Nothing of importance took place until the 17th of January, when the
wells of Abu Klea were approached and found to be held in great force by
the enemy. Leaving a few men of the Sussex and mounted infantry to hold
the camp, the General advanced the remainder of his force to seize the
wells, the possession of which was, of course, a matter of supreme
importance. The British as usual advanced in the form of a hollow
square, the troops being disposed as in the diagram.
As the square approached the enemy's position, the attack was delivered
in the shape of a well-ordered charge, commencing with a wheel to the
left and falling upon the left front and rear of the square. It was a
matter of wonder to our men how such a regular formation was preserved
over a space of 300 yards in face of a continuous and withering rifle
fire. When the enemy got well within 100 yards, the fire of the mounted
infantry and Guards began to tell, and the Arabs fell in heaps. The
rear left was not so fortunate, for either from the rear not closing
rapidly enough, owing to the fact that the Heavies were not trained to
infantry work, or from its opening out in order to bring the Gardner gun
into action, the square at the left rear corner was not able to bear the
force of the charge, and was driven in by sheer weight of numbers, and
several of the Arabs got inside. The Gardner gun had become jammed at
the tenth round, and so became a source of weakness to the solidity of
the square, a fact of which the enemy was quick to take advantage. At
this point Colonel Burnaby, who had joined the expedition as a
volunteer, was killed while gallantly facing the crowd. The Naval
Brigade, as usual refusing to retire from their gun, suffered heavily,
and lost all their officers except Lord C. Beresford, who was knocked
down in the _melee_. For a few moments the Arabs were in the square and
among the camels, and many of the officers had narrow escapes, while
Major Gough and others were killed. For five minutes it was a
hand-to-hand fight, but after the first wild rush no more of the enemy
could pierce the ranks of the Heavies, and all who had entered the
square were killed; and the enemy retreated, while the column marched
down to and occupied the wells, and rejoiced in abundance of sweet if
muddy water. The square had another fight of the same nature before the
Nile was reached, but on this occasion the enemy failed to penetrate the
zone of fire, and left all their leaders and many of their men lying
dead on its front. In the early part of the day General Stewart
received a wound which subsequently proved fatal.
It is sad here to relate that all this gallantry of the men, the loss of
valuable lives, and the slaughter of thousands of Arabs, which had
become necessary by delaying operations until the Mahdi had gathered so
much strength, failed in its object, namely, the relief of Khartoum and
the rescue of its heroic defenders. For when Colonel Wilson and his
party, having found Gordon's steamer, reached the city, they found it in
the possession of the Mahdi, and subsequently learned that Gordon had
been killed, and the garrison put to the sword, but two days before
their arrival; but, in the words of Lord Wolseley's despatch--
"It was not through any lack of zeal or want of energy that the steamers
only reached Khartoum two days after it had fallen. There is no
hesitation in saying that all ranks worked as hard as human beings
could, hoping to render the earliest possible assistance to their heroic
comrade who was besieged in Khartoum."