REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN.
The Mahdi, his programme and military successes--Disaster
of Hicks Pasha--Osman Digna and engagements near
Suakin--English intervention--Gordon at Brussels; starts
for Khartoum--Hesitation of England--Further success
of the Mahdi--Capture of Berber--Blockade and siege of
Khartoum--Organisation of relief expedition under Lord
Wolseley--Engagements at Abu Klea and Metammeh--Fall of Khartoum
and death of Gordon.
Prompted either by personal ambition or by religious hatred, the idea
of playing the part of “Mahdi” had been acted upon by many an Arab
fanatic. Such an idea, at an early age, had taken possession of a
certain Soudanese of low birth, a native of Dongola, by name Mohammed
Ahmed. Before openly aspiring to the _rôle_ of the regenerator of
Islam he had filled several subordinate engagements, notably one under
Dr. Peney, the French surgeon-general in the Soudan, who died in 1861.
Shortly afterwards he received admittance into the powerful order of
the Ghelani dervishes, and then commenced his schemes for stirring up
a revolution in defence of his creed. His proceedings did not fail to
attract the attention of Gessi Pasha, who had him arrested at Shekka
and imprisoned for five months.
Under the government of Raouf he took up his abode upon the small
island of Abba, on the Nile above Khartoum, where he gained a
considerable notoriety by the austerity of his life and by the
fervour of his devotions, thus gradually gaining a high reputation
for sanctity. Not only offerings but followers streamed in from every
quarter. He became rich as well as powerful, and married a large
number of wives, whom he took care to select from the most influential
families of the country, principally from those of the opulent
slave-dealers in Kordofan and Bagara.
Waiting till May 1881, he then assumed that a propitious time had
arrived for the realisation of his plans, and accordingly had himself
publicly proclaimed as “Mahdi,” inviting every fakir and every
religious leader of Islam to come and join him at Abba.
So skilfully was his proclamation conceived that it could hardly
fail to attract to him a large number of adherents. From a religious
point of view, he fascinated his devotees by his announcement of
the imminent fulfilment of prophecies, always popular, declaring the
destined supremacy of the reformed religion of Mahomet. In a socialist
aspect, he secured the sympathy of the disinherited classes by promises
of universal equality and community of goods. On the other hand, he
attracted the goodwill and support of the traders by reminding them of
the tyranny and rapacity of the officials of the Egyptian Treasury, and
by declaring that, although it was tabooed by an European Governour,
the traffic in slaves was perfectly legitimate. Finally, he appealed
to the nationality of all classes of the Soudanese, and exhorted them
to rise in insurrection against the invaders, and to fight for the
independence of their country.
Convinced that it was impolitic to tolerate any longer the
revolutionary intrigues of such an adventurer at the very gates of
Khartoum, Raouf Pasha resolved to rid the country of Mohammed and to
send him to Cairo for trial. An expedition was accordingly despatched
to the island of Abba, but unfortunately the means employed were
inadequate to the task. Only a small body of black soldiers was sent
to arrest the agitator in his quarters, and they, inspired no doubt
by a vague and superstitious dread of a man who represented himself as
the messenger of Allah, wavered and acted with indecision. Before their
officers could rally them to energy, the Mahdi, with a fierce train of
followers, knife in hand, rushed upon them, and killing many, put the
rest to flight; then, seeing that a renewed assault was likely to be
made, he withdrew the insurgent band into a retreat of safety amongst
the mountains of Southern Kordofan. Henceforth revolt was openly
declared. Such was the condition of things in August 1881.
Chase was given, but every effort to secure the person of the pretended
prophet was baffled. A further attempt was made to arrest him by the
Mudir of Fashoda with 1500 men, only to be attended with a still more
melancholy result. After a desperate struggle the Mudir lay stretched
upon the ground, his soldiers murdered all around him. One single
officer, with a few straggling cavalry, escaped the massacre, and
returned to report the fatal news.
The reverse caused an absolute panic in Khartoum, an intense excitement
spreading throughout the Soudan.
“The Governour-General”--so writes M. Vossion, the French consul
at Khartoum--“perfectly terror-stricken, telegraphed to Cairo for
reinforcements, and his request was urgently supported by all the
European consuls. On the 23d of December a telegram from the Khedive
announced that reinforcements had been granted, and it was stated,
moreover, that Abdellal Bey’s negro regiment had received orders to
start; but the military party, then all-powerful (it was just the time
in which Arabi’s _pronunciamento_ appeared), believing that it was
a mere pretext for packing off some of the compromised troops out of
the way into the Soudan, flatly refused to allow Abdellal Bey and his
men to go. In this way the Soudan was left to shift for itself.”
Meantime the Mahdi’s prestige was ever on the increase, and he soon
felt sufficiently strong to assume the offensive. His troops overran
Kordofan and Sennar, advancing on the one hand to the town of Sennar,
which they set on fire, and on the other to El-Obeid, which they placed
in a state of siege. In the following July a fresh and more powerful
expedition, this time numbering 6000 men, under the command of Yussuf
Pasha, left Fashoda and made towards the Mahdi’s headquarters. It met
with no better fate than the expeditions that had gone before. Unable
to withstand the impetuous cavalry charge of the Bagara rebels, it was
cut to pieces on the battlefield, all the wounded being massacred and
the prisoners beheaded.
The way to Khartoum lay open. There the confusion and dismay were
beyond description. Dreading an immediate attack from the rebels, the
Government in all haste threw up fortifications, and despatched still
more urgent demands to Cairo for assistance, making no concealment of
the critical situation in which the 11,000 Christian inhabitants of
the town and its garrison of 6000 soldiers were placed. But Cairo was
powerless to make any effective movement.
And then it was that the English Government, discerning danger for
Egypt in this insurrection of Islam, set to work to act for the
Khedive. It told off 11,000 men, and placed them under the command
of Hicks Pasha, an officer in the Egyptian service who had made the
Abyssinian campaign. At the end of December 1882 this expedition
embarked at Suez for Suakin, crossed the desert, reached the Nile at
Berber, and after much endurance on the way, arrived at Khartoum.
Before this, El Obeid had fallen into the Mahdi’s power, and there he
had taken up his headquarters. Some trifling advantages were gained
by Hicks, but having entered Kordofan with the design of retaking
El-Obeid, he was, on the 5th of November 1883, hemmed in amongst the
Kasgil passes, and after three days’ heroic fighting, his army of about
10,000 men was overpowered by a force five or six times their superior
in numbers, and completely exterminated. Hicks Pasha himself, his
European staff, and many Egyptian officers of high rank, were among the
dead, and forty-two guns fell into the hands of the enemy. Again, not a
man was left to carry the fatal tidings to Khartoum.
Rebellion continued to spread. After being agitated for months, the
population of the Eastern Soudan also made a rising. Osman Digna, the
foremost of the Mahdi’s lieutenants, occupied the road between Suakin
and Berber, and surrounded Sinkat and Tokar; then, having destroyed,
one after another, two Egyptian columns that had been despatched for
the relief of these towns, he finally cut off the communication between
Khartoum and the Red Sea. The tide of insurrection by this time had
risen so high that it threatened not only to overthrow the Khedive’s
authority in the Soudan, but to become the source of serious peril to
Egypt itself.
The English Government was consulted, and gave the advice that the
Egyptian Government should relieve the beleaguered garrisons, and
retiring as quickly as possible from the districts threatened by the
Mahdi, should concentrate its forces in the rear of Wady Halfa at the
second cataract. Promise of the assistance of English troops was held
out, if this line of defence should in its turn be threatened.
Added to this, Colonel Coëtlogon, who had been sent by the Khedive to
Khartoum under a commission to report upon the condition of the town,
recommended a speedy retreat. According to his account, a third of the
soldiers in the garrison were disaffected, the whole of the soldiers
were on the worst terms with the population, and the entire situation
was most critical. Moreover, unless the retreat were made at once, it
would before long become impracticable, and great disaster must ensue.
Thus compelled by stress of circumstances, the Khedive’s Government
adopted the resolution of concentrating at Khartoum all their troops
that were dispersed over the Soudan, and of ultimately evacuating
the town; but at the same time an intimation was forwarded to the
English Government warning them of the immense difficulties that were
involved in the execution of the measures which were being undertaken
in conformity with their advice. Where was the man who would volunteer
to conduct so hazardous a retreat, through a district given over to
revolt and overrun by bands of rebels? Who was there in all the Soudan
of sufficient influence to negotiate with the Mahdi, and to secure some
guarantee of safety or some facilities by which the retreat could be
accomplished? Raouf Pasha, who, with unwarrantable injustice, had been
held responsible for former reverses, had been recalled a year ago; and
Abd-el-Kader, who had succeeded him, had not been in any respect more
fortunate, and was, moreover, quite bewildered by the complication of
dangers which continued to increase.
And now it was that England bethought herself of the versatile and
famous general who once before for four years had held rule in the
Soudan, gaining an uniform popularity alike with the European
residents and the natives of the place. For the second time Gordon
Pasha should appear upon the scene.
Since 1879, when he had been called upon to resign the
Governour-Generalship of the Soudan, Gordon had successively occupied
posts in India as secretary to the Viceroy; in China, where he settled
the dispute about Kashgar between Russia and the Celestial Empire; in
Mauritius, where he had been the very life-spring of British influence;
at Suez, whither he went to meet his brave and devoted friend Gessi,
who died there of fever in March 1881; and at the Cape, where he had
been entrusted with the settlement of the Basuto-land question.
On the 1st of January 1884 he arrived at Brussels, having been summoned
by a telegram from the King of the Belgians, which reached him at
Jerusalem while he was making a pilgrimage in Palestine. The King at
once gave him an audience, and explained to him that, as patron of
the Congo Association, he was anxious to renew negotiations that had
been opened some years previously, and that he had sent for him to
induce him to go to Africa and to share with Stanley the mission of
introducing European influence into the districts along the upper part
of the river. It was a task altogether in unison with Gordon’s tastes,
and he did not hesitate to accept it, undertaking to be ready to set
out by the steamer on the 6th of February so as to arrive at Vivi as
soon as possible to relieve Stanley, who for some months past had been
applying for leave to return to Europe.
But although it was thus arranged that Gordon should go to Africa, his
destination was to be elsewhere than on the Congo.
Returning for a brief visit to England to take farewell of his sister
and friends, he was “interviewed” at Southampton by one of the staff
of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, which was forthwith published with
a sensational article containing Gordon’s views on the Egyptian
difficulty with the Soudan, a subject which was very near to his heart,
and of which there was no one more capable of forming a practical
judgment than himself.
Again in Brussels, on the 16th of January, he was suddenly recalled to
England by a despatch from the Government at home. On the following
day he submitted to King Leopold the fact that he had been summoned
to go to the Soudan that he might, if possible, effect the deliverance
of the Egyptian troops, making no concealment of his sentiments that a
soldier’s first duty was to his own country, when it appealed to his
devotion. The king at once released him from his engagement.
Not an hour was lost. On the evening of the 18th he left Charing
Cross station, where he was attended by the Duke of Cambridge, Lord
Granville, and Lord Wolseley, and reached Cairo on the 24th. On the
second day after his arrival, refusing all escort and accompanied
only by his adjutant, Colonel Stewart, he started for Khartoum by
the quickest possible route, along the Nile to Korosko, and thence
by camel-ride across the desert to Berber. Exactly one month after
quitting London, on the 18th of February, he came within sight of
Khartoum, where he was hailed by the population as a deliverer, and
entered the town amidst the wildest enthusiasm.
From the very first moment of his entry he displayed the most
prodigious energy; he held public audiences; he instituted a council
of notables; he visited the prisons, where for years some hundred
wretches, most of them unjustly, had been huddled together in the
most abject misery; he administered justice; he provisioned the white
troops at Omdurman, on the left bank of the Nile; he entrusted the
defence of Khartoum to the Soudanese regiments; he abolished tolls
and remitted payment of arrears of taxes; he placed boxes in various
quarters of the town for the reception of claims and complaints, and
finally issued a proclamation announcing that henceforward the Soudan
would be independent, and recognising as legitimate that slavery which,
according to a former decree of the Khedive, had been definitely
prohibited, from November 1889, through all the districts between
Assouan and the great lakes.
Great was the consternation excited by the latter clause of this
announcement. It was interpreted as the official re-establishment
of the slave traffic and regarded as a scandal by Europe, where it
seems to be imperfectly realised that domestic slavery has from time
immemorial existed, and will continue to exist for a long period yet
to come, in spite of all the decrees in the world. It is obvious
that if Gordon were to fulfil his object of evacuating the Soudan,
there must of necessity be involved an acquiescence in this kind of
slavery, and therefore it is altogether beside the mark for European
philanthropists to criticise his words without regard to the practical
view of the case.
Months elapsed. There was a continuous interchange of despatches
between the defender of Khartoum and the English Cabinet in London,
carried on by the intervention of Sir Evelyn Baring, the British
representative at Cairo. They bear evidence of the indecision of the
Government as to the course to be pursued. The questions were various
and complicated. Should an effort be made to retain the Soudan at any
price? Should it be entirely abandoned? Should any of the equatorial
provinces be reserved for civilisation? No one seemed competent to give
an answer or to suggest a policy. So involved and disorderly was the
state of affairs that even Gordon himself, with the best opportunity
of forming an opinion, does not appear to have had altogether settled
views as to what was best. At first he declared his intention of
presenting himself personally in the camp of the Mahdi, and of seeking
to negotiate with him directly terms upon which the western provinces
might be definitely surrendered. He was forbidden, however, by the
authorities at home to persevere in this step, because, it was
alleged, it would entail serious political inconveniences.
He next demanded that after the withdrawal of the Egyptian troops
the office of Governour-General should be conferred on Zebehr Pasha,
formerly a merchant in the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and the father of Suleiman
Zebehr, who had been taken and executed by Gessi. This Zebehr, then in
confinement in Egypt, Gordon believed was the only man to be found with
anything like sufficient influence to counterbalance the power of the
Mahdi; he was a direct descendant of the Abbasides, and had obtained a
high reputation all through the country. This proposition was rejected
by the English Cabinet, notwithstanding Sir Evelyn Baring’s approval
of it, on the ground that public opinion would not tolerate its being
carried into effect. As matter of fact, “the Anti-Slavery Society”
indignantly protested against the idea of either seeking or accepting
the co-operation of one who had been so actively concerned in the slave
traffic.
Failing thus to obtain authority to execute his mission by means of
the only men in the Soudan who were able to assist his purpose, Gordon
appealed for foreign intervention. He asked that 200 English soldiers
should be sent to Wady Halfa, for the simple sake of showing that
he was really supported by European military influence; he likewise
advised that the route between Suakin and Berber, which was still
occupied by Osman Digna, should be reopened by the employment of Indian
troops.
No reply came to his application, and Gordon almost began to think
himself forsaken by those who had sent him out. He next proposed,
without further delay, to move all the troops and the Egyptian
officials to Berber, under the command of Colonel Stewart; and feeling
that his presence would then be no longer requisite at Khartoum, he
tendered his resignation, intimating his own intention of retiring,
with the steamers, ammunition, and Soudanese troops, to the provinces
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Equator (then under the government of
Lupton Bey and Emin Bey), and placing them under the protection of the
King of the Belgians, whose possessions on the Congo were adjacent.
“Quick!” wrote Gordon on the 11th of March 1884--“Quick, or we shall be
blockaded.”
Sir Evelyn Baring could only answer that the English Government were
not contemplating any military movement, at the same time making Gordon
understand that he must manage to remain at Khartoum, and that under no
pretext whatever was he to betake himself to the south.
Thus time was lost; and while all this tedious circumlocution was going
on, the power of the Mahdi and the number of his partisans were being
continually augmented; the circle of the rebels was drawing in, closer
and closer, around the town, and Osman Digna was still holding the Red
Sea route, having on the 11th of February worsted Valentine Baker at
Trinkinat and slaughtered more than 2000 of his men, and subsequently
captured both Sinkat and Tokar. Some bloody successes, indeed, were
gained by General Graham at Teb on February 29th, and at Tamanieh on
March 13th, but they were altogether futile in displacing Osman from
the mastery of the road.
The advances of the Mahdi’s people towards Khartoum became more and
more daring. On March 12th the town was completely invested. Four days
later a sally was made by a bevy of troops, but they were betrayed
by five of their officers, and, stricken with panic, fell back in
confusion and with considerable loss. Thenceforward the place was
exposed to continual assaults from the besiegers; the blockade became
closer, and soon the bombardment was almost incessant, shells falling
into the centre of the town, though without doing serious damage or
creating much alarm.
On the 27th of April the outlying station of Mesalimmeh, with all its
ammunition and a steamer, made a surrender. At the end of May Berber
fell into the hands of the enemy, whereby all communication between
Egypt and the Soudan was interrupted. There was no longer any question
about evacuating Khartoum. The sole consideration was by what means to
rescue its defenders.
Impossible was it for England any longer to remain a passive looker-on;
the demand for military interference was imperative. The voice
of the press, enforcing public opinion, cried vehemently for the
deliverance of Gordon, and the British Government decided upon sending
out an expedition of relief. Parliament voted £300,000 towards the
expenses, and Lord Wolseley, the hero of Tel-el-Kebir, was appointed
Commander-in-Chief, and started for Egypt, where his forces arrived
during August 1884.
There had been no cessation of the fighting at Khartoum; for months not
a day had passed without a skirmish. The garrison soon reckoned a loss
of 700 men. During an attack upon Gatarneb upon the 10th of July, Saati
Bey, one of Gordon’s bravest associates, was killed, with three of
his officers, while Colonel Stewart, who took part in the engagement,
escaped only with the utmost difficulty.
Hope now began to flag and misgivings to arise lest help should not
arrive in time. As a consequence, symptoms of disaffection became too
apparent, not only amongst the besieged troops, but especially amongst
the Egyptian officers.
Military matters in Lower Egypt were pressed forward with all possible
despatch. Portable steamers and whale-boats manned by Canadians,
accustomed to their own rapids, were launched upon the Nile. The
expeditionary forces, composed of picked troops and a volunteer camel
corps, were not long in starting, and Lord Wolseley, with his staff,
arrived at Wady Halfa on the 5th of October. The first cataract was
passed, and by the beginning of December the advanced guard reached
Debbah, forty miles from Dongola.
By the end of the month an entrenched camp was formed at Korti, and
from thence were despatched two columns--one, under General Earle along
the river, to entice the enemy towards Berber; the other, under General
Sir H. Stewart, across the desert straight for Khartoum, in order to
assist Gordon to hold out until the main body of the troops should
arrive.
So opened the fatal year 1885. The situation at Khartoum had become
desperate.
On the 17th of January Stewart first fell in with the Arabs, and
gave battle at the wells of Abu-Klea, which were defended by 7000
of the Mahdi’s men, against 1350 under the English general. At the
outset the engagement was indecisive, but ultimately the Arabs were
out-manœuvred, and the column proceeded on its march. The next day
a second battle took place at Metammeh, where Stewart was killed,
with several of his leading officers, as well as Messrs. Herbert and
Cameron, the correspondents respectively of the _Morning Post_ and
_Standard_ newspapers.
The command of the column devolved upon Colonel Wilson.
Notwithstanding its heavy losses, it was still victorious, and
continued its way, reaching El Guba the same evening, where it
entrenched. This was on the Nile, about seventy-five miles below
Khartoum. It had been a forced march, skilfully conducted and
brilliantly accomplished; but the end seemed in view, and the courage
and energy of the British soldiers rose nobly to the occasion.
On the 23d four iron-plated steamers hove in sight. What could these
be? and whence and for what purpose had they come? The explanation was
not far off; Gordon had sent them from Khartoum. Although the town had
been besieged for months, the assailants continually increasing in
numbers and ferocity, it still held its own. The Mahdi had taken up his
position before its gates, superintending the operations of the siege,
and himself leading an attack upon the entrenched camp at Omdurman, in
which, although he was repulsed, he took one of his adversary’s boats.
Gordon, however, did not give in; with a presence of mind that never
failed, he persevered in facing every danger from without, whilst all
along he had perpetually to be upon his guard against the inertness,
and still worse, the treacherous spirit of mutiny of a portion of his
own troops. And now the announcement came that the long-looked-for
succour was at hand; he would hasten to send some recognition of its
advance, and accordingly he sent out, laden with provisions, the four
steamers that had appeared in view.
Without losing time, Sir C. Wilson and Colonel Stewart, with twenty men
of the Sussex regiment, embarked on two of these steamers, and on the
next day left the entrenchments at El Guba and started for Khartoum.
It was a time of deep suspense. On the 28th they came in sight of the
beleaguered town. All was silence. There was no sound nor sign of
welcome. Uneasy and in bewilderment, they at once hove to, but only
to find themselves under a close fire from the ramparts, over which,
floating from the Government palace, was seen the green banner of the
Mahdi.
Too late! The relief had indeed come too late. Eight-and-forty hours
before, Khartoum had been surrendered by treachery to the rebels; the
great and blameless hero was dead, shot down under the acacias of the
Government buildings, on his way to the Austrian Consul’s, to take his
last farewell of his good friend Hansal.