THE FALL OF KHARTOUM.
Gordon's Diaries bring the history of the siege of Khartoum down to the
14th December, 1884. The relative positions of the besiegers and
besieged at that date may be seen from the accompanying plan.
It will be observed that Khartoum was protected on the north and west
sides by the Blue and White Niles respectively, and on the south and
east by a line of intrenched fortifications, with intervening redoubts,
running from Fort Buri, on the Blue Nile, almost to the White Nile.
Unfortunately, at this time, the late high Nile had washed away portions
of the parapet for a considerable distance from the western end, and,
now that the river had fallen, there was a serious gap in this part of
the defences. To remedy this, Gordon had for some time employed working
parties to repair the demolished parapets, but as the work had to be
conducted under fire from the enemy's troops at Omdurman, on the
opposite bank, but little progress had been made. The ditch at this
point was also more or less damaged by the action of the river, and was
never completely restored. To guard this, the weak part of the position,
Gordon stationed armed barges and native boats on the river close by. He
also placed mines there, but these were destroyed by the Nile. In the
rear of the line of ramparts, and between them and the town, extended an
open plain, a little more than a mile in breadth, on which stood
barracks and slaughter-houses, and here and there an Arab cemetery. On
the south and east sides, fronting the fortifications, were the camps
of the besieging armies of Wad en Nejumi and Abu Girgeh.[117]
[Illustration]
The army under the immediate command of the Mahdi was encamped on the
west of Omdurman, where Mohamed Faragallah Bey, with some Egyptian
soldiers, was still holding out, in a work called Fort Omdurman. A large
force of Dervishes,[118] under Sheikh-el-Obeid, occupied a position at
Khojali, on the north side of the Blue Nile, where Gordon also had a
fort called "the North Fort," at a point named "Ras-el-Rasek," as well
as a battery on Tuti Island, nearly opposite.
On the 14th December Gordon wrote, "In ten days the town may fall."
There were then in store 83,525 okes (or 227,000 lbs.) of biscuit, and
546 ardebs (or 2,700 bushels) of dhoora (Indian corn), representing
approximately eighteen days' rations for the troops alone. But Gordon
had already, on the 22nd November, found it necessary to issue 9,600
lbs. of biscuit to the poor in the town, so great was the destitution
which prevailed. As the siege progressed this state of things became
more and more aggravated, and the Government supplies had to be further
drawn on for the benefit of the civil population.
Ever since the 3rd of November the Fort of Omdurman had been cut off
from communication with Khartoum. It was then provisioned only for a
month and a half, and at the end of the year the garrison was in great
straits from want of food. Gordon made one or two efforts to relieve the
garrison, but, having no longer his steamers, four of which had gone to
meet the British expedition, and the fifth having been lost with Colonel
Stewart, he was unable to open communication.
On the 5th January, 1885, Faragallah signalled that his provisions and
ammunition were alike exhausted, and Gordon was compelled to reply that
there was nothing for it but to surrender. Faragallah and the whole of
the force at Fort Omdurman then capitulated, and were transferred to the
Mahdi's camp, where they were well treated, as an encouragement to
others to join the Dervish ranks.
On the 6th January, seeing that the garrison of Khartoum was becoming
daily more and more reduced by want of food, and that existence for many
of the inhabitants was almost impossible, Gordon issued a Proclamation
authorizing as many of the civil population as liked to leave the town
and go over to the Mahdi. Some thousands of natives took advantage of
the offer, and Gordon sent with them a letter to the Mahdi, asking him
"to feed and protect these poor Moslem people as he (Gordon) had done
for the last nine months." After the fugitives had left, it was
estimated that only about 14,000 remained in the town, out of a
population shown by the census taken in the September previous as
34,000.
The fall of Omdurman was a great blow to the garrison of Khartoum, who
thus lost the only position they had on the west bank of the White Nile.
The Dervishes were thenceforth able to close the river to Gordon's two
remaining steamers, and to establish ferries south of Khartoum, giving
easy communication between the camps at Omdurman and those of Wad en
Nejumi and Abu Girgeh. Khartoum was practically hemmed in on three
sides.
The food difficulty became daily more serious. To make matters worse,
those in charge of the biscuit and dhoora stole quantities of both, as
occasion offered. The officer in charge of the stores was arrested and
brought before a court of inquiry, but Gordon, realizing the emergency
of the situation, had to point out to those conducting the investigation
the necessity of not inquiring too critically into the matter.
The Island of Tuti was still held by Gordon's forces, and the crops
there were reaped under the fire of the forts, and stored in the
Commissariat. This produced about 1,600 bushels of corn altogether,
which, with the remaining biscuits, were served out to the soldiers.
When this was finished, Gordon ordered a search to be made in the town,
with the result that further quantities (32 bushels only) were
discovered in some of the houses, and also buried in the ground. These
also were taken to the Government store, the owners being given, in
every case, receipts for the quantities carried off. The search was
conducted daily until there was nothing left in possession of the
inhabitants.
Soon all that had been collected in the Commissariat was finished, and
then the soldiers and inhabitants were reduced to eating dogs, donkeys,
skins of animals, gum, and palm-fibre. Then an actual famine prevailed.
The gum produced diarrhoea, and the soldiers became so weak that they
could scarcely man the fortifications.[119] The situation of the civil
inhabitants was even worse. Many died of actual starvation, and corpses
lay about the streets, no one having sufficient strength or energy to
bury them.
All this time the enemy kept up a fusillade on the garrison,
occasionally killing a few of their number. The soldiers were also
harassed by repeated night attacks.[120]
Although it must have been evident to Gordon that the end could not be
far off, he continued to encourage the people by Proclamations
announcing the near approach of the British Relief Expedition, and even
went so far as to hire some of the principal houses on the river for the
reception of the men belonging to it. Day by day he watched from the
roof of his Palace, in the hope of seeing them arrive. After awhile many
of the inhabitants began to lose faith in him, and commenced opening
communications with the Mahdi.
On the 20th January, the news of the battle of Abu Klea reached the
Mahdi's camp, where it caused the greatest consternation. A Council of
Emirs was thereupon held, at which there were great divergencies of
opinion. The Mahdi himself was strongly in favour of raising the siege.
He told the Emirs that he had been warned in a vision that he was to
make a "Hegira," or flight, to Obeid, whither he proposed to withdraw
with his forces. He said, "If one Englishman had been able to keep us at
bay for a year, what chance shall we have against thousands of
Englishmen who have defeated our best men at Abu Klea?" All agreed
except one Emir, named Mohammed Abd el Kerim, who said that an attempt
should be made to take Khartoum by assault, adding, rightly enough, that
if it succeeded the English would not dare to come on, and that, if it
failed, there would always be time to retreat. Abd el Kerim's views, for
the time being, prevailed, and there was no longer any talk of raising
the siege.
Before the meeting terminated it was decided to announce a great
victory. Accordingly a salute of 101 guns was fired, the war drums were
beaten, and every demonstration was made, as if in celebration of some
great triumph. The stratagem failed to impose on Gordon, who had seen,
through his glass, thousands of women in the camp, weeping and
indulging in signs of despair. The actual news of the battle was
conveyed to him shortly after by a female spy from Omdurman.
A Council, composed of Farag Pasha, the Military Commandant, the chief
Government officials, the Greek Consul, and other leading members of the
Greek colony, was hurriedly summoned to the Palace. The meeting was then
informed of the victory at Abu Klea, and that the English were
approaching, and would arrive in two or three days. This intelligence
inspired everybody with fresh hope, only, however, to give place to
deeper despair when the next few days passed away without any signs of
the relieving force. Gordon still struggled to keep up the spirits of
his men, constantly saying, "They must come to-morrow," though few
believed in him, and people began to say that, after all, the great
battle which had taken place must have been a Dervish victory.
It is said that Gordon at this time took no sleep, but spent his days in
watching the river from the roof of the Palace, and his nights in
visiting the various posts.
On the 23rd, he had a stormy interview with Farag Pasha, whom he
reproached with having left one of the forts insufficiently guarded. It
seems that Farag, on this occasion, proposed to surrender Khartoum to
the Mahdi, and stated the terms which the latter was willing to accept.
Gordon indignantly refused to listen to the proposition, and is even
said to have struck Farag.
There is no doubt that, at this period, not only Farag, but many of the
other officers and Government officials, as well as some of the leading
merchants, were in correspondence with the Mahdi, who was also kept
posted up in the condition of the garrison by the deserters who, from
time to time, left Khartoum. On one night alone, Omar Agha Ibrahim, a
lieutenant of infantry, after taking the precaution of drawing half a
month's pay for himself and his men, went over to the enemy with thirty
of his comrades.
By the way of final preparations, Gordon had all the ammunition and
powder not required for daily use removed from the Arsenal and placed in
the Catholic Church, a strong stone building near the Palace, and
commenced to lay a slow match train between the two buildings, so as to
enable him to explode the whole supply, in the event of the Mahdists
entering the town.[121]
To provide for the safety of the Europeans, he stationed the small
steamer _Ismailia_ just beyond the Palace walls, with orders to the
engineer to get up steam on a signal being made. The arrangement was
kept secret, being communicated only to the principal Greek residents,
who, it was proposed, should go on board with their families at the last
moment and save themselves by the river.[122]
Meantime the Mahdi had full information of the movements of the British
expeditionary force. The delay in the advance from Metammeh inspired
both him and his followers with fresh courage. It also gave support to
Mohammed el Kerim's arguments, and when, on the 24th, intelligence was
received that two steamers had started from Metammeh, a Council was held
at which it was determined to act on his advice and make the attack
before the vessels should arrive.
This decision was, to some extent, influenced by the circumstance that
the Mahdi had opportunely had another vision, in which, this time, the
Prophet had assured him "that Allah had put the lives of the garrison
into the Mahdi's hands, and that the attack should be made early on the
morning of Monday, the 26th."
On the 25th Gordon was slightly ill, and, it being Sunday, he did not
appear in public. Through mental strain and trouble his hair had grown
completely white. Although he appeared to realize that the end could not
be much longer postponed, he was repeatedly heard to say that, if he had
only a couple of English soldiers to parade on the ramparts, he should
not fear the enemy's attack.
In the morning he observed a great movement in the hostile lines, and
called many of his officers, and the leading men of the town, to the
Palace. After telling them that he thought the attack was impending, he
appealed to them to make a last effort, as he believed that the British
troops would arrive in twenty-four hours. He called upon every male
inhabitant--even the old men--to assist in manning the fortifications.
It was a gloomy Sunday in Khartoum, and as the day went by without any
signs of the relieving force, despair settled down over all. When night
came many of the famished soldiers left their posts on the ramparts and
wandered into the town in search of food. Others were too weak, from
want of nourishment, to go to their stations. Although this was not an
unusual occurrence of late, the number of defaulters that night was so
great as to cause the most serious alarm in the town, and many of the
principal inhabitants armed themselves and their servants and went to
the fortifications in place of the soldiers.
Gordon, who had established a complete system of telegraphic
communication with all the posts along the lines, sat up alone writing
in the Palace till after midnight, and then, worn out with anxiety and
fatigue, fell asleep.
In the early part of the night, which, after the moon had set, was dark
and cloudy, the Mahdi crossed over from Omdurman with a huge mass of his
followers and joined the armies of Wad en Nejumi and Abu Girgeh, drawn
up on the south and east faces of the fortifications. After addressing
the combined forces and giving his final orders, the Mahdi then returned
to Omdurman, leaving Wad en Nejumi to conduct the attack.
At about 2 a.m. on the 26th, the entire force, under Wad en Nejumi,
numbering from 40,000 to 50,000 men, began its advance. It moved in two
divisions. The foremost was told off to attack the lines to the westward
at the point between the Messalamieh Gate and the White Nile, where the
defences had been partially destroyed by the river. The other division
was to attack towards Buri, at the opposite, or eastern, extremity of
the lines, or in the event of the attack on the White Nile side proving
successful, to follow in the track of the foremost division and thus
enter Khartoum. The instructions were to march as silently as possible,
and not to fire until fired upon by the defenders.
Carrying "angaribs," or couches of palm boughs, and bundles of
brushwood, to throw into the trenches, under cover of the darkness the
Dervishes marched noiselessly close up to the lines till the ditch was
reached. This they found partly filled with mud and the parapet broken
away. A few of the Dervishes fired in reply to the fire from the lines;
the remainder, charging with spears, dashed into the trench and up the
opposite side, shouted their war cries, and, meeting but little
resistance, effected an entrance into the works.
The defenders only perceived the advance a few minutes before the actual
attack, when the alarm sounded. The greater part of the troops were so
tired and worn out that it was not till the sentries fired that the rest
of the garrison started up, to find the enemy swarming across the ditch
and up the broken parapet. When once the Dervishes were upon them,
Gordon's soldiers made but little fight. Too feeble to withstand the
rush, some were killed, and still more broke and fled. In a few minutes
all resistance at this part of the position was over, and whilst a
stream of Dervishes from behind, pouring in through the place where the
entry had been effected, pushed on and entered Khartoum, those in front
rushed along inside the parapets and attacked the defenders in the rear.
These last, stationed at distances of from three to four paces apart,
and hopelessly outnumbered, could do but little. They fired a few shots
and were then either killed or dispersed--leaving the enemy in
undisputed possession of the fortifications. Over 150 soldiers' bodies
were afterwards counted on the parapets alone.
The Commandant, Farag Pasha, was at Buri, at the further end of the
fortifications, when the assault was made, and at once rode down the
lines, encouraging his men. When he reached the Messalamieh Gate, the
Dervish horde had already crossed the ditch and were rolling up the line
of the defenders on the parapets. Farag, seeing that resistance was
useless, opened the Messalamieh Gate and surrendered himself prisoner. A
great many of his followers also rushed out through the gate and threw
down their arms. Charges of treachery have been brought against Farag
for his conduct on this occasion, but, seeing that the enemy were well
within the position when the gate was opened, this act could not have
affected the issue one way or another. Farag's having been put to death
in the enemy's camp three days later also tends to rebut the accusation
of having betrayed his trust.
Mohamed Bey Ibrahim, who commanded at the same gate, formed his men,
consisting of two companies, into a square, and, taking up a position on
the plain between the lines and the town, fought courageously till he
and nearly all his men were killed.
Bakhit Betraki was in charge at Buri, and held his ground till, seeing
that the enemy had carried the works at the other end, and were inside
the lines, he abandoned the fortifications. Then, rallying his men, he
fought as long as any of them were left alive.
Notwithstanding the resistance offered in this and other instances, the
Dervish loss was but trifling, only from 80 to 100 being killed in the
whole operations, which, from the time the first gun was fired till
Khartoum was taken, are said to have lasted three hours.[123]
The soldiers who had been placed on board the barges and armed boats on
the White Nile, as already stated, made but very slight resistance. They
did a little firing at the moment of the first assault, after which they
forsook the boats and fled.
The garrisons at Tuti Island and at "the North Fort" were, from the
nature of their positions, unable to take any active part in the fight;
they fired occasionally from their guns, but when Khartoum fell they all
surrendered without further opposition.
The party of Dervishes who, when the first attack succeeded, pushed on
to Khartoum, at once took possession of the town and began massacring,
pillaging and looting everywhere.
Their first thought was to rush for the Palace, where they expected to
find the treasure, as well as Gordon, the man who had so long and so
successfully resisted them.
Gordon, who had with him a company of black troops as a guard, on being
aroused by the noise of the attack, went on the roof of the Palace,
which stood on the northern side of the town facing the Blue Nile, and,
finding that the enemy had entered the works for upwards of an hour,
kept up a hot fire in the direction of the attack. As dawn approached he
could see the Dervish banners in the town. Soon the gun which he had
mounted on the roof became useless, as it could not be depressed
sufficiently to fire down upon the Dervishes, who were by this time
crowding in thousands round the Palace. Gordon, seeing that resistance
was useless, then quitted the roof, put on his Pasha's white uniform,
and, with his sword by his side and his revolver in hand, placed himself
at the door of his divan just at the top of the grand staircase. Here he
stood and calmly awaited his fate.
A small band of Wad en Nejumi's followers forced their way into the
building and dashed up the steps. Gordon asked them who was their
leader. The only reply that he got was a curse, and one of the band
plunged his spear into Gordon's body. Gordon made no attempt to defend
himself, but turned away with a disdainful gesture, when he was again
stabbed from behind and fell forward on the ground. Others of the party
then rushed up and cut and hacked at the prostrate body until life was
extinct. This was shortly before sunrise--whilst hundreds of Dervishes
swarmed up to the Palace roof and slaughtered the soldiers there.
Gordon's body was dragged down the steps to the garden, where the head
was cut off, wrapped in a handkerchief, and taken to the Mahdi. The
Mahdi is said to have been very angry at Gordon's death. His idea had
been to convert him to Mahdism, and afterwards to hand him over to the
Government in exchange for Arabi Pasha. Gordon's head, after being shown
to Slatin Pasha, then a captive in the camp, was hung on a tree at
Omdurman, where multitudes of the Mahdi's followers cursed and insulted
it. His body was left in the garden the whole day, and thousands of the
Dervishes came up and plunged their spears into it. Later on it was
thrown, with many others, into one of the wells adjoining.[124]
The steamer which Gordon had placed near the Palace was of no assistance
at the critical moment. The captain saw the mob rushing to surround the
building, and waited for Gordon to arrive. Later on, probably at the
moment when Gordon met his end, a crowd of Dervishes made for the
vessel, which, to escape being captured, steamed out into mid stream and
moved backwards and forwards until the captain received a message from
the Mahdi, offering him pardon if he would give up the steamer, which
was thereupon surrendered.
After the Palace had been taken the Catholic mission building and church
were the next objects on which the mob directed themselves. The guards
in the grounds outside were at once killed, and the assailants then
broke into the building, killing and looting everywhere.
The massacre in the town lasted six hours, and 4,000 persons at least
were killed. The black troops were spared, except such as resisted. The
Bashi-Bazouks, fellaheen regulars, and the Shaggiah irregulars were
mostly killed in cold blood after they had surrendered and been
disarmed. Large numbers of the townspeople and slaves were either killed
or wounded.
At 10 a.m. the Mahdi sent orders to stop the massacre, which then
ceased, and the Dervishes devoted themselves exclusively to looting. The
Mahdi had promised his followers as much gold and silver as they could
carry when Khartoum fell, and immense disappointment was expressed when
they failed to find the expected treasure, for which Gordon's bank notes
formed but a poor substitute.[125]
The bloodshed and cruelty which attended the massacre are said to be
such as defy description. Nicola Leontides, the Greek Consul, had his
hands first cut off and was then murdered. Martin Hansel, the Austrian
Consul, and the oldest member of the European colony, was alive up to 2
p.m., when a party of Arabs, headed by his own janissary, entered his
house and beheaded him, together with a man named Mulatte Skander, who
lived with him. The two bodies were then taken outside, covered with
petroleum and set fire to. The Austrian tailor, Klein, on making the
sign of the cross, had his throat cut from ear to ear before the eyes
of his wife and children. The savages then buried their lances in the
body of his son, aged seventeen, who fell lifeless. The mother, a
Venetian by birth, seized her son of five years old with one hand, and,
holding her baby to her breast with the other, struggled heroically to
prevent their taking her children from her. Eventually they seized her
daughter, a girl of eighteen, who was carried off to add to the other
booty taken.
Numbers of women, and even children, perished in the general slaughter.
Of the survivors, all the young and good looking women and girls were
taken off to the "Beit el Mal," the Mahdi's treasury, where the loot was
ordered to be collected. There they lay exposed like cattle in a pen,
awaiting their turn to be selected to fill the harems of the conquerors.
The first choice lay with the Mahdi himself, then followed the various
Emirs, each in order of his rank. The women who were not chosen were
distributed among the soldiers. The old women were given a few rags with
which to cover themselves, and then sent to the Dervish camp to eke out
a miserable existence by begging.
The number of Europeans made prisoners is stated to have been about
ninety altogether, besides several thousands of natives. Most of these
were removed to Omdurman, where they were left to get on as best they
could, and exposed to many privations.
Only two days later, on the 28th, whilst the Mahdi's army was still
engaged in celebrating the victory, Wilson's two steamers were observed
slowly making their way up stream in the direction of the north end of
Tuti Island, firing as they advanced both from guns and rifles. It was
at once decided to oppose the landing of the red-coated soldiers who
could be seen on board. All rushed to the river's bank, the women
shouting "Môt lil Inglesi" ("Death to the English").
After reaching a point mid-way between Tuti Island and the left bank of
the White Nile, and apparently looking for indications as to the fate of
Khartoum and Gordon, the steamers were seen to turn round and proceed
down the river under a hail of bullets from the shore.
The news of the fall of Khartoum, after a siege of 317 days, or only
nine days less than that of Sebastopol, reached the War Office in London
at a quarter of an hour before midnight on the 4th February. It was
communicated by a despatch from Lord Wolseley, sent from Korti, at 9.10
p.m. on the same day.
The War Office officials, many of whom were summoned on the receipt of
the despatch, hesitated to believe the news it contained, until it
should be confirmed by later intelligence, and the representatives of
the Press Association were informed that nothing would be published till
the following day. On the 5th the despatch appeared in the second
edition of several of the morning papers, and England realized to the
fullest extent the bitterness of a great national disappointment. All
the gallantry and devotion of her officers and men had been unavailing;
the costly Nile Expedition had proved a dismal failure; and Gordon had
been allowed to perish.
The general feeling on the subject was intensified by the reflection
that but two days elapsed between the fall of Khartoum and the arrival
of the British troops before the town. The Government of Mr. Gladstone
was severely reproached with having been once more "too late."
As to the part taken by Sir Charles Wilson, there was a strong tendency
to censure the delay which had occurred in the departure of the steamers
for Khartoum. Sir Charles, in a letter to Lord Wolseley, gave full
explanations on this subject. He based his reasons for not starting
sooner on the following considerations:--
1st. The military situation. The force had been much weakened by its
losses in the fighting on the 17th and 18th January, and would be
further reduced by the convoy and escort which it was necessary to send
back to Gakdul. The horses and camels were so "done up" from fatigue and
want of food, as to be unable to reconnoitre any distance.
Reinforcements for the enemy were reported as advancing both from
Omdurman and Berber, and it was necessary for him, before leaving, to
ascertain that the small British force at Gubat was not liable to
attack.
2ndly. The necessity of changing the men in the steamers (in accordance
with Gordon's advice) and replacing them by Soudanese.
3rdly. The steamers' engines required to be overhauled, and the vessels
themselves had to be prepared for resisting the batteries which it was
known they would have to fight on their way to Khartoum.
4thly. Gordon was known to be still holding out, and there was nothing
to show that the expected crisis, so long delayed, would take place in
the next few days.
As a fact, the steamers from Khartoum reached Gubat on the 21st January,
whilst the British were engaged with the enemy at Metammeh; and Wilson
received the letters which General Gordon had sent down between three
and four p.m. on that day. The earliest possible date for starting
would, therefore, be on the morning of the 22nd, and Sir Charles pointed
out that, if the steamers had left at that time and travelled at the
same rate as they subsequently did, they would then only have reached
Khartoum at mid-day on the 26th, when it had already fallen.
Sir Charles might, without exaggeration, have enlarged on the condition
of his forces, which were so utterly used up--both men and animals--that
a short interval of comparative repose was indispensable before anything
further was attempted. That in spite of their condition they should have
been able to undertake the abortive attack on Metammeh on the 21st,
speaks volumes for their pluck and endurance.
Even if Wilson had disregarded all other considerations and pushed on at
once with his handful of soldiers, there is every reason to suppose that
the result would have been the same. From what has subsequently been
ascertained, it is clear that for weeks previously the Mahdi had
Khartoum at his mercy, and could have taken it at any moment, though he
preferred that it should fall by the slower process of starvation.
He had full information of Wilson's movements, and had the latter
started two days earlier, the only result would have been that the
capture of the town would have been accelerated by precisely that period
of time.
It would be too much to imagine that if the subaltern's guard which
Wilson had at his disposal had reached Khartoum whilst it still held
out, it could (notwithstanding Gordon's expectations to the contrary)
have changed the fortunes of the day, or have induced the Mahdi to carry
out his idea of raising the siege and retiring to Obeid. For this, the
presence, or at least the advance, of the whole force at Gubat was
necessary.
As it happened, the column at Gubat was not in a condition to advance,
and the Mahdi, knowing that at the worst he had only the two steamers
to reckon with, determined to risk an assault.
The responsibility for the disaster may be traced partly to the
insufficient supply of camels to the Desert Column, owing to which
Stewart, instead of pushing on at first straight across the Bayuda
desert, was compelled to return from Gakdul Wells to Korti, and then
make a fresh start, thus losing twelve days' valuable time. But after
all, the main responsibility will always rest with the Government which
so long delayed despatching the Relief Expedition, and then, as if to
make its failure the more certain, sent it by the wrong route.