A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

The River War

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The zeriba of the camp at Royan had been already made and much of the
ground cleared by the energy of the Soudanese division, which had been the
first to arrive. An advanced depot was established at Royan island which
was covered with white hospital tents, near which there was a forest of
masts and sails. The barges and boats containing the stores and kits
awaited the troops, and they had only to bivouac along the river-bank and
shelter themselves as quickly as possible from the fierce heat of the sun.
The dark hills of Shabluka, among and beneath which the camp and army
nestled, lay behind us now. To the south the country appeared a level plain
covered with bush and only broken by occasional peaks of rock. The eternal
Nile flowed swiftly by the tents and shelters, and disappeared mysteriously
in the gloom of the gorge; and on the further bank there rose a great
mountain--Jebel Royan--from the top of which it was said that men
might see Khartoum.

The whole army broke camp at Royan on the 28th of August at four o'clock
in the afternoon, and marched to Wady el Abid six miles further south.
We now moved on a broad front, which could immediately be converted into a
fighting formation. This was the first time that it had been possible to
see the whole force--infantry, cavalry, and guns--on the march at once.
In the clear air the amazing detail of the picture was striking. There were
six brigades of infantry, composed of twenty-four battalions; yet every
battalion showed that it was made up of tiny figures, all perfectly defined
on the plain. A Soudanese brigade had been sent on to hold the ground with
pickets until the troops had constructed a zeriba. But a single Dervish
horseman managed to evade these and, just as the light faded, rode up to
the Warwickshire Regiment and flung his broad-bladed spear in token of
defiance. So great was the astonishment which this unexpected apparition
created that the bold man actually made good his escape uninjured.

On the 29th the forces remained halted opposite Um Teref, and only the
Egyptian cavalry went out to reconnoitre. They searched the country for
eight or nine miles, and Colonel Broadwood returned in the afternoon,
having found a convenient camping-ground, but nothing else. During the day
the news of two river disasters arrived--the first to ourselves, the second
to our foes. On the 28th the gunboat Zafir was steaming from the Atbara to
Wad Hamed, intending thereafter to ascend the Shabluka Cataract.
Suddenly--overtaken now, as on the eve of the advance on Dongola,
by misfortune--she sprang a leak, and, in spite of every effort to run her
ashore, foundered by the head in deep water near Metemma. The officers on
board--among whom was Keppel, the commander of the whole flotilla--
had scarcely time to leap from the wreck, and with difficulty made their
way to the shore, where they were afterwards found very cold and hungry.
The Sirdar received the news at Royan. His calculations were disturbed by
the loss of a powerful vessel; but he had allowed for accidents, and in
consequence accepted the misfortune very phlegmatically. The days of
struggling warfare were over, and the General knew that he had
a safe margin of strength.

The other catastrophe afflicted the Khalifa, and its tale was brought to
the advancing army by the Intelligence spies, who to the last--even when
the forces were closing--tried to pass between them. Not content with
building batteries along the banks, Abdullah, fearing the gunboats,
had resolved to mine the river. An old officer of the old Egyptian army,
long a prisoner in Omdurman, was brought from his chains and ordered to
construct mines. Two iron boilers were filled with gunpowder, and it was
arranged that these should be sunk in the Nile at convenient spots.
Buried in the powder of each was a loaded pistol with a string attached to
the trigger. On pulling the string the pistol, and consequently the mine,
would be exploded. So the Khalifa argued; nor was he wrong. It was resolved
to lay one mine first. On the 17th of August the Dervish steamer Ismailia
moved out into the middle of the Nile, carrying one of the boilers fully
charged and equipped with pistol detonator. Arrived at the selected spot,
the great cylinder of powder was dropped over the side. Its efficiency as
a destructive engine was immediately demonstrated, for, on the string being
pulled by accident, the pistol discharged itself, the powder exploded,
and the Ismailia and all on board were blown to pieces.

Undeterred by the loss of life, and encouraged by the manifest power
of the contrivance, the Khalifa immediately ordered the second of the two
boilers to be sunk in the stream. As the old Egyptian officer had been
killed by the explosion, the Emir in charge of the arsenal was entrusted
with the perilous business. He rose, however, to the occasion, and, having
first taken the precaution of letting the water into the boiler so as to
damp the powder, he succeeded in laying the second mine in mid-stream,
to the joy and delight of Abdullah, who, not understanding that it was
now useless, overwhelmed him with praise and presents.

Beguiled with such stories and diversions, the day of rest at
Wady el Abid passed swiftly. Night brought beetles, bugs, and ants,
and several men were stung by scorpions--a most painful though not
dangerous affair. Towards morning it began to rain, and everyone was
drenched and chilled when the sun rose across the river from behind a great
conical hill and dispersed the clouds into wisps of creamy flame. Then we
mounted and set out. This day the army moved prepared for immediate action,
and all the cavalry were thrown out ten miles in front in a great screen
which reached from the gunboats on the river to the Camel Corps
far out in the desert.

When we had advanced a little further, there arose above the scrub
the dark outlines of a rocky peak, the hill of Merreh. The whole of
the 21st Lancers now concentrated, and, trotting quickly forward, occupied
this position, whence a considerable tract of country was visible. We were
hardly twenty-five miles from Khartoum, and of that distance at least ten
miles were displayed. Yet there were no enemy. Had they all fled?
Would there be no opposition? Should we find Omdurman deserted
or submissive? These were questions which occurred to everyone, and many
answered them affirmatively. Colonel Martin had meanwhile heliographed
back to the Sirdar that all the ground was up to this point clear,
and that there were no Dervishes to be seen. After some delay orders were
signalled back for one squadron to remain till sunset in observation on
the hill and for the rest to return to camp.

With two troops thrown out a mile in front we waited watching on the hill.
Time passed slowly, for the sun was hot. Suddenly it became evident that
one of the advanced troops was signalling energetically. The message was
spelt out. The officer with the troop perceived Dervishes in his front.
We looked through our glasses. It was true. There, on a white patch of sand
among the bushes of the plain, were a lot of little brown spots, moving
slowly across the front of the cavalry outposts towards an Egyptian
squadron, which was watching far out to the westward. There may have been
seventy horsemen altogether. We could not take our eyes off those distant
specks we had travelled so far, if possible, to destroy. Presently the
Dervish patrol approached our right troop, and apparently came nearer than
they imagined, for the officer who commanded--Lieutenant Conolly--
opened fire on them with carbines, and we saw them turn and ride back,
but without hurrying.

The camp to which we returned was a very different place from the one
we had left in the morning. Instead of lying along the river-bank,
it was pitched in the thinner scrub. The bushes had on all sides been cut
down, the ground cleared, and an immense oblong zeriba was built,
around which the six brigades were drawn up, and into which cavalry, guns,
and transport were closely packed.

Very early next morning the advance was continued. The army paraded
by starlight, and with the first streak of the dawn the cavalry were again
flung far out in advance. Secure behind the screen of horsemen and Camel
Corps, the infantry advanced in regular array. Up to the 27th of August
the force marched by divisions; but on and after the 30th of August the
whole force commenced to march in fighting formation. The British division
was on the left, the Egyptian army on the right. All the brigades marched
in line, or in a slight echelon. The flank brigades kept their flank
battalions in column or in fours. Other British battalions had six
companies in the front line (in company column of fours) and two companies
in support. The Egyptian brigades usually marched with three battalions in
the front line and one in reserve, each of the three in the front line
having four companies in front and two in support.

The spectacle of the moving army--the grand army of the Nile--as it
advanced towards its goal was especially wonderful in the clear air of the
early morning; a long row of great brown masses of infantry and artillery,
with a fringe of cavalry dotting the plain for miles in front, with the
Camel Corps--chocolate-coloured men on cream-coloured camels--stretching
into the desert on the right, and the white gunboats stealing silently up
the river on the left, scrutinising the banks with their guns; while far
in rear the transport trailed away into the mirage, and far in front the
field-glass disclosed the enemy's patrols. Day after day and hour after
hour the advance was maintained. Arrived at the camping-ground, the zeriba
had to be built; and this involved a long afternoon of fatigue. In the
evening, when the dusty, tired-out squadrons returned, the troopers
attended to their horses, and so went to sleep in peace. It was then that
the dusty, tired-out infantry provided sentries and pickets, who in a
ceaseless succession paced the zeriba and guarded its occupants.

The position of the next camp was a strong one, on a high swell of
open ground which afforded a clear field of fire in every direction.
Everyone that night lay down to sleep with a feeling of keen expectancy.
One way or the other all doubts would be settled the next day. The cavalry
would ride over the Kerreri Hills, if they were not occupied by the enemy,
and right up to the walls of Omdurman. If the Dervishes had any army--
if there was to be any battle--we should know within a few hours.
The telegrams which were despatched that evening were the last to reach
England before the event. During the night heavy rain fell, and all the
country was drenched. The telegraph-wire had been laid along the ground,
as there had been no time to pole it. The sand when dry is a sufficient
insulator, but when wet its non-conductivity is destroyed. Hence all
communications ceased, and those at home who had husbands, sons, brothers,
or friends in the Expeditionary Force were left in an uncertainty as great
as that in which we slept--and far more painful.

The long day had tired everyone. Indeed, the whole fortnight
since the cavalry convoy had started from the Atbara had been a period
of great exertion, and the Lancers, officers and men, were glad to eat a
hasty meal, and forget the fatigues of the day, the hardness of the ground,
and the anticipations of the morrow in deep sleep. The camp was watched by
the infantry, whose labours did not end with the daylight. At two o'clock
in the morning the clouds broke in rain and storm. Great blue flashes of
lightning lit up the wide expanse of sleeping figures, of crowded animals,
and of shelters fluttering in the wind; and from the centre of the camp it
was even possible to see for an instant the continuous line of sentries who
watched throughout the night with ceaseless vigilance. Nor was this all.
Far away, near the Kerreri Hills, the yellow light of a burning village
shot up, unquenched by the rain, and only invisible in the brightest
flashes of the lightning. There was war to the southward.




CHAPTER XIV: THE OPERATIONS OF THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER



The British and Egyptian cavalry, supported by the Camel Corps
and Horse Artillery, trotted out rapidly, and soon interposed a distance
of eight miles between them and the army. As before, the 21st Lancers
were on the left nearest the river, and the Khedivial squadrons curved
backwards in a wide half-moon to protect the right flank. Meanwhile the
gunboat flotilla was seen to be in motion. The white boats began to ascend
the stream leisurely. Yet their array was significant. Hitherto they had
moved at long and indefinite intervals--one following perhaps a mile,
or even two miles, behind the other. Now a regular distance of about 300
yards was observed. The orders of the cavalry were to reconnoitre Omdurman;
of the gunboats to bombard it.

As soon as the squadrons of the 21st Lancers had turned the shoulder of
the steep Kerreri Hills, we saw in the distance a yellow-brown pointed
dome rising above the blurred horizon. It was the Mahdi's Tomb, standing
in the very heart of Omdurman. From the high ground the field-glass
disclosed rows and rows of mud houses, making a dark patch on the brown of
the plain. To the left the river, steel-grey in the morning light, forked
into two channels, and on the tongue of land between them the gleam of a
white building showed among the trees. Before us were the ruins
of Khartoum and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles.

A black, solitary hill rose between the Kerreri position and Omdurman.
A long, low ridge running from it concealed the ground beyond. For the rest
there was a wide-rolling, sandy plain of great extent, surrounded on three
sides by rocky hills and ridges, and patched with coarse, starveling grass
or occasional bushes. By the banks of the river which framed the picture on
the left stood a straggling mud village, and this, though we did not
know it, was to be the field of Omdurman. It was deserted. Not a living
creature could be seen. And now there were many who said once and for all
that there would be no fight; for here we were arrived at the very walls
of Omdurman, and never an enemy to bar our path. Then, with four squadrons
looking very tiny on the broad expanse of ground, we moved steadily
forward, and at the same time the Egyptian cavalry and the Camel Corps
entered the plain several miles further to the west, and they too
began to trot across it.

It was about three miles to the last ridge which lay between us
and the city. If there was a Dervish army, if there was to be a battle,
if the Khalifa would maintain his boast and accept the arbitrament of war,
much must be visible from that ridge. We looked over. At first nothing was
apparent except the walls and houses of Omdurman and the sandy plain
sloping up from the river to distant hills. Then four miles away on our
right front emerged a long black line with white spots. It was the enemy.
It seemed to us, as we looked, that there might be 3,000 men behind a
high dense zeriba of thorn-bushes. That, said the officers, was better
than nothing. It is scarcely necessary to describe our tortuous movements
towards the Dervish position. Looking at it now from one point of view,
now from another, but always edging nearer, the cavalry slowly approached,
and halted in the plain about three miles away--three great serpents
of men--the light-coloured one, the 21st Lancers; a much longer and a
blacker one, the Egyptian squadrons; a mottled one, the Camel Corps and
Horse Artillery. From this distance a clearer view was possible,
and we distinguished many horsemen riding about the flanks and front of
the broad dark line which crowned the crest of the slope. A few of these
rode carelessly towards the squadrons to look at them. They were not
apparently acquainted with the long range of the Lee-Metford carbine.
Several troops were dismounted, and at 800 yards fire was made on them.
Two were shot and fell to the ground. Their companions, dismounting,
examined them, picked up one, let the other lie, and resumed their ride,
without acknowledging the bullets by even an increase of pace.

While this passed, so did the time. It was now nearly eleven o'clock.
Suddenly the whole black line which seemed to be zeriba began to move.
It was made of men, not bushes. Behind it other immense masses and lines
of men appeared over the crest; and while we watched, amazed by the wonder
of the sight, the whole face of the slope became black with swarming
savages. Four miles from end to end, and, as it seemed, in five great
divisions, this mighty army advanced--swiftly. The whole side of the hill
seemed to move. Between the masses horsemen galloped continually;
before them many patrols dotted the plain; above them waved hundreds of
banners, and the sun, glinting on many thousand hostile spear-points,
spread a sparkling cloud.

It is now known that the Khalifa had succeeded in concentrating at
Omdurman an army of more than 60,000 men. He remembered that all the former
victories over the Egyptians had been won by the Dervishes attacking.
He knew that in all the recent defeats they had stood on the defensive.
He therefore determined not to oppose the advance at the Shabluka or on
the march thence to Omdurman. All was to be staked on the issue of a great
battle on the plains of Kerreri. The Mahdi's prophecy was propitious.
The strength of the Dervish army seemed overwhelming. When the 'Turks'
arrived, they should be driven into the river. Accordingly the Khalifa had
only watched the advance of the Expeditionary Force from Wad Hamed with
a patrol of cavalry about 200 strong. On the 30th he was informed that the
enemy drew near, and on the 31st he assembled his bodyguard and regular
army, with the exception of the men needed for the river batteries,
on the Omdurman parade ground. He harangued the leaders; and remained
encamped with his troops during the night. The next day all the male
population of the city were compelled to join the army in the field,
and only the gunners and garrisons on the river-face remained within.
In spite, however, of his utmost vigilance, nearly 6,000 men deserted
during the nights of the 31st of August and the 1st of September.
This and the detachments in the forts reduced the force actually engaged
in the battle to 52,000 men. The host that now advanced towards the British
and Egyptian cavalry was perhaps 4,000 stronger.

Their array was regular and precise, and, facing northeast, stretched for
more than four miles from flank to flank. A strong detachment of the
mulazemin or guard was extended in front of the centre. Ali-Wad-Helu,
with his bright green flag, prolonged the line to the left; and his 5,000
warriors, chiefly of the Degheim and Kenana tribes, soon began to reach out
towards the Egyptian cavalry. The centre and main force of the army was
composed of the regular troops, formed in squares under Osman Sheikh-ed-Din
and Osman Azrak. This great body comprised 12,000 black riflemen and about
13,000 black and Arab spearmen. In their midst rose the large, dark green
flag which the Sheikh-ed-Din had adopted to annoy Ali-Wad-Helu, of whose
distinctive emblem he was inordinately jealous. The Khalifa with his own
bodyguard, about 2,000 strong, followed the centre. In rear of all marched
Yakub with the Black Flag and 13,000 men--nearly all swordsmen and
spearmen, who with those extended in front of the army constituted the
guard. The right wing was formed by the brigade of the Khalifa Sherif,
consisting of 2,000 Danagla tribesmen, whose principal ensign was a broad
red flag. Osman Digna, with about 1,700 Hadendoa, guarded the extreme right
and the flank nearest Omdurman, and his fame needed no flag. Such was the
great army which now moved swiftly towards the watching squadrons;
and these, pausing on the sandy ridge, pushed out a fringe of tentative
patrols, as if to assure themselves that what they saw was real.

The Egyptian cavalry had meanwhile a somewhat different view of
the spectacle. Working on the right of the 21st Lancers, and keeping
further from the river, the leading squadrons had reached the extreme
western end of the Kerreri ridge at about seven o'clock. From here the
Mahdi's Tomb was visible, and, since the rocks of Surgham did not obstruct
the view from this point, the British officers, looking through their
field-glasses, saw what appeared to be a long column of brown spots moving
south-westwards across the wide plain which stretches away to the west of
Omdurman. The telescope, an invaluable aid to reconnaissance, developed
the picture. The brown objects proved to be troops of horses grazing;
and beyond, to the southward, camels and white flapping tents could be
distinguished. There were no signs that a retreat was in progress;
but from such a distance--nearly four miles--no certain information
could be obtained, and Colonel Broadwood decided to advance closer.
He accordingly led his whole command south-westward towards a round-topped
hill which rose about four miles from the end of the Kerreri ridge and was
one of the more distant hill features bounding the plain on the western
side. The Egyptian cavalry moved slowly across the desert to this new
point of observation. On their way they traversed the end of the Khor
Shambat, a long depression which is the natural drainage channel of the
plains of Kerreri and Omdurman, and joins the Nile about four miles from
the city. The heavy rain of the previous night had made the low ground
swampy, and pools of water stood in the soft, wet sand. The passage,
however, presented no great difficulty, and at half-past eleven the
Egyptian squadrons began to climb the lower slopes of the round-topped
hill. Here the whole scene burst suddenly upon them. Scarcely three miles
away the Dervish army was advancing with the regularity of parade.
The south wind carried the martial sound of horns and drums and--far more
menacing--the deep murmur of a multitude to the astonished officers.
Like the 21st Lancers--three miles away to their left, at the end of the
long sandy ridge which runs westward from Surgham--the soldiers remained
for a space spell-bound. But all eyes were soon drawn from the thrilling
spectacle of the Dervish advance by the sound of guns on the river.

At about eleven o'clock the gunboats had ascended the Nile, and now
engaged the enemy's batteries on both banks. Throughout the day the loud
reports of their guns could be heard, and, looking from our position on
the ridge, we could see the white vessels steaming slowly forward against
the current, under clouds of black smoke from their furnaces and amid
other clouds of white smoke from the artillery. The forts, which mounted
nearly fifty guns, replied vigorously; but the British aim was accurate
and their fire crushing. The embrasures were smashed to bits and many of
the Dervish guns dismounted. The rifle trenches which flanked the forts
were swept by the Maxim guns. The heavier projectiles, striking the mud
walls of the works and houses, dashed the red dust high into the air and
scattered destruction around. Despite the tenacity and courage of the
Dervish gunners, they were driven from their defences and took refuge
among the streets of the city. The great wall of Omdurman was breached
in many places, and a large number of unfortunate non-combatants
were killed and wounded.

Meanwhile the Arab irregulars, under Major Wortley, had been sharply
engaged. That officer's orders were to co-operate with the flotilla by
taking in rear the forts and fortified villages on the east bank of the
river. As soon as the gunboats had silenced the lower forts, Major Wortley
ordered the irregulars to advance on them and on the houses. He placed the
Jaalin, who were practically the only trustworthy men in his force,
in reserve, and formed the tribes according to their capabilities and
prejudices. On the order to attack being given, the whole force, some 3,000
strong, advanced on the buildings, from which the Dervishes at once
opened fire. Arrived within 500 yards they halted, and began to discharge
their rifles in the air; they also indulged in frantic dances expressive of
their fury and valour, but declined to advance any further.

Major Wortley then ordered the Jaalin to attack. These--formed in a
long column, animated by the desire for vengeance, and being besides brave
men--moved upon the village at a slow pace, and, surrounding one house
after another, captured it and slew all its defenders; including the
Dervish Emir and 350 of his followers. The Jaalin themselves suffered a
loss of about sixty killed and wounded.

The village being captured, and the enemy on the east bank
killed or dispersed, the gunboats proceeded to engage the batteries higher
up the river. The howitzer battery was now landed, and at 1.30 began to
bombard the Mahdi's Tomb. This part of the proceedings was plainly visible
to us, waiting and watching on the ridge, and its interest even distracted
attention from the Dervish army. The dome of the tomb rose tall and
prominent above the mud houses of the city. A lyddite shell burst over it
--a great flash, a white ball of smoke, and, after a pause, the dull thud
of the distant explosion. Another followed. At the third shot, instead of
the white smoke, there was a prodigious cloud of red dust, in which the
whole tomb disappeared. When this cleared away we saw that, instead of
being pointed, it was now flat-topped. Other shells continued to strike it
with like effect, some breaking holes in the dome, others smashing off
the cupolas, all enveloping it in dust.

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