THE RECONQUEST OF DONGOLA.
After the destruction of the Dervish force at Ferket and the occupation
of Suarda, no further advance was undertaken for a period of three
months. There was, however, plenty of hard work to do, and rarely has an
army toiled through a long, hot summer in the way that the Sirdar's
troops worked in those trying months of June, July, and August. In the
year 1896, the railway had to be pushed on, stores had to be
concentrated at the front, and steamers to be dragged up the cataracts.
In addition to this, there was a severe cholera epidemic to be fought
and overcome.
The advance post of Suarda was fortified and strongly held by the 2nd
Infantry Brigade, with some artillery. The cavalry and Camel Corps made
reconnaissances further south, but no additional posts were occupied
during the summer.
One particularly successful expedition was made. It had been ascertained
that the Emir Osman Azrak, with a body of Dervish cavalry, had come
north to Kidden, a village near the Kaibar Cataract, with the intention
of collecting the entire male population in the district, and driving
them south to Dongola to assist in the defence of that place. On June
the 17th, two squadrons of Egyptian cavalry and a company of the camel
corps, under Captain Mahon, arrived; and the Dervishes, though greatly
superior in numbers, fled without fighting. Eleven boats loaded with
grain were captured, and the unfortunate inhabitants of the village were
enabled to make their escape to the Egyptian lines north of Suarda.
From these refugees a good deal of information was obtained as to what
the Dervishes were doing. The news of the defeat at Ferket had been
received in Dongola with consternation. Wad-el-Bishara, the governor,
sent the intelligence on to the Khalifa, asking at the same time for
large reinforcements, if the town of Dongola was to be defended. In the
meantime, he made preparations for defence, fortifying the place,
enrolling all the able-bodied men in the province, and calling in from
the desert such of the Bedouins as were friendly to the cause.
All this while the work of pushing forward supplies was rapidly
continued. The field telegraph, laid for the most part in the desert
sand, followed closely upon the heels of the army.
The railway was steadily pushed on by Captain Girouard, R.E., until it
reached Kosheh (the scene of the engagement of 30th December, 1885),
whither on July 5th the head-quarters camp had been moved for sanitary
reasons.
During all this period the expedition was pursued by persistent ill
fortune. The rise of the Nile was unusually late, and consequently the
dragging of the gunboats over the Second Cataract was delayed. Heavy
rain storms, most unusual in this part of the Soudan, occurred, and the
last, on August the 25th, swept away part of the line near Sarras.
By far the worst visitation of all was the cholera. The disease was
imported into Egypt in October, 1895, but made only little way during
the winter. In the spring of 1896 it began to increase, and in the
second week of June reached the first military post at Assouan. Here it
was quickly stamped out, but was taken to Korosko by the men of the 5th
Battalion, and shortly after appeared at Wady Halfa. Here the epidemic
was very severe, and difficult to deal with, for Halfa could not be
isolated, as all the troops and stores had to pass through it, and the
epidemic followed them until it reached Kosheh. As soon as the cholera
appeared at Wady Halfa the North Staffordshire Regiment was moved into
camp at Gemai, six miles further off in the desert, but nevertheless
many cases occurred among the men. The epidemic first reached Kosheh on
July the 15th. The camp was at once moved back 2,000 yards into the
desert, and the most stringent precautions were taken to insure the
purity of the water supply, as well as to keep the men from bathing or
washing clothes in the river.
With these precautions, the disease, which was of a very rapid and fatal
type, was at last stamped out, but not until 235 Egyptian soldiers in
all had fallen victims. Amongst others were four British officers and
two English engineers, who had been sent to supervise the putting
together of a new gunboat.
At the end of August, the concentration of the troops further south was
begun, and begun badly. The 1st Brigade was advanced from Suarda, where
it had been stationed, to Delligo, a distance of forty-five miles. To
avoid a bend of the river the men were marched as far as Absarat, that
is about half of the way straight across the desert. The heat was most
oppressive, a scorching sand storm raged part of the time, and the men
in heavy marching order, carrying two days' rations and 100 rounds of
ammunition, were unaccompanied by water camels, but had to trust to two
depôts which had been formed on the road. Out of 3,000 men no less than
1,700 fell out, and ten died and were buried, during this disastrous
march, undertaken without any adequate motive.
On the 15th September the 1st Battalion of the North Staffordshire
Regiment, which had moved up from Gemai, arrived, and the advance really
began. Every available soldier being wanted, but small garrisons were
left upon the line of communication. Kosheh, now the railway terminus,
as the most important place, was guarded by the 6th Battalion, but the
other posts northwards had only a few men each. The expeditionary force
consisted of the North Staffordshire, the three brigades which fought
at Ferket, and a fourth brigade, composed also of three Egyptian
battalions.
With the artillery, Camel Corps, and infantry the total force amounted
to nearly 15,000 men.
On the 14th the troops marched into Fereig, the North Staffordshires
being conveyed by steamer. On the 17th the whole force moved on to
Bargi, about ten miles further south, and on the 18th to a spot on the
river bank opposite the island of Imbos. On the 19th the army started
before daybreak to attack the Dervishes, who were reported to be
strongly intrenched at Kermeh, but Wad-el-Bishara, who was in command,
disappointed the Sirdar by moving the whole Dervish force across to the
west bank during the previous night, and was now holding the village of
Hafir. Then at 6.30 a.m. commenced the little battle of Hafir, between
the Egyptian artillery and gunboats and the Dervishes on the left bank.
A long line of shelter trenches, with loopholed mud walls, ran along the
river front of the position, and here five small guns, which had been
captured at Khartoum, were mounted. These were served by ex-gunners of
the Egyptian army. The north and south sides of the position were
protected by deep morasses, and on the left lay moored against the
western bank a small gunboat built by Gordon at Khartoum, and some
twenty-five large sailing vessels laden with grain. The engagement was
opened at 6.30 a.m. by the Egyptian artillery, which was replied to by
the Dervish guns and riflemen, but little damage was done on either
side.
Half an hour later, Commander Colville, R.N., arrived with his steamboat
flotilla, consisting of his flagship, the _Tamaai_, the _Abu Klea_, and
the _Metammeh_.
The steamers then began to attack the forts, steaming up until they got
abreast of them, pouring in their fire, and then dropping down stream
until they were out of range.
The Dervish fire was wonderfully accurate, the ships being struck again
and again by the shells while the rifle bullets pierced all the
woodwork. One shell actually entered the magazine of the _Abu Klea_, but
fortunately did not explode. There were several casualties. Two men were
killed, and Captain Colville and twelve men wounded. This engagement
lasted for three hours, and though the practice made by the gunboats
was good, and the enemy must have lost heavily, still their fire was not
silenced.
About 1,200 yards from the enemy's position was a large island, called
Artaghasi, joined by a swampy isthmus to the mainland, now that the Nile
was falling. Three batteries of artillery and the Maxim battery were
sent to take up a position on the island, just opposite the Dervishes.
The guns were promptly brought into action, and about an hour later the
Dervish fire was silenced. Nevertheless shots were fired intermittently
during the afternoon and through the night, especially in the
neighbourhood of the grain boats which the Dervishes were trying to
discharge.
Meanwhile the steamers, delivering their parting shots as they passed
the forts, went on to Dongola, which they reached before sunset.
Thus ended the fighting for the day. The casualties on the
Anglo-Egyptian side, as already stated, were but trifling; those of the
enemy, though reported as heavy, were never exactly ascertained. One
writer estimates them at 200.
On the morning of the next day, the 20th, it became evident that the
Dervishes had evacuated Hafir. Some of the inhabitants came out and
waved a welcome to the Egyptians, while others brought all the boats
across to the east bank, where they were immediately taken possession
of. It was found that Bishara, misled by false information, had
evacuated Hafir at three in the morning, and marched with all his force
to Dongola to oppose the crossing which he had been led to expect would
take place there. The Sirdar, however, learning this, ordered that the
river should be crossed at once at Hafir, and the movement was begun
that very day.
It was no small undertaking to throw such a large force across a river a
mile and a half wide, with only a few gunboats and sailing craft, and it
is hardly surprising that the army was not ready to resume its march
upon Dongola until the evening of the following day. In the meanwhile,
Colville's gunboats returned, having thrown a few shells into Dongola,
and captured several more boat loads of grain.
On the evening of September the 21st, the Anglo-Egyptian force marched
twelve miles further south, and bivouacked on the river bank nearly
opposite the island of Argo. On this day, too, the _Abu Klea_ was sent
on ahead to watch Dongola, where on the following day she was joined by
the _Tamaai_ and _Metammeh_.
Early in the morning of the 22nd, the force marched a few miles on to
Zowerat and rested there.
At 4.30 a.m. on the 23rd, lighted by a brilliant moon, the
Anglo-Egyptian force moved on Dongola. The gunboat _Zafr_ arrived from
the north, and was at once sent on to join Colville's command. The order
of march was as follows:--The 1st Brigade was on the left near the
river; on their right was the 3rd Brigade. Next came the artillery,
Maxims, and North Staffordshire. On the right, next the artillery, was
the 2nd Brigade with the Camel Corps, Horse Artillery, and cavalry on
the extreme right, away in the desert. The 4th Brigade formed the rear
guard. The force presented a front two miles in length. At seven o'clock
the Dervishes came in sight, and the Egyptians briskly advanced to meet
them. The former, however, would not fight. Time after time they halted
in battle array as if to attack, but each time seeing the odds were so
hopelessly against them, they suddenly retreated. In the distance, the
sound of guns from Colville's steamers was heard; but the troops on
shore never got a chance of a shot. At 9.30 the force was abreast of the
Dervish camp to the north of the town of Dongola, where they saw the
Egyptian flag waving over the old Mudirieh and learned that the blacks
garrisoning the place had surrendered to the steamers. Then it was seen
that there could be no fight, and that all that remained to be done was
to pursue the Baggaras, Jaalins, and others now in full retreat. This
task was thereupon taken in hand by the cavalry, Camel Corps, and Horse
Artillery, whilst the remainder of the force, skirting a morass which
lay between the town and the western desert, marched on, till at 11 a.m.
they turned the southern end of the swamp and entered Dongola.
The inhabitants crowded amongst the troops, seizing and kissing the
hands of the soldiers and displaying the utmost joy at being delivered
from the oppression of the Baggara.
The important part taken by the gunboats in the capture of Dongola may
be stated in a few words. They steamed up abreast of the town in the
early morning, the rearmost steamer being only a little ahead of the
infantry advance. They then opened fire on the defences on the river
bank, but there was no effective reply. They also kept up a steady fire
on the Dervish camp in the desert, already referred to, and afterwards
on the Baggara Arabs, now retiring before the advancing infantry. Again
there was no reply. At 9.30 the blacks garrisoning Dongola hoisted the
white flag, and the cannonade ceased. Commander Colville then landed
with a hundred Soudanese soldiers and hoisted the Egyptian flag.
The close pursuit by the mounted troops which ensued compelled the
Dervishes to abandon a large portion of their black foot-soldiers, who
were only too glad to remain. Indeed, it was one of the most
satisfactory features of the day's work that, owing to the absence of
fighting by the force on shore, only a few lost their lives. Those were
of the unfortunate native population, who are always placed in the front
ranks of the Dervishes.
The Baggara, however, offered some resistance to the pursuit, and made
several charges whilst endeavouring to cover the retreat of the main
body. Some 900 prisoners, in all, were captured. These were shortly
afterwards converted into a black battalion and added to the Sirdar's
forces.
On the night of the 24th, the Anglo-Egyptian force bivouacked in and
around Dongola, or rather the ruins of that once flourishing town. The
place was now practically deserted, and in the streets not a soul was to
be seen. Everywhere was ruin and desolation.
On the 26th, there being no more work for the North Staffordshires to
do, and the regiment suffering a good deal from sickness, it was sent
back to Cairo.[154]
As a consequence of the fall of Dongola every Dervish fled for his life
from the province. The mounted men made off across the desert direct to
Omdurman, and the foot-soldiers took the Nile route to Berber, always
being careful to keep out of range of the gunboats, which were prevented
by the Fourth Cataract from pursuing them beyond Merawi.