CHAPTER XXIII
THE SOUDAN WAR OF 1884-5
I. SUMMARY OF EVENTS
NOTE
A year before the British forces restored order in Egypt, trouble was
beginning in the Soudan. One Mahomet Ahmed, who was the son of a
boat-builder, and who had the peculiar conformation of the teeth which
betokened the fore-ordained of the Prophet, announced that he was the
Mahdi. In July, 1881, the holy man dwelt upon the island of Abba, on
the White Nile, above Khartoum. Thence he caused it to be made known
that he was the chosen instrument for the reformation of Islam, and
that all those who denied him would be abolished. Reouf Pasha, who was
then Governor-General of the Soudan, summoned the Mahdi to Khartoum,
there to give an account of himself. The Mahdi naturally refused; and
when Reouf sent soldiers to fetch him, the Mahdi slew most of them, and
departed into the hills, he and all his following. The Governor of
Fashoda took an expedition to Gheddeer, and was also slain, together
with most of his men. Then Giegler Pasha, a German, acting as
temporary Governor-General of the Soudan, succeeded in defeating the
forces of the Mahdi. But Abdel Kader, who, succeeding Reouf, took over
the command from Giegler, was defeated in his turn. On 7th June, 1882,
the Egyptian forces were cut to pieces near Fashoda. In July, the
Mahdi was besieging Obeid and {212} Bara. By October, 1882, both
places were in danger of falling, and Abdel Kader was demanding
reinforcements from Egypt.
The Soudan is a country as large as India; at that time it had no
railways, no canals, no roads, and, excepting the Nile during a part of
the year, no navigable rivers. In November, 1882, the British
Government informed the Khedive that they declined to be responsible
for the condition of the Soudan. Lord Granville's intimation to this
effect was the first step in the policy which progressed from blunder
to blunder to the desertion and death of General Gordon.
The Egyptian Government, left in the lurch, hastily enlisted some
10,000 men, the most part being brought in by force, and dispatched
them to Abdel Kader at Berber. At Abdel Kader's request, Colonel
Stewart and two other British officers were sent to Khartoum to help
him to deal with the raw and mutinous levies.
In December, a number of British officers were appointed to the
Egyptian Army in Egypt, in accordance with the recommendations of Lord
Dufferin, and Sir Evelyn Wood was appointed Sirdar. The British Army
of Occupation had now been reduced to 12,000 men, under the command of
General Sir Archibald Alison, who, in the following April (1883) was
succeeded by Lieutenant-General F. C. S. Stephenson.
In January, 1883, Colonel W. Hicks, afterwards Hicks Pasha, was
appointed by the Khedive chief of the staff of the Army of the Soudan.
Before he proceeded to the theatre of war, Abdel Kader had lost and won
various engagements, and had reoccupied the province of Sennar; while
the Mahdi had taken El Obeid and Bara and occupied the whole of
Kordofan.
In February, it was announced in the Queen's Speech that "the British
troops will be withdrawn as promptly as may be permitted by a prudent
examination of the country"; a declaration provoking intense alarm
among the European {213} inhabitants of Egypt. Their protests,
however, were totally disregarded. The Egyptians naturally concluded
that England owned no real interest in that reform of administration
which her influence alone could achieve.
On 7th February, 1883, Colonel Hicks left Cairo for Khartoum, with his
staff, consisting of Colonels Colborne and De Coetlogon, Majors
Farquhar and Martin, and Captains Warner, Massey and Forrestier-Walker.
Upon the night before their departure, Colonel Hicks and his staff
dined with Lord and Lady Charles Beresford in Cairo. Lord Charles
Beresford, who was then on half-pay, had expressed a wish to accompany
Colonel Hicks, but Lord Dufferin disapproving of his suggestion, Lord
Charles Beresford withdrew it.
Hicks and his men disappeared into the desert, which presently
swallowed them up.
On the 28th April, Hicks defeated a large force of the Mahdi's army on
the White Nile. The Egyptian Government then decided to reconquer the
province of Kordofan, and dispatched reinforcements to Khartoum. On
the 9th September, Hicks Pasha, at the head of 10,000 men, marched for
Duem. The last dispatch received from him was dated 3rd October, 1883.
Upon a day early in November, Hicks and his whole army were annihilated.
His defeat left Khartoum in great danger. On 9th November, before the
news of the disaster reached England, the British Government stated
that all British troops were to be withdrawn from Egypt. When the fact
was known, the decision of the Government was modified; but they still
declined to interfere in the Soudan; and advised the Egyptian
Government to evacuate at least a part of that territory. The Egyptian
Government protesting, the British Government, on 4th January, 1884,
sent a peremptory message insisting that the policy of evacuation
should be carried into execution. The inconsequence of Her Majesty's
Ministers is sufficiently apparent.
In the meantime, during August of the preceding year, {214} 1883,
trouble had arisen in the Eastern Soudan, where Osman Digna, a trader,
joined the Mahdi, and brought all the tribes of that country to his
standard. At the beginning of November, 1883, just at the time when
Hicks Pasha and his army had come to their end, an Egyptian force under
Mahmoud Talma Pasha was defeated by Osman Digna in the attempt to
relieve Tokar, besieged by the rebels, Captain Moncrieff, Royal Navy,
British Consul at Souakim, being killed in the action. A second
expeditionary force under Suleiman Pasha was cut to pieces on 2nd
December at Tamanieh.
The Egyptian Government then dispatched reinforcements under the
command of General Valentine Baker, among whose staff were Colonel
Sartorius, Lieutenant-Colonel Harrington, Lieutenant-Colonel Hay,
Majors Harvey, Giles, and Holroyd, Morice Bey and Dr. Leslie. On the
4th February, 1884, Baker was defeated at El-Teb, with the loss of
nearly two-thirds of his force. Morice Bey, Dr. Leslie, and nine other
European officers were killed. Souakim being threatened, Admiral
Hewett, on 10th December, was given the command of the town, having
under him some 3800 troops. Two days later came the news of the taking
of Sinkat by the rebels, and of the massacre of the garrison. During
the period in which these successive disasters occurred, the British
Army of Occupation was kept idle in Cairo by the orders of the British
Government.
The current of events now divides, one leading to Khartoum, the other
still flowing in the Eastern Soudan. The British Government,
hopelessly at fault, turned to General Charles Gordon, as the one man
in the world who could apparently perform miracles. Ten years
previously, "Chinese" Gordon, as Governor-General of the Soudan, and
again in 1877, as Governor-General of the Soudan, Darfur and the
Equatorial Provinces, had freed the country from Turkish rule, broken
the slave trade, established peace, opened trade routes, and laid the
foundations of civilisation. Since 1877 he had been engaged in setting
wrong things right in Egypt {215} in the Soudan again, in Abyssinia, in
China, in the Mauritius, at the Cape, in Palestine, and in the Congo.
On 18th January, 1884, Gordon was instructed by the British Government
to report upon the best method of evacuating the Soudan. When he
arrived at Cairo, these instructions were radically altered by Sir
Evelyn Baring (afterwards Lord Cromer), who, on the 25th January,
informed Gordon that he was required actually to direct the evacuation
of Khartoum and of the whole Soudan, and afterwards to establish an
organised government in that country. Gordon arrived at Khartoum on
the 18th February, where he was hailed as the father and saviour of the
people.
On the same day, Major-General Sir Gerald Graham left Suez to join at
Souakim the force which had been placed under his command. That force
was chiefly drawn from the British Army of Occupation in Egypt. The
object of the expedition was the relief of Tokar, or, if that place had
already fallen, the protection of Souakim, an alternative which
involved an attack upon Osman Digna's victorious army. Tokar was in
fact taken by the enemy before the expedition started.
The British Government, whose original intention had been to refrain
from any action in the Soudan whatsoever; which had been compelled by
force of circumstances, including the most frightful bloodshed, to
change a wholly negative policy to a definite scheme of evacuation; now
perceived, of course too late, that if the European population was to
be brought away, at least some measure of military force must be
employed. What Her Majesty's Ministers were unable to see, or what, if
they saw, they chose to ignore, was the plain fact that the same force
and the same measures and the same promptitude would be required for
the salvation of Europeans in face of the enemy, as for the reconquest
and reoccupation of the country. In this delusion, or dereliction,
resides the explanation of an affair which has left an indelible stain
upon British honour.
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On 28th February, 1884, Graham defeated the enemy, inflicting upon them
severe losses, at El-Teb, near the spot upon which Baker's disastrous
action had occurred some three weeks previously. On 13th March, after
a hard and at times a dubious fight, Graham won another victory at
Tamaai, and the power of Osman Digna was broken. Graham was then
ordered to return, and the expedition was over.
By withdrawing Graham's troops, the Government both threw away the
fruits of his success, and deliberately abandoned the control of the
Souakim-Berber route from Khartoum, by which alone Gordon could have
brought away the refugees. Berber was the key to the Soudan.
Thenceforth, the Souakim-Berber route was impracticable; and it was for
this reason that Lord Wolseley was obliged to take the much longer Nile
route.
On the very day after Graham's victory at El-Teb, and before Graham had
left Souakim, Gordon had telegraphed from Khartoum as follows:--
"There is not much chance of the situation improving, and every chance
of it getting worse; for we have nothing to rely on to make it better.
You must, therefore, decide whether you will or will not make an
attempt to save the two-thirds of the population who are well affected
before these two-thirds retreat. Should you wish to intervene, send
200 British troops to Wady Halfa, and adjutants to inspect Dongola, and
then open up Souakim-Berber road by Indian Moslem troops. This will
cause an immediate collapse of the revolt."
On 2nd March he telegraphed again to the same effect; but Lord
Granville declined to accede to General Gordon's suggestions. A few
days later, when the Eastern Soudan and the Souakim-Berber route had
been definitely abandoned, Sir Evelyn Baring strongly advised the
British Government to obtain command of the Souakim-Berber route. But
the {217} advice was refused by Lord Granville, and the most urgent
appeals continued to be addressed to him in vain.
Deserted by the Government, Gordon tried, and failed, to raise money
privately for the purpose of engaging Turkish troops. Early in April,
Khartoum was closely besieged. At this time, Lord Wolseley urged upon
the Government the necessity of relieving Gordon. In May, preparations
for war were begun. A part of the British Army of Occupation in Egypt
was sent up the Nile; and Commander Hammill and other naval officers
were employed to report upon the navigation of the river. These facts
did not prevent Lord Hartington from informing the House of Commons,
early in July, that the Government had no intention of sending an
expedition to relieve General Gordon, unless it were made clear that by
no other means could he be relieved, and adding that the Government had
"received no information making it desirable that we should depart from
that decision" (Royce, _The Egyptian Campaigns_). On 24th July, Lord
Wolseley made a spirited protest against the procrastination of the
Government. The pressure of public opinion could no longer be entirely
withstood. On 30th July, Gordon sent a message in which he declared
his retreat to be impossible.
On 5th August, Mr. Gladstone asked and obtained a vote of credit.
Then, and not until then, were the preparations for war begun in
England. Having decided, upon the advice of Lord Wolseley, to follow
the Nile route instead of the Souakim-Berber route, the Government
ordered 800 boats. These were 30 feet long, having six feet six inches
beam, two feet six inches draught, fitted with 12 oars, two masts and
lug sails; each designed to carry two boatmen and 10 soldiers with
provisions, arms and ammunition. Eight steam pinnaces and two
stern-wheel paddle-boats were also fitted out; the Nile steamers
belonging to the Egyptian Government were taken over; and 380
_voyageurs_ from Canada were engaged. The total force of troops
selected numbered 7000. Messrs. Thomas Cook & Son contracted to
transport the {218} whole expedition to above the Second Cataract.
Lord Wolseley was appointed commander-in-chief; General Sir Redvers
Buller was chief of staff; General Earle was given command of a
brigade; special service officers were: Colonels Sir Charles Wilson,
Brackenbury, Harrison, Henderson, Maurice, Lord Anson (Royce, _The
Egyptian Campaigns_). Lord Charles Beresford was attached to Lord
Wolseley's staff.
Even now, the Government failed to recognise the plain facts of the
case. Their instructions to Lord Wolseley were that the main object of
the expedition was to rescue General Gordon. Her Majesty's Ministers
considered that it might be practicable to achieve his release without
going to Khartoum, and that in any case it was desirable to avoid any
fighting so far as possible.
When Lord Wolseley started from Cairo on 27th September, 1884, the
advance was already going rapidly forward. Under the direction of Sir
Evelyn Wood and Commander Hammill, a number of the whaler boats had
been transported to Wady Halfa, which is nearly 900 miles from
Khartoum, the total length of the Nile route being 1650 miles. Along
the river, up to Wady Halfa and a little beyond to Sarras, bases of
supply had been established; an advance guard was already at New
Dongola, about 100 miles above Wady Halfa, under the command of General
Sir Herbert Stewart, he who afterwards led the Desert Column.
Arriving at Wady Halfa on 5th October, Lord Wolseley received news that
Colonel J. S. Stewart, Mr. Power, British Consul at Khartoum and
correspondent of _The Times_, M. Herbin, French Consul, and a party of
Greek and Egyptian refugees, who had left Khartoum in the steamer
Abbas, had all been slain. Stewart had with him Gordon's papers,
which, of course, were taken by the Mahdi's men.
On the 8th October a letter from M. Herbin was received at Cairo. It
was dated from Khartoum, 29th July, 1884, and stated that there were
then provisions for two months in the {219} place. The time had thus
expired--and M. Herbin had been murdered--ere the letter arrived.
A temporary base was formed at Wady Halfa; and bases of supplies were
established along the river up to New Dongola. By means of
extraordinary exertions, boats and steamers were hauled up to Dongola
through the rapids. Lord Wolseley formed a Camel Corps of 1500 men,
consisting of four regiments, Heavy Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Guards, and
Mounted Infantry, with a detachment of Royal Marines. Early in
November, a general advance was made from Wady Halfa. Wolseley arrived
at Dongola on 3rd November. Two days previously, on 1st November, Sir
Evelyn Baring had received a message from Gordon, dated 13th July,
saying that he could hold out for four months. The limit, therefore,
had nearly been reached by the time the expedition was leaving Wady
Halfa, 900 miles from Khartoum.
Lord Wolseley, early in November, considered that it would take to the
end of the year to concentrate his forces at Ambukol, just above Old
Dongola. He returned to Wady Halfa to expedite progress; and by the
middle of December headquarters were established at Korti, and by
Christmas the greater part of the force was concentrated there. During
the whole of this period, Wolseley's army must be figured as a river of
men flowing along the river Nile, the infantry struggling up in boats,
the mounted men toiling along the banks; the stream of men banking up
at headquarters, the military front, which is steadily pushed forward
from Wady Halfa to New Dongola, from New Dongola to Old Dongola 60 to
70 miles farther up, from Old Dongola to Korti.
On 17th November a letter was received from Gordon saying that he could
hold out for forty days from the date of the superscription, 4th
November, 1884, thus leaving Wolseley barely four weeks to accomplish a
task needing as many months. On 28th November another letter from
Gordon, dated 9th September, gave the relief expedition four months,
thus leaving Wolseley five weeks from the {220} date upon which the
letter was received. It was now clear that the expedition could not
reach Khartoum in time.
When Lord Wolseley, towards the end of December, had his forces
concentrated at Korti, he decided to divide them into two columns, the
Desert Column and the Nile Column. The reasons for his scheme can only
be clearly apprehended by a reference to the map. At Korti, the Nile
turns north-east, looping back again, and resuming its southward course
at Metemmeh. A straight line drawn across the Bayuda Desert from Korti
to Metemmeh is the short cut. This was the route given to the Desert
Column. The Nile Column was to proceed up the loop of the river to
Hamdab, there to avenge the murder of Colonel Stewart and his party, to
proceed higher up to Berti, and thence to secure the bend of the river
and to open up the desert route back to Korosko, below Wady Halfa, and
from Korosko it was intended to attack Berber, and thence to join
forces with the Desert Column at Metemmeh.
The Nile Column, numbering about 3000 men, under the command of
Major-General Earle, Brigadier-General Brackenbury being second in
command, left Korti on 28th December, 1884.
The Desert Column was placed under the command of General Sir Herbert
Stewart. With him was Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, who was instructed
to take a body of troops from Metemmeh to Khartoum. The Column
consisted of sections of the Camel Corps, a company of the Royal
Engineers, a detachment of the 19th Hussars, detachments of the
Commissariat and Medical Corps, and the Naval Brigade, which was placed
under the command of Lord Charles Beresford. The total force numbered
73 officers, 1032 non-commissioned officers and men, 2099 camels, and
40 horses. The Desert Column left Korti on 30th December, 1884. It
was, in fact, a forlorn hope.
(The writer desires to acknowledge the use he has made of the excellent
narrative of events contained in _The Egyptian Campaigns_, by the Hon.
Charles Royle.)
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