles south of Khartoum. Here they found the Khalifa's steamerSafiyeh(the vessel employed in the rescue of Sir Charles Wilson in 1885) and eleven large nuggers with a party of Dervishes, who, it appeared, were awaiting reinforcements from Omdurman to renew an attack which they had already made on the white men established at Fashoda.
The vessels were lying on the east bank of the river close to a Dervish camp. The Dervishes resisted for a while and fired on the Sirdar's fleet. The gunboats returned the fire, one of the shells bursting in theTewfikeyeh'sboiler and disabling her. The enemy's fire was soon silenced, and a party of the 11th Soudanese then landed and cleared the Dervish camp.
The steamer and the nuggers having been captured, the flotilla went on its way about noon. The river here continued very wide, with much vegetation on its banks, where crocodiles and hippopotami were seen in numbers.
On the 18th a stop was made for the night ten miles below Fashoda, and a letter from the Sirdar informed the commandant of the post which was reported as being established there of the approach of the steamers.
Next morning, when the vessels were about five miles from Fashoda, a rowing boat flying a French flag was seen approaching. It contained one of the officers under the orders of Captain (afterwards Major) Marchand, the commander of a French exploring expedition, which it turned out had occupied Fashoda since the 10th July.
As Fashoda was neared the French flag was seen in the middle of the native village, and near the old Egyptian fort the Captain's force, consisting of eight officers and 120 Senegalese armed with repeating rifles, and some Shilluks with native spears, was drawn up. On the steamers making fast, Marchand went on board theDalto visit the Sirdar, and remained in conference with him three quarters of an hour. The Sirdar declared that the presence of a French force was an infringement of the rights of Egypt and of the British Government, and protested against the occupation of Fashoda and the hoisting of the French flag. Marchand stated, in reply, that he wasacting under the orders of the French Government, and that without instructions it would be impossible for him to withdraw. He admitted that, in the face of a superior force, he was not prepared to resist the hoisting of the Egyptian flag.
When the conference was over the steamers proceeded some 300 yards up stream and landed the Sirdar's troops. The Egyptian flag was then hoisted about 500 yards from the French flag, on a ruined bastion of the fortifications, and saluted with all ceremony by the gunboats. Marchand's force, which had been attacked by the Dervishes on the 25th August, was in great want of ammunition and supplies, and the Captain, in expectation of a further attack, had sent his steamer south to bring up reinforcements.
Leaving the 11th Soudanese with two guns and the steamer Nazir, the remainder of the force re-embarked and proceeded south to Sobat, where they arrived on the 22nd, hoisted the Egyptian flag, and established a second post. TheAbu Klearemained with part of the 13th Soudanese Battalion, and the other steamers then proceeded down the Nile to Omdurman without further adventure.
On the Sirdar's arrival, he at once communicated to the Foreign Office the result of his mission.
Although want of space renders it impossible to deal fully with the diplomatic incident to which the French occupation of Fashoda gave rise, a few particulars may, nevertheless, be given.
In the beginning of 1898, a Cairo telegram coming through Paris announced, somewhat prematurely, that a French expedition, under Captain Marchand, had arrived at Fashoda, and letters from his officers and men, written on their journey, expressed their anxiety to reach the Upper Nile before the British, and "to display the French flag between Khartoum and Gondokoro."
Although little notice was taken at the time of these announcements and aspirations, the knowledge of the Marchand expedition was undoubtedly one of the causes which determined the British Government to hasten the advance on Khartoum.
What subsequently occurred seems to have been in great measure foreseen by Lord Salisbury, who appears to have anticipated that difficulties might arise, not only with regard to France, but with Abyssinia as well.
In a despatch dated the 2nd August, 1898, communicating to Lord Cromer the views of the British Government as to the line of action to be taken after the occupation of Khartoum, the British Premier stated that the Sirdar was authorized to send two flotillas, one up the White and the other up the Blue Nile. The flotilla up the White Nile was to be commanded by the Sirdar as far as Fashoda, and the officer in command of the Blue Nile flotilla was to go as far as the foot of the cataract commencing about Rosiéres. Should he before reaching that encounter any Abyssinian outposts, he was to halt and await further instructions. The despatch added that, "in dealing with any French or Abyssinian authorities who might be encountered, nothing should be said or done which would in any way imply a recognition by the British Government of a title to possession on behalf of France or Abyssinia to any portion of the Nile Valley."
It was scarcely to be expected that at the moment when the Anglo-Egyptian operations, undertaken mainly with the object of restoring her lost provinces to Egypt, had been crowned with success, England could acquiesce in the occupation of any portion of them by a foreign Power, and frequent exchanges of views took place between the British and French Governments.
The British Government asked for the withdrawal of Marchand, whom the French Minister had termed an "emissary of civilization." This demand the French Government was disinclined to agree to.
The French contention was that the country bordering the White Nile, though formerly belonging to Egypt, had by abandonment becomeres nullius, and that the French had as much right to a position on the Nile as the Germans or the Belgians.
The British case was that the valley of the Nile still belonged to Egypt, although her title had been rendered dormant by the successes of the Mahdi; further, that whatever title the latter might have acquired passed on the 2nd September by right of conquest to the British and Egyptian Governments.
Lord Salisbury declared on the 9th September that Her Majesty's Government did not consider that this right was open to argument. Nevertheless, the discussions on the subject, to which the Foreign Office declined to give the name of "negotiations,"continued for two whole months, and were marked throughout by great firmness on the part of the British Cabinet.
Lord Salisbury, besides being backed by the British nation generally, was supported by the leading men amongst the Opposition, including Lord Rosebery, who, in the middle of October, made a speech in which the following passage occurred:—
"Great Britain has been conciliatory, and her conciliatory disposition has been widely misunderstood. If the nations of the world are under the impression that the ancient spirit of Great Britain is dead, or that her resources are weakened, or her population less determined than ever it was to maintain the rights and honour of its flag, they make a mistake which can only end in a disastrous conflagration."
"Great Britain has been conciliatory, and her conciliatory disposition has been widely misunderstood. If the nations of the world are under the impression that the ancient spirit of Great Britain is dead, or that her resources are weakened, or her population less determined than ever it was to maintain the rights and honour of its flag, they make a mistake which can only end in a disastrous conflagration."
Simultaneously quiet but effective steps were taken to put the defences of the United Kingdom in order, and to prepare the fleet for any emergency.
In the end the French Government, seeing that England was in earnest, made up its mind to retire from an untenable position. The good news was appropriately communicated to the nation by Lord Salisbury on November 4th at the Lord Mayor's dinner to the Sirdar, and gave general satisfaction.
Shortly after, Marchand and his force returned to France, and an incident which had seriously threatened the good relations existing between England and France came to an end.
Whilst the Sirdar was making his excursion to Fashoda, General Hunter, accompanied by a small force, proceeded up the Blue Nile. Here he met no Abyssinian Marchand disguised as an "envoy of civilization," and returned without having encountered any serious opposition from the tribes along the river.
Notwithstanding the blow suffered by the Mahdist cause at Omdurman, there was still some fighting to be done in another quarter. This time the scene of operations was in the neighbourhood of Gedaref, about 130 miles south-west of Kassala and 180 from the Blue Nile. This place had, previously to the fall of Omdurman, been held by an emir called Ahmed Fedil with upwards of 5,000 men.
Ahmed, with the object of assisting the Khalifa, had withdrawn the greater part of his force from Gedaref, and on the 7th September, Colonel Parsons started from Kassala with 1,300men composed of the 16th Egyptian Battalion and some irregulars to dislodge the garrison remaining at Gedaref.
On the 22nd Parsons arrived in front of the place, and, after defeating some 3,000 Dervishes, succeeded in occupying it. The fight was severe, the Egyptian losses being no less than thirty-seven killed and fifty-seven wounded. Meanwhile Ahmed Fedil, who had failed to reach Omdurman, was making his way back towards Gedaref, where, on the 28th, he turned up with 3,500 men. He made a determined assault on the town, but his Dervishes were defeated by Parsons with heavy loss. On the 1st October they withdrew to some distance, and the Egyptian force not being strong enough to pursue, occupied themselves in strengthening their defences.
General Rundle was then sent up the river to Parsons' assistance. Rundle reached Abu Harras, on the Blue Nile, whence Colonel Collinson, with the 12th Battalion, started across the desert and joined Parsons just in time to see Fedil's forces in full retreat in the direction of the river. At Rosiéres they found Colonel Lewis, who had been for several weeks on the look-out to intercept Fedil's crossing. A severe fight ensued between the Dervishes and the 10th Battalion under Lewis, aided by some of the gunboats told off to patrol the river. Many of Fedil's force were killed and many more surrendered. Out of Lewis's 400 soldiers, no fewer than 159 were either killed or wounded. The enemy were utterly routed, but Fedil succeeded in crossing the river with a few of his followers. Several days later he passed over the White Nile and joined the Khalifa in Kordofan.
The action at Rosiéres was the last fight of the campaign of 1898 which the Sirdar had so successfully carried on against the Mahdists.
If there is one thing more remarkable than another in the campaign, it is the excellent administration by the Sirdar of the force under his command. The construction of the railway, the management of the commissariat, the slow, sure, and irresistible advance, and the avoidance of accidents or reverses—all these constituted a triumph of administration. The manner in which the transport of the largest force ever sent into the Soudan under civilized conditions was effected will bear comparison with any campaign in modern times.
Another important feature was the comparatively small cost. According to Lord Cromer's report of the 26th February, 1899, the total expense from the spring of 1896, when the expedition to Dongola was decided upon, till the close of the operations in the Soudan, was only £E2,354,354. This included the construction of no less than 760 miles of railway at a cost of £E1,181,372, of 2,000 miles of telegraphs at a cost of £E21,825, and the building of six gunboats at an expense of £E154,934, thus leaving the military expenditure only £E996,223.
Whilst giving Lord Kitchener the fullest credit for the success achieved, it would be unjust not to refer to the powerful and steady support which in his task he received throughout from England's representative in Egypt, Lord Cromer, who, happily combining in himself the qualities of a soldier and a diplomat, was in a position to give most valuable advice in either capacity.178
With regard to the further movements of the Khalifa. As already stated, after leaving Omdurman Abdullah fled in the direction of Kordofan. Following the course of the White Nile, he proceeded, with only a few followers, to Duem, whence, quitting the river, he struck off in a south-westerly direction to Lake Sherkeleh, about 120 miles further. There he was joined by some of his shattered forces. Subsequently an Egyptian fort was established at Duem and occupied by the 2nd Egyptian Battalion.
Towards the end of 1898 it was reported that the Khalifa had with him only a few hundred followers, and against these, in January, 1899, Colonel Kitchener, a brother of the Sirdar, was despatched with 900 men belonging to the 2nd and 14th Battalions, and about fifty irregular Cavalry.
Starting from Duem in the following month, Colonel Kitchener's troops arrived at the Khalifa's supposed position only to discover that he had evacuated his camp, which boretraces of having been occupied by some thousands of men, instead of the few hundreds reported as composing the Dervish force.
A reconnaissance was then made to within three miles of Abdullah's new position, and here Kitchener, having placed his men in a zeriba, sent out his scouts.
They reported that the Khalifa had with him a force of about 7,000 men, of which more than half were armed with rifles, and that they were drawn up in fighting order.
Kitchener, realizing the insufficient number of his troops for an attack, and running short of water, abandoned the zeriba and fell back upon the river.
The Khalifa followed him as far as the deserted zeriba, but, fortunately for the small Egyptian force, did not pursue further. The expedition was then abandoned, and Colonel Kitchener returned to Cairo.179
In the subsequent month of June the Khalifa was still in the neighbourhood of Lake Sherkeleh, and raiding the tribes in that vicinity. According to later reports he had been attacked by the Tagalla tribe and had sustained heavy losses, by which, and by other causes, his adherents were reduced to as few as 4,000 men.
On this intelligence reaching Cairo it was determined that another attempt should be made against him as soon as the rainy season, then impending, should be over.
In September, news arrived that the still uncaptured Abdullah, with an army increased to 10,000 men, had established himself near Jeb el Gheddeer, a mountainous spot 100 miles north-west of Fashoda. A powerful Emir named Arabi Dafalla, with a numerous following, was reported to be on his way to Darfur, with a view to joining hands with the Khalifa. The military authorities then decided that the moment had come for finally crushing the Khalifa.
On the 26th September, the Sirdar reached Cairo from Europe, and proceeded at once to Omdurman, where the arrangements for a further expedition were being rapidly pushed forward. The greatest care was taken to ensure secrecy, but itbecame known that the force, which was to be under the personal command of the Sirdar, would consist of about 6,000 men, including four battalions of Egyptian Infantry, with Cavalry, Camel Corps and Artillery, besides irregulars.
The troops were to concentrate at Kaka, on the White Nile, whence they were to march upon Jeb el Gheddeer, 90 miles distant from the river, at which place it was hoped the fight would come off. The expedition, which was to proceed partly by land and partly by river, was so far advanced that by the end of September the Cavalry, Camel Corps, and Artillery had already been sent off from Omdurman, and they were joined soon after by the Infantry, and on the 11th October the Sirdar and his staff followed in the steamerDal.
If the War Department was reticent with reference to Colonel Kitchener's expedition, it was even more so with regard to that of the Sirdar. Of the doings of the latter nothing was permitted to be made public until the 26th October, when it was officially announced that the Khalifa had fled from Jeb el Gheddeer, and, it being impossible to pursue him at that time, the Sirdar had given orders for the troops to return to Omdurman. It was added that a reconnaissance to Jeb el Gheddeer would be made by the Cavalry and Camel Corps before their return.
The Sirdar's force, after leaving the river at Kaka, marched on the road to Jeb el Gheddeer as far as a place called Fungar. Here it was found that the Khalifa had got thirty hours' start and was moving in a northerly direction across a waterless district, where it would have been very difficult to follow him, and the evasive Abdullah was therefore allowed to go his way.
Notwithstanding that the official announcement was followed by the return of many of the troops to Omdurman, and by the appearance of the Sirdar in Cairo, people were reluctant to believe in the final abandonment of the expedition, and further developments were expected; nor were such expectations doomed to be disappointed.
On the 12th November it became known that the Khalifa was seven days' journey from Jeb el Gheddeer and was making his way towards Abba Island, on the Nile, with a force estimated at considerably over 3,000 men.
In consequence of this information the Sirdar, on the 14th, suddenly started on his return to Omdurman, and the Britishtroops in Cairo were ordered to prepare detachments to proceed to garrison Omdurman.
During the Sirdar's absence Colonel Sir F. R. Wingate, then in command at Khartoum, learning that Dervishes had been seen in the neighbourhood of Abba, despatched Colonel Lewis, with two battalions of infantry and a flotilla of gunboats, to operate along the river and prevent raiding.
On Lewis reaching a place called Alobe, he found that a large Dervish force, under Ahmed Fedil, was encamped close by, but, at daylight, before Lewis was able to attack, they had all disappeared.
The Sirdar, on reaching Khartoum, at once ordered Wingate to follow up Abu Fedil.
On the 20th, Wingate, with 3,700 men, composed of the 9th and 13th Soudanese Battalions, one Battalion of Irregular Infantry, some Maxims, and fifty Cavalry, arrived at Faki Shoya, to the west of Abba Island, where he was joined by 250 of the Camel Corps, who crossed over from the right bank of the Nile.
On the evening of the 21st, the Egyptian troops marched towards Nefissa, 23 miles from the river, whither it was reported that Ahmed Fedil had retired. Nefissa was reached before daylight on the 22nd, and it was then discovered that Fedil had moved on to Abu Aadil, four miles further, where he was encamped with about 2,500 men.
The mounted troops, with guns and Maxims, were at once sent forward to engage the Dervishes and hold them in check until Wingate's main body should come up. This movement was ably carried out. The mounted force promptly attacked the enemy's camp with gun and rifle fire, meeting with a warm but badly-directed fire in return. The Dervishes rushed from the wood and charged up to within sixty yards of the guns, only, however, to be shot down in hundreds. Wingate then brought up the infantry in support, and, making a general advance, cleared the whole position. The Dervishes, utterly routed, bolted through the bush, followed by the Cavalry. Four thousand of the enemy are said to have been killed in the fight and pursuit. After the action, which began at 10 a.m. and lasted only about an hour, the troops halted to rest.
It now remained to find the Khalifa Abdullah, who wasknown to be advancing towards El Ghedid, with the object of joining his forces with those of Ahmed Fedil. Thither it was resolved to push on, and at midnight on the 22nd the troops again started, reaching El Ghedid about 10 a.m. on the 23rd. Here water, of which they were much in need, was found, and news came that the Khalifa and his army were encamped only seven miles off at Om Debrikat.
The Cavalry and Maxims were immediately sent out to reconnoitre, and having ascertained the Dervish position, the whole of Wingate's force, at 12.20 a.m. on the 24th, advanced by moonlight to within three miles of the enemy, when a halt was called, and the troops deployed into attack formation. The advance was then resumed. Although strict silence was kept in the ranks, it soon became evident, from the sound of drums and horns, that the Khalifa was aware of Wingate's approach. At 3.40 a.m. a gentle, rising slope, which laid between the troops and the Dervish camp, was reached; here the force halted and the men were allowed to sleep.
Soon after five, when only a faint light indicated the approach of day, numerous white figures, moving towards the Egyptian position, were recognized as Dervishes advancing to the attack. Wingate's troops were at once on the alert, and opened fire on the indistinct mass. The fire was returned by the enemy's riflemen, and in a few minutes the action became general. Half an hour later the enemy's fire got slacker and slacker, and Wingate's whole line advancing, swept through the Dervish position for two miles till the enemy's camp was reached.
As the troops passed over the field of battle, the deadly effect of the Egyptian fire was shown by the heaps of dead strewing the ground. Amongst them was the Khalifa himself, who, surrounded by his bodyguard and principal Emirs, made a gallant stand, but fell riddled with bullets. He seems to have met his fate with dignity. Seeing that he was defeated, he resolved to die, and gathering his Emirs around him, they fell together. With him died Ahmed Fedil and Ali Wad Helu, also the Khalifa's two brothers; Sennoussi Ahmed and Haroun Mohamed, as well as Sadik, the son of the Mahdi. The Khalifa's son, Sheikh el Din, was amongst the wounded.