THE ADVANCE TO BERBER.
Preceded by the gunboats, the main body of the expedition after the
capture of Dongola proceeded southwards, leaving detachments behind to
guard the line of communication. Debbeh, Korti, and Merawi were
successively seized and occupied.
The Sirdar also went south to inspect the different positions and
receive the submissions of the most important sheikhs, after which he
returned to Cairo, leaving his forces stationed at the three strategic
posts above mentioned.
On Kitchener's departure the province was placed under military law,
Major-General Hunter, who had fixed his head-quarters at Merawi, being
in command.
Courts of justice and a police force were established in the province of
Dongola, the rebuilding of the town was begun, and the railway was
continued along the Nile to Kermeh, forty miles to the north, and which
now became the southern terminus. The former inhabitants were invited to
return to their lands, and cultivation was gradually resumed.
The principal difficulty in the way of progress was the lack of
population, which since 1885 had fallen off from 75,000 to 56,000, and
of these a large proportion consisted of women and children. The number
of cattle had also diminished from 36,000 to less than 12,000 in the
same period.
Whilst Dongola was being put in order, the Khalifa, who expected that
the capture of that province would be followed by a further advance,
hastily took steps to fortify Omdurman, where he gathered all his
available warriors, and awaited events.
This was the situation at the end of 1896.
We now arrive at the year 1897, when the intended reconquest of the
Soudan, by the aid of British money and arms, was announced in the House
of Commons. This took place on the 5th February, when the "Dongola
Expedition vote" of £798,802 was moved by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer.
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach declared on this occasion 'that, since the
Dongola Expedition was undertaken, the British Government had never
concealed, either from Parliament or the country, that, in their view,
there should be a further advance in the same direction; that Egypt
could never be held to be permanently secured so long as a hostile Power
was in occupation of the Nile Valley up to Khartoum; and that England,
having compelled the Egyptian Government to abandon the Soudan, had
incurred towards its inhabitants responsibilities for the fulfilment of
which the moment had arrived now that the baleful rule of the Khalifa
was crumbling to decay.'
The Sirdar's policy of advancing gradually and consolidating at every
step the authority of the Egyptian Government continued to be pursued in
1897.
The work of getting up supplies for the large force at the front
occupied the first few months of the year, and this was a task of no
small magnitude, considering that the country contained little or no
produce, and that everything required had to be forwarded from the base
in Cairo.
The necessity for the construction of a new railway for military
purposes from Wady Halfa across the desert viâ Murad Wells to Abu Hamid
now impressed itself on the Sirdar's mind. Such a line was almost
indispensable in the event of operations being extended in the direction
of Berber and Omdurman. The existing line to Kermeh had served its
purpose in bringing up supplies and otherwise until the time of the
capture of Dongola, but its further extension would have to be made
through a difficult country, and at a great sacrifice of time and money.
It was therefore determined to discard it so far as the expedition was
concerned.
The immense advantage of making a short cut across the eastern desert
instead of following the tortuous windings of the Nile Valley will be
evident to any one who studies the map and notes the respective
positions of Wady Halfa, Kermeh, and Abu Hamid. The saving in distance
is about 330 miles.
Influenced by these considerations, the authorities sanctioned the new
line, and the materials having been got together at Wady Halfa, the work
was promptly taken in hand.
Once commenced, the line, laid for the greater part on the desert sand
by working parties from Wady Halfa, progressed with almost inconceivable
rapidity, under the able direction of Captain Girouard. The country over
which the railway passed consisted mostly of undulating desert. There
were no bridges, and but few cuttings, and the average rate of progress
was a mile and a half a day.
Although it was known that there was a Dervish force at Abu Hamid, no
opposition was encountered from it.
In order to present the history of events in chronological order, it is
here necessary to make a slight digression and refer to what happened
about this period in another part of the Soudan.
In the month of June the Khalifa was compelled to detach a portion of
his army from Omdurman, and send it, under the orders of his cousin and
principal emir Mahmoud, to suppress a revolt of the Jaalin Arabs at
Metammeh. This tribe, which had long been kept under the Khalifa's rule
by the terrorism of the Baggara, was anxious to join hands with the
Egyptians, and now struck for freedom. They fortified Metammeh, and
courageously awaited Mahmoud's attack. On the 1st July it came, and,
hemmed in and outnumbered by the Dervish horde, the brave Jaalins, after
three days' resistance, in which all their ammunition was exhausted,
were utterly routed. Metammeh was captured and burnt, and the country
round devastated by the victors, who killed men, women and children
indiscriminately.
The Jaalins had exasperated their foes by their determined resistance,
and when the town was taken no less than 2,000 of its defenders were
massacred. The prisoners were drawn up in line and treated thus: the
first was beheaded, the second had his right hand cut off, the third his
feet, and so on in succession until they had all been-dealt with. Their
chief, Abdullah Wad Sud, the head of the Jaalin tribe, was taken a
prisoner to Omdurman, and walled in in such a position that he could
neither stand nor sit, and was thus left to die of hunger and thirst.
Such of the Jaalins as escaped declared their allegiance to the Khedive,
and, being supplied with firearms, and subsidized, joined the ranks of
the "friendlies" and became useful allies. One of their first acts, when
they had time to reorganize a little, was to seize and hold Gakdul
Wells, a move which not only covered the Egyptian right on the
subsequent advance, but also saved the province of Dongola from the
danger of surprise by Dervish raiders.
Towards the end of July the desert railway line had advanced as far as
it was deemed prudent to go whilst Abu Hamid remained in the enemy's
possession, and it was determined to take the place by means of troops
co-operating from what may be considered the opposite direction, viz.,
Merawi.
On the 29th July, General Hunter, with four battalions of Soudanese
infantry and some artillery,[155] started from Merawi for Abu Hamid.
Following the route taken by the River Column under General Earle in
1885, and passing the battlefield of Kirbekan, Hunter arrived on the
night of the 6th August within a few miles of Abu Hamid. The march,
which covered 132 miles, made in the hottest time of the year, was
accomplished in eight days.
At daylight on the 7th, the troops moved up to attack the enemy, who
occupied an intrenched position in front of and within the village.
Their centre was a rectangular mud-walled inclosure, extending over six
acres, and in this were contained the wells, military stores, and
quarters for the soldiers. The mud huts of the village were connected by
walls, and these, as well as the walls of the inclosure, were loopholed
for musketry. The whole position was held by about 1,500 men, one-third
of whom were armed with rifles, and 150 were mounted.
The infantry deployed for the attack, and, as soon as the movement was
completed, advanced in line covered by the fire of the artillery on
their right. Some high ground overlooking the village was first carried
with but little resistance. When the troops had approached within 300
yards of the walls they were met by a furious fusillade, and many of the
Egyptians fell. The rest rushed onwards, and a stubborn house-to-house
fight, in which several lives were lost, ensued. In some cases so
determined was the resistance that the artillery were obliged to advance
before a position could be carried. Eventually, when the enemy's mounted
men had lost about half their number, the residue fled. They were
followed by about 100 of the foot-soldiers, all that was left of the
garrison, and Abu Hamid was then taken and occupied. Many prisoners
were captured, including the Dervish leader, Mohammed Zein.
The serious nature of the fighting may be gathered from the fact that on
the Egyptian side there were twenty-three killed and sixty-four wounded.
Amongst the killed were two English officers: Major Sidney and
Lieutenant FitzClarence. The Dervish loss must have been much heavier,
quite four-fifths of the garrison being either killed or taken
prisoners.
The fugitives continued their flight to Omdurman, spreading as they went
the news of the defeat.[156]
Abu Hamid having fallen, every effort was now made to hurry up the rest
of the army from Merawi, Debbeh, and Dongola with a view to an advance
upon Berber, the next Dervish stronghold on the river.
The Nile having by this time risen sufficiently, the gunboats with
further troops were enabled to pass the Fourth Cataract, and by the 29th
August, with the exception of one which came to grief in the cataract,
arrived at Abu Hamid. The sailing boats with more men and stores were
also successfully hauled through, and reached Abu Hamid shortly after.
Before, however, they had time to arrive, intelligence was received to
the effect that the Dervishes were evacuating Berber, the next
stronghold on the river. The importance of this move was at once
realized, and a party of "friendlies," under Ahmed Bey Khalifa, were
sent on ahead of General Hunter's troops to seize the place. Meeting
with no resistance, the "friendlies" entered Berber, where on the 6th
September Ahmed was joined by the gunboat flotilla. Hunter, with the
greater part of his army, entered Berber on the 13th. Berber, formerly a
large and prosperous town and an important centre of trade, but now
sacked and destroyed, was represented by a big Dervish village, built on
a site some miles north of the original place, and some two miles from
the river.
On the day that Ahmed Bey reached Berber, two of the gunboats went on to
Ed Damer, a few miles beyond the junction of the river Atbara with the
Nile. Here they exchanged some shots with the Dervish force which had
retreated from Berber, and they also succeeded in capturing several
boat-loads of grain.
Ed Damer, now become the Egyptian advanced post, was occupied by a half
battalion of infantry; a fort was erected, and other steps were taken
for putting the place in a state of defence.[157]