By Colonel R. H. VEITCH, R.E.
1833-1885
[Illustration: General Charles George Gordon.]
Charles George Gordon, known as Chinese Gordon, major-general, C.B.,
royal engineers, fourth son of Lieutenant-general Henry William
Gordon, royal artillery, and Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Enderby,
of Croom's Hill, Blackheath, was born at Woolwich on January 28,
1833. He was sent to school at Taunton in 1843, and entered the
Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1848. He obtained a commission
in the royal engineers on June 23, 1852, and, after the usual course
of study at Chatham was quartered for a short time at Pembroke Dock.
In December, 1854, he received his orders for the Crimea, and
reached Balaklava on January 1, 1855. As a young engineer subaltern
serving in the trenches, his daring was conspicuous, while his
special aptitude for obtaining a personal knowledge of the movements
of the enemy was a matter of common observation among his brother
officers. He was wounded on June 6, 1855, and was present at the
attack on the Redan on June 18th. On the surrender of Sebastopol
Gordon accompanied the expedition to Kinburn, and on his return was
employed on the demolition of the Sebastopol docks. For his services
in the Crimea Gordon received the British war medal and clasp, the
Turkish war medal, and the French Legion of Honor.
In May, 1856, in company with lieutenant (now major-general) E. R.
James, R.E., he joined Colonel (now General Sir) E. Stanton, R.E.,
in Bessarabia, as assistant commissioner for the delimitation of the
new frontier line. This duty was completed in April, 1857, and he
was then sent with Lieutenant James in a similar capacity to
Erzeroum, where Colonel (now General Sir) Lintorn Simmons was the
English commissioner for the Asiatic frontier boundary. The work was
accomplished by the following October, when Gordon returned to
England. In the spring of 1858 he and Lieutenant James were sent as
commissioners to the Armenian frontier to superintend the erection
of the boundary posts of the line they had previously surveyed. This
was finished in November, and Gordon returned home, having acquired
an intimate knowledge of the people of the districts visited.
On April 1, 1859, Gordon was promoted captain, and about the same
time appointed second adjutant of the corps at Chatham, a post he
held for little more than a year, for, in the summer of 1860, he
joined the forces of Sir James Hope Grant, operating with the French
against China. He overtook the allied army at Tientsin, and was
present in October at the capture of Pekin and the pillage and
destruction of the emperor's summer palace. For his services in this
campaign he received the British war medal with clasp for Pekin and
a brevet majority in December, 1862. Gordon commanded the royal
engineers at Tientsin, when the British forces remained there under
Sir Charles Staveley, and while thus employed made several
expeditions into the interior, in one of which he explored a
considerable section of the great wall of China. In April, 1862, he
was summoned to Shanghai to assist in the operations consequent upon
the determination of Sir Charles Staveley to keep a radius of thirty
miles round the city clear of the rebel Taipings. Gordon took part
as commanding royal engineer, in the storming of Sing-poo and
several other fortified towns and in clearing the rebels out of
Kah-ding. He was afterward employed in surveying the country round
Shanghai.
The Taiping rebellion was of so barbarous a nature that its suppression
had become necessary in the interest of civilization. A force raised at
the expense of the Shanghai merchants, and supported by the Chinese
Government, had been for some years struggling against its prowess. This
force, known as the "Ever Victorious Army," was defeated at Taitsan,
February 22, 1863. Li Hung Chang, governor-general of the Kiang
provinces, then applied to the British commander-in-chief for the
services of an English officer, and Gordon was authorized to accept the
command. He arrived at Sung Kiong and entered on his new duties as a
mandarin and lieutenant-colonel in the Chinese service on March 24,
1863. His force was composed of some three to four thousand Chinese,
officered by 150 Europeans of almost every nationality and often of
doubtful character. By the indomitable will of its commander this
heterogeneous body was moulded into a little army, whose high-sounding
title of "Ever Victorious" became a reality, and in less than two years,
after thirty-three engagements, the power of the Taipings was completely
broken and the rebellion stamped out. The maintenance of discipline was
a perpetual struggle, and at one time there was a mutiny which was only
quelled by shooting the ringleader on the spot. Before the summer of
1863 was over, Gordon captured Kahpoo, Wokong, and Patachiaow, on the
south of Soo-chow, the great rebel stronghold, and, sweeping round to
the north, secured Leeku, Wanti, and Fusaiqwan, so that by October
Soo-chow was completely invested. On November 29th the outworks were
captured by assault and the city surrendered on December 6th. Gordon was
always in front in all these storming parties, carrying no other weapon
than a little cane. His men called it his "magic wand," regarding it as
a charm that protected his life and led them on to victory.
When Soo-chow fell, Gordon had stipulated with the governor-general,
Li, for the lives of the Wangs (rebel leaders). They were
treacherously murdered by Li's orders. Indignant at this perfidy,
Gordon refused to serve any longer with Governor Li, and when on
January 1, 1864, money and rewards were heaped upon him by the
emperor, declined them all, saying that he received the approbation
of the emperor with every gratification, but regretted most
sincerely that, "owing to the circumstances which occurred since the
capture of Soo-chow, he was unable to receive any mark of his
majesty the emperor's recognition."
After some months of inaction it became evident that if Gordon did
not again take the field the Taipings would regain the rescued
country. On the urgent representations of the British envoy at
Pekin, Governor Li was compelled to issue a proclamation exonerating
Gordon from all complicity in the murder of the Wangs. Gordon then
reluctantly consented to continue his services, on the distinct
understanding that in any future capitulation he should not be
interfered with. In December, 1863, a fresh campaign was commenced,
and during the following months no fewer than seven towns were
captured or surrendered. In February, 1864, Yesing and Liyang were
taken, but at Kintang Gordon met with a reverse and was himself
wounded for the first time. He nevertheless continued to give his
orders until he had to be carried to his boat. After some other
mishaps he carried Chan-chu-fu by assault on April 27th. The
garrison consisted of 20,000 men, of whom 1,500 were killed. This
victory not only ended the campaign but completely destroyed the
rebellion, and the Chinese regular forces were enabled to occupy
Nankin in the July following. The large money present offered to
Gordon by the emperor was again declined, although he had spent his
pay promoting the efficiency of his force, so that he wrote home, "I
shall leave China as poor as when I entered it." The emperor,
however, bestowed upon him the yellow jacket, and peacock's feather
of a mandarin of the first class, with the title of Ti-Tu, the
highest military rank in China, and a gold medal of distinction of
the first class. The merchants of Shanghai presented him with an
address expressing their admiration of his conduct of the war.
On his return home, in the beginning of 1865, he was made a C.B.,
having previously received his brevet as lieutenant-colonel in
February, 1864. In September, 1865, he was appointed commanding
royal engineer at Gravesend, and for the next six years carried out
the ordinary duties of the corps, superintending the construction of
the forts for the defence of the Thames. During this quiet and
uneventful period of routine work he devoted his spare time to the
poor and sick of the neighborhood, stinting himself that he might
have larger means wherewith to relieve others. He took special
interest in the infirmary and the ragged schools. He took many of
the boys from the schools into his own house, starting them in life
by sending them to sea, and he continued to watch the future
progress of his kings, as he called them, with never-failing
sympathy.
In October, 1871, Gordon was appointed British member of the
international commission at Galatz for the improvement of the
navigation of the Sulina mouth of the Danube, in accordance with
the Treaty of Paris. During his tenure of this office he accompanied
General Sir John Adye to the Crimea to report on the British
cemeteries there. On his way back to Galatz, in November, 1872, he
met Nubar Pasha at Constantinople, who sounded him as to his
succeeding Sir Samuel Baker in the Soudan. The following year Gordon
visited Cairo on his way home, and on the resignation of Sir Samuel
Baker was appointed governor of the equatorial provinces of Central
Africa, with a salary of £10,000 a year. He declined to receive more
than £2,000.
Gordon went to Egypt in the beginning of 1874, and left Cairo in
February for Gondokoro, the seat of his government, travelling by
the Suez-Swakin-Berber route. He reached Khartoum on March 13th,
stopped only a few days to issue a proclamation and make
arrangements for men and supplies, then, continuing his journey,
arrived at Gondokoro on April 16th. The garrison of Gondokoro at
this time did not dare to move out of the place except in armed
bands; but in the course of a year the confidence of the natives had
been gained, the country made safe, eight stations formed and
garrisoned, the government monopoly of ivory enforced, and
sufficient money sent to Cairo to pay all the expenses of the
expedition. At the close of the year, having already lost by
sickness eight members of his small European staff, Gordon
transferred the seat of government from the unhealthy station,
Gondokoro, to Laido. By the end of 1875 Gondokoro and Duffh had been
joined by a chain of fortified posts, a day's journey apart, the
slave-dealers had been dispersed, and a letter post organized to
travel regularly between Cairo and the verge of the Albert Nyanza,
over two thousand miles as the crow flies.
Gordon had also visited Magungo, Murchison Falls, and Chibero, with
a view to a further line of fortified posts, and he established for
the first time, by personal observation, the course of the Victoria
Nile into Lake Albert. Although he had accomplished a great work
since his arrival, his efforts to put down the slave trade were
thwarted by Ismail Pasha Yacoub, governor-general of the Soudan, and
were likely to prove abortive so long as the Soudan remained a
distinct government from that of the equatorial provinces. He,
therefore, at the end of 1876, resigned his appointment and returned
to England. Strong pressure was put upon him by the khédive to
return, and on January 31, 1877, he left for Cairo, where he
received the combined appointment of governor-general of the Soudan,
Darfour, the equatorial provinces, and the Red Sea littoral, on the
understanding that his efforts were to be directed to the
improvement of the means of communication and the absolute
suppression of the slave trade. Gordon first visited Abyssinia,
where Walad el Michael was giving a great deal of trouble on the
Egyptian frontier. He settled the difficulty for a time and
travelled across country to Khartoum, where he was installed as
governor-general, May 5th. After a short stay there he hastened to
Darfour, which was in revolt; with a small force and rapid movements
he quelled the rising, and, by the humane consideration he showed
for the suffering people, won their confidence and pacified the
province. Before this work was completely accomplished his attention
was called away by the slave-dealers, who, headed by Suleiman, son
of the notorious Zebehr, with 6,000 armed men, had moved on Dara
from their stronghold, Shaka. Gordon left Fischer on August 31,
1877, with a small escort, which he soon outstripped, and in a day
and a half, having covered eighty-five miles on a camel, entered
Dara alone, to the surprise of its small garrison. The following
morning, attended by a small escort, he rode into the rebel camp,
upbraided Suleiman with his disloyalty, and announced his intention
to disarm the band and break them up. Gordon's fearless bearing and
strong will secured his object, and Suleiman returned with his men
to Shaka.
They rose again; and Gordon's Italian aide, Gessi, after a year's
marching and fighting, succeeded in capturing Suleiman, and some of
the chief slave-dealers with him. They were tried as rebels and
shot. The suppression of the slave trade had thus been practically
accomplished when on July 1st news arrived of the deposition of
Ismail and the succession of Tewfik, which determined Gordon to
resign his appointment. On arriving at Cairo, the khédive induced
him first to undertake a mission to Abyssinia to prevent, if
possible, an impending war with that country. Gordon went, saw King
John, at Debra Tabor, but could arrive at no satisfactory
understanding with him, and was abruptly dismissed. On his way to
Kassala he was made prisoner to King John's men and carried to
Garramudhiri, where he was left to find his way with his little
party over the snowy mountains to the Red Sea. He reached Massowah
on December 8, 1879, and on his return to Cairo, the khédive
accepted his resignation. He arrived in England early in January,
1880. During his service under the khédive, Gordon received both the
second-and first-class of the order of the Medjidieh.
His constitution was so much impaired by his sojournings in so
deadly a climate that his medical advisers sent him to Switzerland
to recruit. He returned to England, in April, 1880, and in the
following month accompanied the Marquis of Ripon, the new Viceroy of
India, to that country as his private secretary. He resigned almost
immediately, and was invited to China to advise the Chinese
Government in connection with their then strained relations with
Russia. Gordon accepted at once, and although difficulties were
raised by the home authorities, he reached Hongkong on July 2d, and
went on by Shanghai and Chefoo to Tientsin to meet his old friend,
Li Hung Chang, who, with Prince Kung, headed the peace party. From
Tientsin, Gordon went to Pekin, and his wise and disinterested
counsels in favor of peace at length carried the day.
In 1881 he went to Mauritius as commanding royal engineer, and while
there was promoted major-general. In 1882, he was at the Cape
Colony, endeavoring to arrange a peace with the natives of
Basutoland; but he failed, largely through the treachery of the Cape
officials.
[Illustration: Gordon attacked by El Mahdi's Arabs.]
The success of the Mahdi in the Soudan and the catastrophe to Hicks
Pasha, in November, 1883, had induced the British Government, not
only to decline any military assistance to enable the Egyptian
Government to hold the Soudan, but to insist upon its abandonment by
the khédive. To do this it was necessary to bring away the garrisons
scattered all over the country, and such of the Egyptian
population as might object to remain. To Gordon was intrusted the
withdrawal of the garrisons and the evacuation of the Soudan. At
Cairo his functions were considerably extended. He was appointed,
with the consent of the British Government, governor-general of the
Soudan, and was instructed, not only to effect the evacuation of the
country, but to take steps to leave behind an organized independent
government.
By the month of March, having succeeded in sending some two thousand
five hundred people down the Nile into safety, Gordon found himself
getting hemmed in by the Mahdi and no assistance coming from
without. On April 16, 1884, his last telegram before the wires were
cut complained bitterly of the neglect of the Government. The attack
of Khartoum began on March 12th, and from that time to its fall
Gordon carried on the defence with consummate skill. His resources
were small, his troops few, and his European assistants could be
counted on the fingers of one hand; yet he managed to convert his
river steamers into iron-clads, to build new ones, to make and lay
down land mines, to place wire entanglements, and to execute
frequent sorties, while he kept up the spirits and courage of his
followers by striking medals in honor of their bravery, and baffled
a fanatic and determined foe for over ten months, during the latter
part of which the people who trusted him were perishing from disease
and famine, and the grip of the enemy was tightening.
In April the necessity of a relief expedition was pressed upon the
Government at home, but without avail. In May popular feeling found
vent, not only in public meetings but in the House of Commons, when
a vote of censure on the Government was lost by only twenty-eight
votes. Eventually, proposals were made to send a relief expedition
from Cairo in the autumn, and on August 5th a vote of credit for
£300,000 was taken for "operations for the relief of General Gordon,
should it become necessary, and to make certain preparations in
respect thereof." Even when it was decided that Lord Wolseley should
take command of a relief expedition up the Nile, hesitation
continued to mark the proceedings of the Government, and time, so
valuable on account of the rising of the Nile, was lost. It was
September 1st before Lord Wolseley was able to leave England. Then
everything was done, but the delay had been fatal.
In September, 1884, having driven the rebels out of Berber, Gordon
authorized his companions, Colonel Stewart and Frank Power (_Times_
correspondent), to go down the river in the steamer Abbas to open
communication with Dongola. The steamer struck on a rock, and they
were both treacherously murdered. Gordon was now the only Englishman
in Khartoum. On December 20th, Lord Wolseley launched Sir Herbert
Stewart's expedition from Korti across the desert to Metemmeh,
where, after two severe engagements, it arrived on January 20, 1885,
under command of Sir Charles Wilson, Stewart having been mortally
wounded. In order to succor the advancing force, Gordon had deprived
himself for three months of five out of his seven steamers. These
five steamers, fully armed, equipped, and provisioned, were in
waiting, and in them were his diaries and letters up to December
14th. On that date he wrote to Major Watson, R.E., at Cairo, that
he thought the game was up, and a catastrophe might be expected in
ten days' time, and sent his adieux to all. On the same day he wrote
to his sister: "I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I
have tried to do my duty." His diary ended on the same day with: "I
have done the best for the honor of my country. Good-by." It was
necessary for the safety of his troops that Wilson should first make
a reconnoissance down the river toward Berber before going to
Khartoum, and when he started up the river, on January 24th, the
difficulties of navigation were so great that it was midday on the
28th before the goal was reached, and then only to find it in the
hands of the Mahdi, Khartoum having fallen early on the 26th, after
a siege of 317 days.
From the most accurate information since obtained, it appears that
the garrison, early in January, had been reduced to great straits
for want of food, and great numbers of the inhabitants had availed
themselves of Gordon's permission to join the Mahdi. Omdurman,
opposite to Khartoum, on the west bank of the river, fell about
January 13th, and about the 18th a sortie was made, in which some
serious fighting took place. The state of the garrison then grew
desperate. Gordon continually visited the posts by night as well as
day, and encouraged the famished garrison. The news of Sir Herbert
Stewart's expedition, and the successful engagements it had fought
on the way to Metemmeh, determined the Mahdi to storm Khartoum
before reinforcements could arrive for its relief. The attack was
made on the south front at 3.30 a.m., on Monday, January 26, 1885.
The defence was half-hearted, treachery was at work, and Gordon
received no tidings of the assault. The rebels made good their
entrance, and then a general massacre ensued. The accounts of
Gordon's death are confused and conflicting, but they all agree in
stating that he was killed near the gate of the palace, and his head
carried to the Mahdi's camp.
Intelligence of the catastrophe reached England on Thursday,
February 5th. The outburst of popular grief, not only in this
country and her colonies, but also among foreign nations, has hardly
been paralleled. It was universally acknowledged that the world had
lost a hero. Friday, March 13th, was then observed as a day of
national mourning, and special services were held in the cathedrals
and in many churches of the land, those at Westminster Abbey and St.
Paul's being attended by the royal family, members of both houses of
parliament, and representatives of the naval and military services.
Parliament voted a national monument to be placed in Trafalgar
Square, and a sum of £20,000 to his relatives. More general
expression was given to the people's admiration of Gordon's
character by the institution of the "Gordon Boys' Home" for homeless
and destitute boys. Gordon's sister presented to the town of
Southampton her brother's library, in March, 1889.
Gordon's character was unique. Simple-minded, modest, and almost
morbidly retiring, he was fearless and outspoken when occasion
required. Strong in will and prompt in action, with a naturally hot
temper, he was yet forgiving to a fault. Somewhat brusque in manner,
his disposition was singularly sympathetic and attractive, winning
all hearts. Weakness and suffering at once enlisted his interest.
Caring nothing for what was said of him, he was indifferent to
praise or reward, and had a supreme contempt for money. His whole
being was dominated by a Christian faith, at once so real and so
earnest that, although his religious views were tinged with
mysticism, the object of his life was the entire surrender of
himself to work out whatever he believed to be the will of God.