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The River War

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It only remains to discuss the settlement made between the conquerors
of the Soudan. Great Britain and Egypt had moved hand in hand up the great
river, sharing, though unequally, the cost of the war in men and money.
The prize belonged to both. The direct annexation of the Soudan by Great
Britain would have been an injustice to Egypt. Moreover, the claim of the
conquerors to Fashoda and other territories rested solely on the former
rights of Egypt. On the other hand, if the Soudan became Egyptian again,
it must wear the fetters of that imprisoned country. The Capitulations
would apply to the Upper Nile regions, as to the Delta. Mixed Tribunals,
Ottoman Suzerainty, and other vexatious burdens would be added to the
difficulties of Soudan administration. To free the new country from the
curse of internationalism was a paramount object. The Soudan Agreement
by Great Britain and Egypt, published on the 7th of March, 1899,
achieves this. Like most of the best work done in Egypt by the British
Agency, the Agreement was slipped through without attracting much notice.
Under its authority a State has been created in the Nile Valley which is
neither British nor Ottoman, nor anything else so far known to the law
of Europe. International jurists are confronted with an entirely new
political status. A diplomatic 'Fourth Dimension' has been discovered.
Great Britain and Egypt rule the country together. The allied conquerors
have become the joint-possessors. 'What does this Soudan Agreement mean?'
the Austrian Consul-General asked Lord Cromer; and the British Agent,
whom twenty-two years' acquaintance with Egyptian affairs bad accustomed
to anomalies, replied, 'It means simply this'; and handed him the
inexplicable document, under which the conquered country may some day
march to Peace and Plenty.




CHAPTER XVIII: ON THE BLUE NILE



The authority of the Khalifa and the strength of his army were
for ever broken on the 2nd of September, and the battle of Omdurman is the
natural climax of this tale of war. To those who fought, and still more to
those who fell, in the subsequent actions the climax came somewhat later.
After the victory the public interest was no longer centred in the Soudan.
The last British battalion had been carried north of Assuan; the last Press
correspondent had hurried back to Cairo or London. But the military
operations were by no means over.

The enemy had been defeated. It remained to reconquer the territory.
The Dervishes of the provincial garrisons still preserved their allegiance
to the Khalifa. Several strong Arab forces kept the field. Distant Kordofan
and even more distant Darfur were as yet quite unaffected by the great
battle at the confluence of the Niles. There were rumours of Europeans
in the Far South.

The unquestioned command of the waterways which the Sirdar enjoyed
enabled the greater part of the Egyptian Soudan to be at once formally
re-occupied. All towns or stations on the main rivers and their tributaries
were at the mercy of the gunboats. It was only necessary to send troops to
occupy them and to hoist the British and Egyptian flags. Two expeditions
were forthwith sent up the White and Blue Niles to establish garrisons,
and as far as possible to subdue the country. The first, under the personal
command of the Sirdar, left Omdurman on the 8th of September, and steamed
up the White Nile towards Fashoda. The events which followed that momentous
journey have already been related. The second expedition consisted of the
gunboats Sheikh and Hafir, together with two companies and the brass band
of the Xth Soudanese and a Maxim battery, all under the command of General
Hunter. Leaving Omdurman on the 19th of September, they started up the
Blue Nile to Abu Haraz. The rest of the Xth Battalion followed as soon as
other steamers were set free from the business of taking the British
division to the Atbara and bringing supplies to Omdurman. The progress of
the expedition up the river resembled a triumphal procession. The people
of the riparian villages assembled on the banks, and, partly from
satisfaction at being relieved from the oppression of the Khalifa and the
scourge of war, partly from fear, and partly from wonder, gave vent to loud
and long-continued cheers. As the gunboats advanced the inhabitants
escorted them along the bank, the men dancing and waving their swords,
and the women uttering shrill cries of welcome. The reception of the
expedition when places of importance were passed, and the crowd amounted to
several thousands, is described as very stirring, and, we are told,
such was the enthusiasm of the natives that they even broke up their
houses to supply the gunboats with wood for fuel. Whether this be true
or not I cannot tell, but it is in any case certain that the vessels were
duly supplied, and that the expedition in its progress was well received
by the negroid tribes, who had long resented the tyranny of the Arabs.

On the 22nd of September a considerable part of the army of Osman Digna,
which had not been present at the battle of Omdurman, was found encamped on
the Ghezira, a few miles north of Rufaa. The Sheikhs and Emirs, on being
summoned by General Hunter, surrendered, and a force of about 2,000 men
laid down their arms. Musa Digna, a nephew of Osman and the commander of
his forces, was put in irons and held prisoner. The rest, who were mostly
from the Suakin district, were given a safe-conduct, and told to return
to their homes--an order they lost no time in obeying.

The next day the general arrived at Wad Medina, where the Dervish
garrison--1,000 strong--had already surrendered to the gunboat Sheikh.
These men, who were regular Dervishes, were transported in sailing-boats
to Omdurman; and augmented the number of prisoners of war already
collected. On the 29th of September General Hunter reached Rosaires,
400 miles south of Khartoum, and the extreme limit of steam navigation on
the Blue Nile. By the 3rd of October he had established garrisons of the
Xth Soudanese in Rosaires, at Karkoj, at Sennar (the old seat of the
Government of the province), and at Wad Medina. Having also arranged for
gunboat patrolling, he returned to Omdurman.

But there was one Dervisb force which had no intention of surrendering
to the invaders, and whose dispersal was not accomplished until three
fierce and critical actions had been fought. Ahmed Fedil, a zealous and
devoted adherent of the Khalifa, had been sent, after the defeat on the
Atbara, to collect all the Dervishes who could be spared from the Gedaref
and Gallabat provinces, and bring them to join the growing army at Omdurman.
The Emir had faithfully discharged his duty, and he was hurrying to his
master's assistance with a strong and well disciplined force of no fewer
than 8,000 men when, while yet sixty miles from the city, he received the
news of 'the stricken field.' He immediately halted, and sought to hide the
disaster from his soldiers by announcing that the Khalifa had been
victorious and no longer needed their assistance. He even explained the
appearance of gunboats upon the river by saying that these had run past the
batteries at Omdurman and that the others were destroyed. The truth was not,
however, long concealed; for a few days later two emissaries despatched by
Slatin arrived at the Dervish camp and announced the destruction of the
Omdurman army, the flight of the Khalifa, and the fall of the city.
The messengers were authorised to offer Ahmed terms; but that implacable
Dervish flew into a rage, and, having shot one, sent the other,
covered with insults and stripes, to tell the 'Turks' that he would fight
to the bitter end. He then struck his camp, and marched back along the east
bank of the Blue Nile, with the intention of crossing the river near its
confluence with the Rahad, and so joining the Khalifa in Kordofan.
His Dervishes, however, did not view this project with satisfaction.
Their families and women had been left with large stores of grain and
ammunition in Gedaref, under a strong garrison of 3,000 men. They urged
their commander to return and collect these possessions. Ahmed at first
refused, but when on arriving at the place of passage he found himself
confronted with a gunboat, he resolved to make a virtue of necessity
and set out leisurely for Gedaref.

On the 5th of September Colonel Parsons, in command of the forces
at Kassala, heard through the Italian Governor of Eritrea of the victory
at Omdurman. The next day official news arrived from England, and in
conformity with previous instructions he set out on the 7th for Gedaref.
It was known that Ahmed Fedil had marched towards Omdurman. It was believed
that Gedaref was only weakly held, and the opportunity of cutting the most
powerful remaining Dervish army from its base was too precious to be
neglected. But the venture was desperate. The whole available strength of
the Kassala garrison was mustered. With these 1,350 motley soldiers,
untried, little disciplined, worn with waiting and wasted by disease,
without cavalry, artillery, or machine guns, and with only seven British
officers, including the doctor, Gedaref was taken, and, having been taken,
was held.

After two long marches Colonel Parsons and his force arrived at El Fasher,
on the right bank of the Atbara. Their advance, which had hitherto led them
through a waterless desert, was now checked by a raging torrent. The river
was in full flood, and a channel of deep water, broader than the Thames
below London Bridge and racing along at seven miles an hour, formed a
serious obstacle. Since there were no boats the soldiers began forthwith
to construct rafts from barrels that had been brought for the purpose.
As soon as the first of these was completed, it was sent on a trial trip.
The result was not encouraging. The raft supported ten men, occupied five
hours in the passage, was carried ten miles down stream, and came back for
its second journey on the afternoon of the next day. It was evident that
this means of transport was out of the question. The only chance of
success--indeed, of safety--lay in the force reaching and taking Gedaref
before the return of Ahmed Fedil. All depended upon speed; yet here was a
hopeless delay. After prolonged discussion it was resolved to act on the
suggestion of an Egyptian officer and endeavour to build boats. The work
proved easier than was anticipated. The elastic wood of the mimosa scrub
supplied the frames; some tarpaulins--fortunately available--formed the
outer covering. The Egyptian soldiers, who delighted in the work,
succeeded in making daily from such materials one boat capable of carrying
two tons; and in these ingenious contrivances the whole force crossed to
the further bank. The camels, mules, and horses of the transport--
their heads supported with inflated water-skins tied under their jowls--
were made to swim across the river by the local Shukrieh Arabs. Such was
the skill of these tribesmen that only one camel and one mule were drowned
during the operation. The passage was completed on the 16th, and the next
day the advance was resumed along the west bank of the Atbara. At midday
on the 18th Mugatta was reached, and at dawn on the 20th the little force
--having filled their water-skins, tightened their belts, and invoked the
assistance of the various gods they worshipped--started off, and marched
all day in single file through the thick bush which lies between the Atbara
and Gedaref. The column retired to rest peacefully during the night of the
21st, although within twelve miles of Gedaref. But at midnight startling
news arrived. A deserter from the Dervishes made his way into the camp and
informed Colonel Parsons that the Emir Saadalla awaited him with 3,500 men
two miles before the town. The situation was grave. A retreat through the
broken country and thick bush in the face of a powerful and triumphant
enemy seemed impossible. There was no alternative but to attack.

Very early on the morning of the 22nd--the same day on which General Hunter
on the Blue Nile was compelling Musa Digna and his followers to surrender--
Colonel Parsons and the Kassala column set forth to march into Gedaref and
to fight whatever force it might contain. For the first two hours the road
lay through doura plantations and high grass which rose above the heads
even of men mounted on camels; but as the town was approached, the doura
ceased, and the troops emerged from the jungle on to an undulating moorland
with occasional patches of rushes and withered grass. At half-past seven,
and about three miles from Gedaref, the enemy's scouts were encountered.
A few shots were fired. The soldiers pressed their march, and at eight
o'clock had reached a small knoll, from the top of which an extensive view
was obtainable. The column halted, and Colonel Parsons and his officers
ascended the eminence to reconnoitre.

A most menacing spectacle confronted them. Scarcely a mile away
a strong force of Dervishes was rapidly advancing to meet the invaders.
Four lines of white figures rising out of the grass showed by their length
the number, and by their regularity the discipline, of the enemy.
The officers computed the strength of their antagonists at not fewer than
4,000. Subsequent investigation has shown that the Emir Saadalla marched
out of Gedaref with 1,700 riflemen, 1,600 spearmen, and 300 horse.

The swiftness of the Dervish advance and the short space that intervened
between the forces made it evident that a collision would take place within
half an hour. The valley was rocky, and overgrown with grass and reeds;
but to the right of the track there rose a high saddleback hill,
the surface of which looked more open, and which appeared to command
the approaches from Gedaref. The troops knew nothing of the country;
the Dervishes understood it thoroughly. The high ground gave at least
advantage of view. Colonel Parsons resolved to occupy it.
Time was however, very scanty.

The order was given, and the column began to double across the valley
towards the saddleback. The Dervishes, perceiving the nature of the
movement, hurried their advance in the hope of catching the troops on the
move and perhaps of even seizing the hill itself. But they were too late.
Colonel Parsons and his force reached the saddleback safely, and with a few
minutes to spare climbed up and advanced along it in column in the
direction of Gedaref--the Arab battalion leading, the 16th Egyptians next,
and last of all the irregulars.

The Dervishes, seeing that the troops had already reached the hill
and were moving along it towards the town, swung to their left and advanced
to the attack. Thereupon at half-past eight the column wheeled into line
to meet them, and standing in the long grass, which even on the summit of
the hill was nearly breast-high, opened a heavy and destructive fire.
The enemy, although suffering severe loss, continued to struggle bravely
onward, replying vigorously to the musketry of the soldiers. At nine
o'clock, while the frontal attack was still undecided, Colonel Parsons
became aware that a strong force of Dervishes had moved round the left rear
and were about to attack the hospital and transport. He at once sent to
warn Captain Fleming, R.A.M.C., who combined the duties of medical officer
and commander of the baggage column, of the impending assault, and directed
him to close up the camels and meet it. The Arab Sheikhs, who in the
absence of officers were acting as orderlies, had scarcely brought the news
to Fleming, when the Dervish attack developed. The enemy, some 300 strong,
rushed with great determination upon the baggage, and the escort of 120
Arab irregulars at once broke and fled. The situation became desperate;
but Ruthven with thirty-four Supply Department camel-men hastened to meet
the exultant enemy and protect the baggage column, and the transport was
stubbornly defended. In spite of all their efforts the rear of the baggage
column was broken and cut up. The survivors escaped along the saddleback.
The British officers, with their small following, fell back towards their
main body, hotly pressed by the enemy.

At this moment Captain Ruthven observed one of his native officers,
lying wounded on the ground, about to fall into the hands of the Dervishes
and perish miserably. He immediately went back and, being a man of great
physical strength, carried the body off in his arms. The enemy were,
however, so close that he was three times compelled to set his burden down
and defend himself with his revolver. Meanwhile the retirement towards
the main body continued and accelerated.

Colonel Parsons and his force were now between two fires.
The frontal attack was within 200 yards. The rear attack, flushed with
success, were hurrying impetuously forward. The defeat and consequent total
destruction of the Kassala column appeared certain. But in the nick of time
the Dervish frontal attack, which had been suffering heavily from the fire
of the troops, wavered; and when the Arab battalion and the 16th Egyptians
advanced upon them to complete their discomfiture, they broke and fled.
Colonel Parsons at once endeavoured to meet the rear attack. The Arab
battalion, whose valour was more admirable than their discipline,
continued to pursue the beaten enemy down the hill; but the 16th Egyptians,
on being called upon by their commanding officer, Captain McKerrell,
faced steadily about and turned to encounter the fresh attack.

The heavy fire of the regular battalion checked the Dervish advance,
and Captain Fleming, the rest of the dismounted camel-men, and Ruthven
still carrying his native officer, found safety in their ranks.
[For his gallantry on this occasion Captain Ruthven has since received
the Victoria Cross.] A short fierce musketry combat followed at a range
of less than a hundred yards, at the end of which the assailants of the
baggage convoy were completely repulsed. The action was now practically
over and success was won. The Arab battalion, and those of the irregulars
that had rallied, advanced and drove the enemy before them towards Gedaref,
until at ten o'clock, both their front and rear attacks having failed,
the Dervishes abandoned all resistance and a general rout ensued.
No cavalry or artillery being available, further pursuit was impossible.

The town of Gedaref surrendered at noon. The Dervish Emir, Nur Angara,
who with 200 black riflemen and two brass guns had been left in command
of the garrison, made haste to submit. The remainder of the Dervishes,
continuing their flight under the Emir Saadalla, hurried to tell
the tale of defeat to Ahmed Fedil.

The casualties suffered by the Kassala column in the action were severe
in proportion to their numbers and the duration of the fight. The seven
British officers escaped untouched; but of the 1,400 soldiers and
irregulars engaged, 51 were killed and 80 wounded--a total of 131.
The Dervishes left 500 dead on the field, including four Emirs of rank.

The victory had been won, the enemy were routed, and the town was taken:
it had now to be defended. Colonel Parsons took possession of the principal
buildings, and began immediately to put them in a state of defence.
This was fortunately an easy matter. The position was good and adaptable.
It consisted of three large enclosures, capable of holding the entire force,
situated in echelon, so as to protect each other by their fire, and with
strong brick walls six feet high. All were at once set to work to clear the
approaches, to level the mud houses without, and to build ramparts or
banquettes within the walls. The three enclosures thus became three forts,
and in the principal work the two captured brass guns were mounted,
in small bastions thrown out from the north and west corners. While the
infantry were thus engaged, Ruthven and his camel-men made daily
reconnaissances of the surrounding country, and eagerly looked for
the first appearance of Ahmed Fedil.

By great good fortune a convoy of ammunition from Mugatta reached Gedaref
on the afternoon of the 27th. At dawn the next day Ruthven reported that
the advance guard of Ahmed Fedil was approaching the town. The attack began
at half-past eight. The Dervishes, who fought with their customary
gallantry, simultaneously assaulted the north, south, and west faces of the
defences. Creeping forward through the high doura, they were able to get
within 300 yards of the enclosures. But the intervening space had been
carefully cleared of cover, and was swept by the musketry of the defenders.
All attempts to cross this ground--even the most determined rushes--
proved vain. While some made hopeless charges towards the walls, others
crowded into a few straw shelters and mud huts which the troops had not
found opportunity to remove, and thence maintained a ragged fire.
After an hour's heavy fusillade the attack weakened, and presently ceased
altogether. At ten o'clock, however, strong reinforcements having come up,
the Dervishes made a second attempt. They were again repulsed, and at a
quarter to eleven, after losing more than 500 men in killed and wounded,
Ahmed Fedil admitted his defeat and retired to a clump of palm-trees two
miles to the west of the town. The casualties among the defenders were five
men killed, one British officer (Captain Dwyer) and thirteen men wounded.

The Dervishes remained for two days in the palm grove, and their leader
repeatedly endeavoured to induce them to renew the attack. But although
they closely surrounded the enclosures, and maintained a dropping fire,
they refused to knock their heads against brick walls a third time;
and on the 1st of October Ahmed Fedil was forced to retire to a more
convenient camp eight miles to the southward. Here for the next three weeks
he remained, savage and sulky; and the Kassala column were content to keep
to their defences. A few convoys from Mugatta made their way into the forts
under the cover of darkness, but for all practical purposes the blockade of
the garrison was complete. Their losses in action had reduced their
strength. They were not abundantly supplied with ammunition. The smell of
the putrefying corpses which lay around the walls and in the doura crop,
together with the unhealthy climate and the filth of the town, was a
fertile source of disease. A painful and racking fever afflicted all ranks,
and at one time as many as 270 of the 400 regular soldiers were prostrated.
The recurring night alarms added to the fatigues of the troops and the
anxieties of the seven officers. The situation was indeed so unsatisfactory
that Colonel Parsons was compelled to ask for assistance.

Major-General Rundle, who in the Sirdar's absence held the chief command,
immediately organised a relief expedition. The IXth, XIIth, and half of the
XIIIth Soudanese, with three companies of the Camel Corps, under Colonel
Collinson, were at once sent from Omdurman to the mouth of the Rahad river.
The infantry were conveyed in steamers; the Camel Corps marched along
the bank, completing the whole distance of 130 miles in fifty-six hours.
The Blue Nile garrisons, with the exception of the post at Rosaires,
were also concentrated. By the 8th of October the whole force was collected
at Abu Haraz. Five hundred camels, which had marched from Omdurman,
and every available local beast of burden joined the transport of the
column. On the 9th the XIIth Soudanese started up the Rahad river for
Ain el Owega. From this point the road leaves the river and strikes across
the desert to Gedaref, a distance of 100 miles; and in the whole distance
water is only found at the wells of El Kau. Owing to this scarcity of water
it was necessary to carry a supply with the troops. The transport being
insufficient to provide for the whole force, the march had to be made in
two columns. The Camel Corps and the XIIth Soudanese, about 1,200 strong,
set forth under Colonel Collinson from Ain el Owega on the 17th,
and reached Gedaref safely on the 22nd. Warned of their arrival,
Ahmed Fedil, having made a feeble night attack which was repulsed by the
garrison with a loss to themselves of two Soudanese wounded, realised that
he had now no chance of recapturing the town. Preparations were indeed made
to attack him; but on the 23rd of October, when a reconnaissance was made
in the direction of his camp, the Dervish force was seen moving off in a
southerly direction, their retreat covered by a strong rearguard, which was
intended to perform the double duty of protecting the retirement
and preventing desertion.

The operations conducted by Colonel Parsons thus ended in complete success.
Great difficulties were overcome, great perils were encountered,
great results were obtained. But while we applaud the skill of the
commander and the devotion of his subordinates, it is impossible not to
criticise the rash and over-confident policy which sent such a weak and
ill-equipped force on so hazardous an enterprise. The action of Gedaref,
as has been shown, was, through no fault of the officers or men of the
expedition, within an ace of being a disaster. But there were other
critical occasions when only the extraordinary good fortune which attended
the force saved it from destruction. First, the column was not discovered
until it reached Mugatta; secondly, it was not attacked in the thick bush;
thirdly, the Dervishes gave battle in the open instead of remaining within
their walls, whence the troops could not have driven them without artillery;
and, fourthly, the reserve ammunition arrived before the attack
of Ahmed Fedil.

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