WAD-EN-NEJUMI AND COLLAPSE OF THE INVASION.
After the repulse of the Dervish attack on Khor Mussa (in August, 1888),
the southern frontier of Egypt was left for some time comparatively
undisturbed, but, early in 1889, persistent rumours reached Cairo that
the long-threatened invasion was at last to come off. This time it was
to take place down the left bank of the river, the idea being to avoid
Wady Halfa and the other fortified posts, and, by starting from a post
opposite Sarras, to strike across the desert to Bimban, a place on the
Nile, about twenty-five miles north of Assouan. The military authorities
in Cairo, from the first, considered the project impracticable, seeing
the difficulties which must arise in conducting an army of 5,000 men
(the estimated number of Wad-en-Nejumi's force), with an equal number of
camp-followers and without either adequate provisions or means of
transport, across a waterless desert, only to fight a battle at the end.
Nevertheless, it was deemed advisable to be prepared, and steps were
taken to provide for the defence of the villages on the west bank in the
neighbourhood of Wady Halfa, where block-houses were constructed at the
various points most liable to attack.
The first indication of the forward movement of the Dervishes was in
April, 1889, when the Emir Abd-el-Halim reached Sarras with 1,000 men.
Wad-en-Nejumi at this period was at Hafir, thirty miles north of
Dongola, with about 5,000 more, and with this force he calculated upon
taking Egypt with a rush.
On the 5th May, a party of the Dervishes at Sarras, where by
reinforcements the enemy's force had been increased to 2,500 men,
crossed over to the west bank and set out for the village of Serra
(north of Wady Halfa). Here, on the 9th May, they appeared to the number
of 600 and commenced pillaging the houses, but, after a stubborn fight
with a detachment of the 13th Soudanese, were driven off into the
desert, taking with them some of the loot. In the fight, the marauders
lost some thirty men, the Egyptian loss being only six wounded.
On the 22nd June, Wad-en-Nejumi reached Sarras, and, crossing the Nile,
united his followers with those of Abd-el-Halim, who had already
transferred his camp to the western bank. The combined forces, estimated
at over 4,000 men, then marched to Matuka,[146] which they reached on
the 28th.
To oppose the invaders, a flying column was organized at Wady Halfa. It
consisted of two squadrons of cavalry, eight Krupp guns, two companies
of the Camel Corps, and the 9th, 10th, and 13th Soudanese Battalions, in
all 1,940 men. Colonel Wodehouse, in command, hearing from his scouts
that the enemy might march at any moment on Argin, three miles distant,
took his measures accordingly. To protect the village of Argin, there
was at the south end, standing a little back from the river, a
block-house held by a company of the Camel Corps and an infantry
detachment. At the extreme north end, three and a half miles distant,
was a large building, the house of the "Omdeh," or head man of the
village, garrisoned by 250 more infantry. In the centre, between the two
points, the 13th Soudanese, under Captain Kempster, took up a position
in some detached houses, which they placed in a state of defence. All
three positions were practically in a line, and, with the exception of
the block-houses, on the river. On the east bank, facing the north end
of the village, stood the fortified post of Ishkait, with one gun. Such
were the dispositions made for the defence of Argin by Colonel
Wodehouse, who had at his disposal four stern wheel gunboats, and a
number of native craft for transport purposes. With these, his intention
was to reinforce with the remainder of his flying column any point of
the straggling line of defence which might be threatened.
On the 1st July, after sunset, Wad-en-Nejumi's force left Matuka in a
vast crowd in a north-western direction, and making a detour into the
desert, were seen at dawn on the 2nd at a distance of two miles from the
forts of Wady Halfa. Colonel Wodehouse, sending the cavalry along the
west bank, proceeded to Argin by steamer with half the 9th Soudanese
and the 10th Battalion. Learning that the mounted troops were in touch
with the enemy, he disembarked his men and guns on the east bank,
opposite the centre of the village, and, after sending the gunboats to
cruise in front, awaited events. Meanwhile, at 8 a.m., a portion of the
cavalry had cut off a few stragglers in the enemy's rear, who were
making for the Nile, until, faced by superior numbers, the Egyptians
were forced to fall back.
The enemy, continuing the advance, occupied the hills west of Argin,
about 5,000 yards from the village, driving in the 2nd Camel Corps,
which had been reconnoitring from the southern post.
From a commanding position on the east bank, where Colonel Wodehouse had
established his head-quarters with two companies of the 9th Battalion
and the artillery, the enemy were now perceived planting their banners
on the hill-tops to mark their positions, and descending in numbers
towards the north end of the village. The artillery immediately opened
on them, and the 10th Battalion, under Major Hunter, was sent across in
a gunboat to reinforce the central and northern posts. The enemy
continued their forward movement in a north-easterly direction, though
exposed to a flanking fire from the cavalry and Camel Corps, and at 8.30
a.m. three large parties of them approached within 1,000 yards of the
13th Soudanese in the central post, when the volleys they received from
Captain Kempster's battalion forced them to sheer off and take cover
behind a long ridge to the left of the position. From this point, they
kept up a harassing rifle-fire until, the reinforcements having
disembarked near the northern post, the rifles of the 10th Battalion,
added to those of the 13th, compelled them to retreat.
Though this first attempt to seize the village failed, small parties of
Dervishes continued to come down to the river between Kempster's
position and the southern post, and occupying a portion of the houses,
opened fire on the cavalry and Camel Corps, inflicting some loss.
Up to this time no serious attempt had been made to push home the
attack, and the fighting had been of a somewhat desultory character. The
Dervishes occupying the captured houses, continually receiving
reinforcements from the main body, about noon placed a gun in position
and opened fire on the artillery on the east bank, only to be
silenced, however, by the latter after firing a few rounds.
[Illustration]
One of the gunboats was then sent to drive the Dervish force out. In
this she signally failed, and after a cannonade on both sides lasting
for an hour, she had to return with the commander and two men wounded.
In the meantime there was, it seems, a disagreement between the two
Emirs, Abd-el-Halim wishing to capture the village, and Wad-en-Nejumi
refusing to consent. The dispute ended in Abd-el-Halim collecting his
own men, and as many others as he could prevail upon to follow him. Then
he advanced rapidly down a khor leading to the centre of the village,
his left being protected by riflemen posted on the ridge behind, to
which they had been driven in the morning, and his right being covered
by the fire from the captured houses.
The movement being perceived from the eastern bank, Colonel Wodehouse
again opened fire with his artillery, but the Dervishes nevertheless
still came on, and divided into three groups, one of which was directed
towards Captain Kempster's position, the second taking the centre of the
village, and the third advancing to the southern post.
Seeing the nature of this new attack, Wodehouse promptly ordered the
10th Battalion, then stationed near the northern post, to embark and
reinforce the troops to the southern end of the village. Two of the
first companies to land from the steamer had hardly advanced any
distance before they were charged by the enemy's cavalry and spearmen,
and forced back to the water's edge. There, aided by the fire from the
gunboat, they maintained their position against heavy odds, until help
came in the form of two companies of the 9th Soudanese and some of the
Camel Corps.
Major Hunter, the rest of whose battalion had by this time landed, now
assumed command of these detachments, and, advancing steadily, drove
back the assailants, who frequently charged him, only, however, to be
shot down to a man. Seeing a number of horse and spearmen rallying on
the left, Hunter now halted his men in a position which, with the
adjacent houses right and rear, formed a square, and remained on the
defensive.
In the meantime, Captain Kempster, observing the enemy streaming down
into the village, kept up a steady fire from his loopholed houses, to
which the Dervish riflemen on the ridge replied. Hearing that a gun had
been brought into position on the river bank to his left, he went with a
party of men to seize it, but, finding that the post was too strongly
held, he retired after some fighting, in which he lost seven of his men.
The gun was shortly after captured by a party of the 13th Soudanese,
though not without a severe hand-to-hand encounter. Wodehouse had now
arrived on the west bank, and sent Major Hunter with some companies of
the 9th to clear the ground to his left front. Though three times
charged by the Dervish spearmen, he succeeded, and drove the enemy back
through the khor by which they had advanced. Some fifty of the Arabs who
remained in the captured houses were surrounded, and the houses being
set fire to, the unfortunate inmates had no alternative but to come out
and be killed.
This completed the work of the day, and at 6 p.m. Argin was completely
cleared of the Dervish force, which left some 900 men killed in and
around the village, besides 500 prisoners, men, women, and children.
The Egyptians engaged amounted to less than 2,000 men, and their loss
was eleven killed and fifty-nine wounded.
The enemy's camp was found the next day still in its original position,
and although Wodehouse, with the object of drawing the Dervishes, placed
the 10th Soudanese opposite the entrance to the khor, there was no
response.
There was now another difference of opinion between Abd-el-Halim and his
commander-in-chief, Wad-en-Nejumi, as to the further steps to be taken.
The former, wounded in the engagement, and depressed by his recent
defeat, wished to retreat to Matuka. To this Nejumi positively refused
to consent, and, assembling his entire force, declared that he would
never desist from what he regarded as a holy undertaking, and that the
weak hearts who wished to retire to their homes might do so. The result
was that over 500 of his followers seceded and made their way back to
Matuka, whence they subsequently went further south. By this proceeding,
Wad-en-Nejumi's force was diminished altogether by nearly 2,000 men.
At midnight on the 4th, the Dervish leader burnt his camp and moved
still further north towards Serra.
Wodehouse, not feeling strong enough to attack now, contented himself
with keeping in touch with the enemy, and heading them off the river.
With the bulk of his flying squadron on the west bank, and his four
gunboats in mid-stream, he was able to do this without running
unnecessary risk.
The Dervish army continued its onward march, Wodehouse's force
descending the river and keeping abreast of Wad-en-Nejumi all the time.
Conflicts frequently occurred, and the enemy lost several men from the
fire of the steamers, and by desertion.
This state of things continued till the 8th, when the Dervish force was
discovered encamped behind the village of Faras. From this point they
were shelled out by the artillery on the east bank, and on the 10th they
took up a position on the hills two miles above Belanga, and 3,000 yards
from the river.
Wodehouse concentrated his column at Belanga village, sending on the
Camel Corps to Toski.
After the fight at Argin, it dawned upon the military authorities that
if any stop had to be made to the advance of the Dervishes on the Nile,
Kitchener's force would have to be supplemented by further troops.
Accordingly the 1st and 2nd Egyptian battalions, a mule battery, and two
squadrons of cavalry were despatched in hot haste to the front.
On 5th July, the Sirdar, Sir Francis Grenfell, left Cairo, and a British
brigade, under Brigadier-General the Hon. R. H. Montmorency, was moved
up the river. It was composed of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles,
the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Regiment, with a squadron of the 10th
Hussars, a detachment of Mounted Infantry, and a mule battery.
These forces were to be concentrated, in the first instance, at Assouan,
and thence either to take up a strong position at Bimban, and there
await the Dervish attack, or, in case Wad-en-Nejumi's advance should
prove less rapid than was expected, to form a second column to join
Wodehouse's force, and bring on a decisive action further up the river.
The British cavalry, artillery, and Royal Irish Rifles reached Assouan
on 25th July, and the Egyptian troops having also come up, a column of
the latter, composed of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of Egyptian
Infantry, the 11th Battalion of Soudanese Infantry, with artillery and
cavalry, was organized and placed under the command of Colonel
Kitchener.
No time was lost in pushing them forward; and on the 19th two of the
infantry battalions reached Toski, which they proceeded to put in a
state of defence.
[Illustration]
In the meantime, Wad-en-Nejumi's force at Belanga had been strengthened
by the arrival of 500 men, with 100 camels, under the command of another
emir, called Makin-en-Nur. This brought the number of Wad-en-Nejumi's
troops up to a total of 3,300 fighting men and 4,000 camp-followers.
With these, on the 28th July, he resumed his march to the north.
Pausing for one night at a distance of ten miles from the celebrated
temple of Abu Simbel, they continued on their way till the 1st August,
when they took up a position in the hills four miles to the south of
Toski. On the same day Wodehouse's force, which step by step had
followed Wad-en-Nejumi's movements down the Nile, also reached Toski,
where the whole of the Egyptian troops from Assouan, together with
General Sir Francis Grenfell and the British cavalry, had concentrated
the previous day.
With the exception of the British brigade, the entire Nile field force
was now assembled, and General Grenfell took over the command.
On the 3rd the General, receiving information that Wad-en-Nejumi
intended to resume his march northward, ordered all the mounted troops
to make a reconnaissance in force, the object being to check the Dervish
advance and keep Wad-en-Nejumi in his present position until the arrival
of the British brigade.
Nejumi's camp was placed on the inner extremity of a range of granite
hills, extending from the river inland in a westerly direction and
situated about four miles south of Toski. The village consisted of
scattered houses covering the land for about three miles from end to end
and dotted in places with palm groves; 1,200 yards in the rear the
cultivated ground disappeared in the desert which stretched away till
closed in by a range of hills at a distance of six miles from the Nile.
Behind these hills lay Nejumi's camp.
The desert was intercepted here and there by rocks and boulders of a
height and size sufficient to afford cover to considerable numbers of
men. Across this desert ground the British and Egyptian mounted troops
advanced. They consisted of four squadrons of cavalry and a camel corps.
Grenfell himself accompanied the force.
On nearing the enemy's position, it was seen that camels were being
loaded up, and everything prepared for an immediate move. It was evident
that if this was to be prevented no time was to be lost. The cavalry
pushed on, and the enemy's riflemen, advancing in skirmishing order, at
once opened fire. This was answered by the dismounted Camel Corps,
which, taking up a position on a commanding ridge, poured volleys on
the Dervishes, now coming on in considerable numbers. The fire of the
latter, however, became too hot, and the Camel Corps, as well as the
mounted troops generally, retired to a second position, which they were
equally unable to hold. A third position, 900 yards off, was now
occupied, and it being on a hill with clear ground intervening, the
mounted troops were able for some time to hold their own and keep up a
steady fire.
The situation at this moment was such that orders were sent back to
bring up the 1st Brigade from Toski. At 8.30, before there was time for
the reinforcements to arrive, the Arab spearmen in force emerged from
two ravines and steadily advanced on the position. A further retirement
then became necessary, and the troops took up a position at the foot of
a conical hill two miles from Toski, where they were joined by two guns
of the Horse Battery. At 9 a.m. the guns opened fire on the advancing
column, which now, followed by a mass of camp-followers and baggage
animals, turned to its left and marched steadily across the Egyptian
front.
It then became evident that Wad-en-Nejumi did not mean fighting, and
that his object was simply to get away, and continue his advance
northward. To prevent this, which would have frustrated the whole object
of the reconnaissance, Grenfell immediately sent off for the 2nd
Brigade, and whilst the two guns continued their fire Colonel Kitchener,
with the mounted troops, made a detour to the north and checked Nejumi's
further advance. Finding that his march was opposed, the Emir determined
to accept battle, and placed his followers upon some semi-detached hills
to the west of the ground occupied by the mounted troops.
The tops of these hills were by this time planted with standards and
lined with riflemen, the spearmen being kept out of sight. The
camp-followers and transport animals were placed in a temporary camp
behind the hills in front.
In the meantime, the 1st Brigade, under Major Hunter, together with the
artillery, had come up unseen under the cover of some rising ground, and
stationed themselves on an eminence 800 yards distant from and exactly
opposite to the enemy's position. The 2nd Brigade, arriving shortly
after, was kept as a support on the left rear of the 1st.
The 1st Brigade then opened fire all along its front. This was kept up
and replied to for half an hour. Colonel Wodehouse, who was in command
of the infantry division, then proceeded to extend his line by moving
the 9th Soudanese to the right with a view to enfilading the enemy's
left flank. After the battalion had moved only 500 yards it was halted
on a number of men on the first hill being observed preparing to charge.
At this moment, emerging from their cover, on they came with wild cries,
and charged down towards the battalion. The Egyptians never wavered, and
maintaining their formation, by a steady fire drove the enemy back with
a loss of some 150 of their men. The battalion, supported by a company
of the 2nd Egyptian Regiment, then advanced and took possession of the
hill, in spite of frequent isolated charges made by its defenders.
Under cover of a heavy cannonade kept up by the artillery, the whole
line of troops then advanced towards the various points held by the
enemy. On arriving in front of Wad-en-Nejumi's central position, another
attempt was made to charge. It was directed this time against the 10th
Soudanese, which, in combination with the 9th, had seized a ridge
connecting two of the hills. The charge, however, collapsed under the
well-directed volleys of the 10th.
During this period the 13th Battalion, supported by the 1st Egyptian,
had been operating on a detached hill to the left and suffering from an
enfilading fire from some concealed riflemen. The battalion had already
lost seventy of its men, when General Grenfell ordered the hill to be
stormed. The two battalions together then advanced, and, after a severe
hand-to-hand fight with the Dervish spearmen, swarmed up the hill and
captured the position.
Repeated attempts were made to retake the lost ground, and even after
the Egyptian troops had gained the summit of the hill, small bodies of
the enemy collected on the off side and charged upwards with the
greatest determination. These attempts only ended when the last of the
brave assailants was shot dead only a few paces in front of the Egyptian
line.
Only one hill out of those chosen by Nejumi for his position was now
held by the enemy, and this was soon stormed and carried at the point
of the bayonet by the united 9th, 10th, and 13th Soudanese Battalions.
By this operation, which was achieved at 11.30 a.m., the whole of the
enemy's position was taken, and the two guns of the Horse Battery were
occupied in shelling a defeated foe, in full retreat.
At this period, Wad-en-Nejumi personally made an heroic effort to rally
his dispersed followers, and the cavalry, which, during the fight, had
been stationed in the rear of the infantry, had to be sent to stop the
movement. The Egyptian squadrons led the charge, followed by the British
Hussars, and, dashing into the midst of such of the enemy as were
collected, completed the rout. The Camel Corps assisted in the final
fight by a carefully directed fire on the enemy's flank, and in a few
minutes not an Arab was to be seen on the plain.
There was, however, reason to believe that Nejumi, so far from fleeing,
had, with his defeated band, taken up a new position in the temporary
camp formed for his camp-followers and baggage behind the hills.
Therefore Grenfell, desirous of following up at once the advantage
gained, at noon directed a general advance in that direction. The troops
moved forward with the 11th Soudanese and 1st and 2nd Egyptian
Battalions in front, and the 2nd Brigade in support. The artillery
shelled the enemy's position as the troops advanced. The resistance
encountered was but trifling, the foe, by this time, being in full
retreat, leaving his camp, with a large collection of arms and military
accoutrements, to fall into the hands of the victors. The cavalry then
pursued the defeated Dervishes for over two miles, and captured a great
number of prisoners, and amongst them several women and children.
At the moment when the fighting was deemed finished, a loaded camel,
surrounded by about forty men, was observed following the line of
retreat, and was fired upon by a troop of cavalry. The camel and most of
the men fell apparently killed. The cavalry then approached and summoned
the survivors to surrender. This was met by the Arabs springing to their
feet and making a charge on the cavalry, in which all the Dervish
warriors were killed except one, who escaped on a stray horse. The load
carried on the camel turned out to be the body of the brave
Wad-en-Nejumi, who, though badly wounded early in the day, had refused
to fly, and devoted his last moments to an heroic attempt to rally his
dispersed followers.[147]
The defeat amounted practically to annihilation, and Wad-en-Nejumi's
force as an army ceased to exist. On the day of the fight and during the
three days following 4,000 prisoners were taken, and the enemy's loss in
killed was estimated at over 1,200. The Egyptian loss was but 25 killed
and 140 wounded.
In this, as in many of the other fights, it was simply the same old
story: on the one side a mass of reckless, fanatical, and courageous
savages; on the other trained and disciplined troops, acting under the
orders of a skilful general. In a conflict conducted under such
conditions, there could be but one result, and nothing remains but to
regret the appalling loss of life which formed one of its inevitable
concomitants.
On the 9th August, as soon as arrangements had been made for the
disposal of the numerous prisoners, the troops returned to Assouan, and
the Nile field force was distributed amongst the various points where it
was deemed necessary to retain garrisons. The British brigade, which had
not succeeded in arriving in time to participate in the fight, was
gradually moved down to Cairo.
The victory at Toski marked the turning point in the invasion, and was a
shock to the cause of Mahdism which it took years to recover. The
reinforcements, which were on their way down the Nile to join Nejumi,
beat an immediate retreat, and all further operations for the invasion
of Egypt were suspended. Numerous deserters from the Dervish force, as
well as hundreds of destitute refugees, crowded into Wady Halfa, and
were provided with relief. Though there was no longer any talk of
invasion, as a protection for the frontier a battalion of Egyptian
infantry reoccupied and held Sarras, and peace and tranquillity now
reigned once more.