Cassell's History of the War in the Soudan

Chapter I. The Second Fight At Abu Klea

Reinforcements for the Soudan— Position at Abu Kru— Skirmishing at Metemneh— Cartridges jamming again— The Wounded sent to the Rear— Talbot's Convoy— Buller 's Retreat— The Second Fight at Abu Klea

Chapter II. The Return To Gakdul

Major Wardrop's Reconnaissance and Ruse— Arab Reconnaissance — Buller Reins orced— Soudanese Prisoners — Short Rations— The White Flag— Return of Major Wardrop— Arrival at Gakdul— Death of Stewart

Chapter III. From Gakdul To Korti

Gifts to the Sheikhs— Durbar at Korti— Posts in the Desert— Gordon's surviving Troops at Korti— Concentration of the Forces there— Hardships of the Retreat— In Danger at Gakdul— The "Cat" in the Soudan— The Australian Contingent— General Order to the Soldiers and Sailors of the Expedition— Benbow's Reward

Chapter IV. The Return Of Brackenbury's Column

The Descent of the Nile— The Crossing at Abu Dom — Camp at Ambigol — Concentration at Korti — Depaiture of the Canadians — The Mahdi and his Resources— Bad Bread — Casualties in Egypt — Blockhouses ... ... 50

Chapter V. In Summer Quarters On The Nile

Losses at Kassala — Olivier rain — Letters from the Mahdi — Destruction of Cavalry Horses —Story of a Slave Girl at Korti — State of the Troops in the Nile Camps — Our Posts on the Nile — Arrest of Zebehr and his Son

Chapter VI. Affairs At Suakim, Massowah, And Kassala

Description of Suakim — Defences of the Town — The Italians take Massowah — General Graham to Command — Objects of the New Campaign — Kassala and its Siege — Arrival of General Davis — Night Attacks — Defence of Kassala — Death of Lieut. Askwith — Arrival of the Indian Contingent — Hut Barracks — The Enemy's Movements — Osman Digna and General Graham — Arab Assault by Night — Osman's Standard-bearer — Extra Precautions at the Camp — The Suakim-Berber Railway — Arabi in Ceylon ... VI PAGE 99 132 147 107

Chapter VII. About The Great Desert

Spread of the Mahdi's Cause -The Movable "Columns- The Camp at Korti— Lord Wolseley and the Canadian Boatmen— The Camel Bearer Company— The Great Desert— Hardships at Korti— Major Bundle's Explorations—Plea against the Suakim-Berber Railway— Fate of Captain Gordon— Nile Problems— The New Mahdi — Olivier Pain — Letters from the Ranks

Chapter VIII. The Battle Of Hasheen

A Cavalry Reconnaissance— Osman's Ground— The Battle of Hasheen- Charge of the Bengal Lancers— Shelling the Village— Valour of the Enemy— The Casualty Lists— The General's Despatch— Royal Humane Society's Awards — A White Camel H" Awards — A White Camel

Chapter IX. The Surprise At Sir John

McNEILL's ZERIBA. Funeral of Captain Dalison— Sir John McNeill's Services— His Zeriba — The Surprise— Charge of the Hadendowas — Courage of the Rev. Mr. Collins— McNeill in Danger— His Life saved by the Hon. Alan Charteris— The Casualties — The Night after the Surprise — Loss of Camels — Parliament and the Surprise — The Press Censorship

Chapter X. Opening Of The Road To Tamai

Removal of the Wounded from the Zeriba — Graham's Despatch — Successful Cavalry Operations on the 22nd of March — The Ganges Hospital at Suakim — Skirmishes in front of the Town — The Balloon Corps — Osman Digna's Tactics — Attacks on Convoys — Arrival of Nurses — Increase of Sunstroke — Arrival of the Australian Contingent— Osman's Movements CHAPTER XT. GENERAL GRAHAM'S ADVANCE TO TAMAI. Graham's Plans— The Advance— Grant's Reconnaissance— Bivouac Disturbed — Formation for the Advance— Wells of the Desert— Tamai Reached— Villages Destroyed— Australians under Fire— The Return March — General Graham's Despatches— Railway Difficulties— Climate of the Soudan— The March to Handoub— The Bosphore Egyptien LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE Distant View of the Pyramids of Mcroe 1 Major Kitchener Questioning Prisoners at Gakdul Wells 4 The Coldstream Guards Embarking on tlie Manora at Gravesend 5 Surgeon-General Irvine, M.D., Principal Medical Officer to the Forces in Egypt 8 The Steamer Yarrow taking Wounded to Dongola ... 9 Major Wardrop ... ... ... ... ... 12 Nubian 13 The Gardner Gun used in the Soudan Campaign ... 10 The Gardner Gun — Loading ... 17 Ferry-Boats on the Nile 18 Lieut. R. J. Tudway 20 Follower of the False Prophet 21 Special Uniform of Officer and Privates in the Camel Corps 24 Prayer in the Desert 25 The Gardner Gun— Preparing to " Sight " 28 Men of the 19th Hussars Fencing the Grave of Sir Herbert Stewart at Gakdul Wells 29 Sand-Grouse Shooting in the Soudan 32 The Dingy in which Colonel Stewart and Mr. Power landed near Berti, shortly before their Murder 33 Doctoring a Sick Camel 36 Sandstorm in the Desert ... ... ... ... ... 37 Proposed Route of the Suakim-Berber Railway — The Desert near Ariab ... ... ... ... ... 40 Proposed Route of the Suakim-Berber Railway — Ravine near Haratri ... ... ... ... 41 At Suakim : Rebel giving Himself up with his Wife and Family 44 Departure of the Australian Contingent from Sydney, New South Wales 45 The Troopship Iberia leaving Sydney ... 48 l'A( ; K New South .Wales Troopship Australasian 49 Fort at Dehbch, on tlic Nile 52 Hannak, on the Nile, the reputed Birthplace of the Mahdi 53 Evening in the Desert 53 Fellah Maiden 57 Lime Mill 58 The Bahr-El-Gazelle " 00 Abyssinian Village ... ... ... ... ... ill Proposed Route of the Suakim-Berber Railway — View between Kokreb anil Ariab ... ... ...

C4 The Nile at the Head of the Gerendid Cataract . . 65 Sketch in Larnaca, Cyprus ... ... ... ... G8 Egyptian Water Carrier ... ... ... ... ... (JO Arab with Green Turban ... ... ... ... ... 72 Forts Carysfort and Euryalus, Suakim 73 Occupation of Massowah — Hoisting the Italian Flag 76 Return of Friendly Natives to Suakim after a Successful Attack on the Enemy... ... ... 77 Some Types of the Indian Contingent for the Soudan 80 Lieut. W. B. Askwith SI Mounted Infantry Skirmishing at Suakh 11 84 Beni Amer Warriors of Abyssinia? ... ... ... 85 Sinkat gy Arabs Fishing in the Red Sea S!) Map of the Environs of Suakim 92 Mounted Infantry at Suakim Preparing to Picket ... 93 Proposed Route of the Suakim-Berber Railway — View near Kokreb ... ... ... ... ... 95 Reconnaissance towards the Enemy's Camp at Hasheen 97 Arab Farmer 98 Arab Labourer 100 The Heights Above Assouan, with the Island of Elephantine ... ... ... ... ... ...

PAGE PAGE Men of the Indian Contingent in Khaki Uniform ... 140 Herdsman in the Desert (Lower Egypt) 104 People of the Beni Amer Tribe on a Journey. 148 Ride through the Desert (Lower Egypt) 105 Lieut. Richardson, 5th Lancers (Koyal Irish) ... 149 1st Life Guards (Camel Corps) Building their Summer Huts on the Nile (the Frame-Work) 108 " Roughing It "—Mess of the Grenadier Guards ... 152 Proposed Route of the Suakim-Berber Railway— Wady Yumga, near Ariab 153 1st Life Guards (Camel Corps) Building their Summer Huts on the Nile (Putting Matting round the Frames) 109 Sir Gerald Graham l5(i Arab Scavenger : Watering the Road 157 The Egyptian Camp at Wady Haifa 112 Fellah Widow Mourning 160 M. Olivier Pain 113 Surgeon-Major Lane • 110 Laying the Suakim-Berber Railway 161 Shoeing-Forge of the New South Wales Artillery at Suakim 164 Arab Gipsy Encampment. 117 The Royal Artillery Shelling the Village of Hasheen 120 Redoubt at Handoub, held by the Australians . . . 165 Captain Dalison 121 Plan of the Battle of Hasheen (March 20, 1885) ... 125 Friendly Runners of the Amaras 168 Mounted Infantry Skirmishing near Tamai 169 Among the Mountains near Handoub 128 Australian Infantry on the March through the Mountains 172 The Berkshire Regiment Attacking the Arab Position at Hasheen 129 Burying a Comrade at Tamai 173 Egyptian Titchers 131 Australian Camp at Handoub 176 Rev. Reginald F. Collins 132 The Surprise at McNeill's Zeriba — A Corner of the Square Fifteen Minutes after the Attack Began 133 Burning the Village of Tamai 177 Interior of the First Zeriba on the Handoub Route 180 The Night After the Attack on McNeill's Zeriba ... 136 Somali Village 181 On the Nile at Wady Haifa 184 Captain Francis John Romilly, R.E 137 Inside McNeill's Zeriba Five Days after the Surprise 140 Arabian Horses ... ... ... . . . . ... 185 Major Von Beverhoudt, 17th Bengal N.I 141 The Camp at Otao, Twenty Miles from Suakim . . . 188 Signal Station in a Zeriba 144 Mounted Infantry under Captain Freeman Scouting with Friendly Amaras ... 189 Lieut. Newman, R.E 145 LIST OF PLATES.

SIR GERALD GRAHAM. COLONEL FRED BURNABY. VILLAGE IN UPPER EGYFT. THE FIRST CATARACT OF THE NILE SIR HERBERT STEWARTS MARCH FROM KORTI TO GAKDUL WELLS - A CONSULTATION OF GUIDES. DISTANT VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS OF MF.ROE. CASSELL'S History of the War in the Soudan.

Chapter I. The Second Fight At Abu Klea

Reinforcements for the Soudan — Position at Abu Kru — Skirmishing at Metemneh— Cartridges jamming again —The Wounded sent to the Rear— Talbot's Convoy— Buller'a Retreat— The Second Fight at Abu Klea. Squadrons of the 20th Hussars, from Aldersliot ; Headquarters aud portion of a Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery, with No. 5 Battery of the Scottish Garrison Artillery, from Lower Egypt ; 3rd Batta lion of the Grenadier Guards, from Windsor ; 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, aud 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards, from London; 1st Battalion of the Shropshire Light Infantry, from Malta ; 2nd Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment, and 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, from Lower Egypt ; of the Commissariat and Transport Corps, No. 3, 7. and 12 Companies, with a Detachment of the Ord nance Store Corps from Woolwich ; Bearer Com panies and Field Hospital Staff of the Medical Department ; 2nd Battalion Dublin Fusiliers ; 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry.

Towards the middle of February, 1885, our force in the Soudan was of the most slender description, and so great was the pressure upon it that it was resolved by the home authorities to reinforce Lord Wolseley by way of Suakim, and, if possible, Berber. The troops detailed to join the new expedition were as follows : — No. 9 Battery North Irish Division of Royal Artillery, from Gibraltar to Lower Egypt, to be replaced by a Battery of the Cinque Ports Artillery from Alderney to Suakim ; 24th Company, a Tele graph Section and a Balloon Detachment of the Royal Engineers, from England ; two Squadrons of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, from Dublin ; two In addition to these troops, three Indian regiments were ordered to Sua- 7S khaki drill frock and trousers, brown helmet and puggaree, valise, black pad, o-oo-o-les, two flannel belts, clasp-knife, slung by a lanyard, tea kit, ankle boots, cloak, forage-cap, and bandolier.

A Brigade order, from the home district office, ran thus : — kirn, namely, the 9th Bengal Cavalry, 700 strong ; the 15th Sikh Infantry, or old Loodiana Regiment ; and the 1 7th Poorbeah Infantry. The new contingent was estimated at 10,000 men, to be divided into two divisions, each under a Major-General. As in the Nile Expedition, so in that to Suakim, the supply of water was a serious question. To meet the difficulties of so large a force, where some of the wells are at great distances apart, some 3,000 waterproof bags were constructed, each holding from ten to fifteen gallons, besides a similar number of light small barrels and tanks of sheet iron, to be borne by camels. For the storage of water at stations, pending the approach of the force, several hundred tanks of water proof canvas were ordered ; while for the general purposes of the expedition the British consuls in Asia Minor and Aden were ordered to purchase mules, ponies, and camels.

" The following will be the strength of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, that will em bark with the battalions now under orders to pro ceed on active service. One commanding officer and one major, mounted; four majors and four captains, sixteen lieutenants and two staff. An officer of the Army Pay Department to be attached to each battalion, for pay duties. One sergeant major, one quartermaster-sergeant, two colour-ser geants, one sergeant-drummer, one armourer sergeant, two orderly-room clerks, one pioneer-ser geant, and one sergeant-cook; twenty-three sergeants, forty corporals, and seven hundred and ten privates. The 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards will have, in addition, one sergeant-piper and five pipers. The mounted party of the battalion, consisting of one captain, one lieutenant, and fifty men each, is included in the above numbers.

The colours are not to be taken. The men will leave their medals, and due care must be taken for their safe custody. The defaulter sheets will not be taken. A modified pattern of the defaulter sheets, for use during the campaign, can be obtained from Stanton's. Villiers Street, Strand. There will be no objection to a second major being mounted, pro vided the number of five horses per battalion, including adjutant and quartermaster, be not exceeded." Lord Wolseley, who had practically the control of the selection of the officers and men to be sent to him via Suakim and Berber, telegraphed for fifty men from each battalion of the Guards, to be equipped as Mounted Infantry, each detachment to be com posed of picked men, officered by a captain and subaltern. Their kit was made up of a scarlet serge tunic, Bed ford cord pantaloons, two khaki drill frocks and trousers, brown helmet and puggaree, goggles for the eyes, and bandoliers for ammunition.

Among the first to embark was the 3rd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, who were inspected on the 19th of February by the Queen, at Windsor. They were then formed in hollow square, facing inwards, when she de livered to the officers a brief address, which they repeated to their men, whom it filled with the highest enthusiasm : — " I have summoned you here before your departure to wish you heartily God speed. May God protect you ou the day of battle ; may He preserve The kit for the rest consisted of a scarlet serge frock, blue serge trousers, BULLER' S MOVEMENTS. 3 you in the hour of danger by land and sea, aud may He lead you to victory ! Confident that my Grenadier Guards will maintain the honour and reputation of British soldiers, I rely on your equalling the glorious deeds of those in the distant lands to which you are now proceeding.

My thoughts aud prayers go with you and your brave comrades, to whom, alas, I cannot bid farewell, as I now do heartily to you. Once more, God bless you ! " the little column that lay in Major Dormer's trenches, watching the foe in Metemneh ; but it did not change the impression existing in Colonel Bos cawen's force, that the sooner it re traced its steps to the safe headquarters at Korti, the better, as no good could be expected of an advance on Khar toum, though the men were read}' enough to go, if in sufficient numbers. On the 19th of February the Cold stream Guards left Westminster Bridge by steamer for Gravesend, where they were embarked upon the transport Manora, and left the shores of Old England the same day. To all it was evident that to advance with the troops and guns then at Abu Kru would have been the extremity of rashness, though finer soldiers were never seen, and then as }Tet there was still an uncertainty as to whether General Gordon was dead or alive.

As Sir Redvers Buller had quitted headquarters before the tidings of the fall of Khartoum had reached Lord Wolseley, and as these tidings reached Sir Redvers himself only the clay after his arrival at Gakdul, he was with out distinct orders as to his move ments, or what to do, in the then com plicated state of affairs. " We had hoped to the contrary," wrote a correspondent ; " but the fact remains, and thus, as regards our future, we are no wiser than before the arrival of the chief of the staff and Major Kitchener, whose face everybody was almost as glad to see as that of the General, for it is felt that if he had been here when Gordon's steamers arrived, we should not probably have had to deplore the dawdling which cost the three precious days that would have saved the hero of Khartoum. But it is of no use now to speculate either on the past or the future."

While these preparations were in progress at home, General Brackenbury was ordered to fall back on Korti, a task of no little difficult}'- ; but it was skilfully accomplished, and his column returned in safety to the headquarters camp. About the same time a similar duty devolved upon Sir Redvers Buller, whom Lord Wolseley had despatched to Gubat, on hearing that Sir Herbert Stewart was severely wounded. General Buller's original orders were to seize Metemneh and march upon Berber, for which purpose he had been reinforced by the Royal Irish and the Light Camel Corps. On the 11th of February he arrived at Abu Kru, with a large convoy from Gakdul under the command of Colonel the Hon. R. A. J. Talbot, of the 1st Life Guards, and with the six strong companies of the Royal Irish, who had marched across the Bayuda Desert on foot, and were ready to do it again.

The appearance of this rein forcement put fresh life and spirit into on tea leaves, yesterday's convoy, under Buller, put them in possession of a supply of the philosophic weed, and there is no grumbling to-day, even that the tea is not made sweet enough by the still limited rations of sugar." For the week prior to the arrival of Sir Redvers Buller, the little column under Colonel Boscawen had been strengthening the Guards' post on the gravel hill and the earthworks on the long, narrow island opposite. The MAJOR KITCHENER QUESTIONING PRISONERS AT GAKDUL WELLS. To the soldiers at this time, while waiting idly and dubiously at Abu Kru, an unfailing source of interest were the two steamers which Lord Charles Beresford took over, and on which he hoisted British colours. The smaller of these was under the com mand of Lieutenant Poore, R.N., and she was chiefly used for bringing green forage from the island opposite and for patrolling the river. absence of tobacco was a great griev ance amongst the troops, and it is high time, said the writer above quoted, "that the civilian officials in Pall Mall realised that the men would rather go without their dinners twice a week, than without their smoke daily, and that tobacco is among the actual necessaries of life for smokers — and 99 per cent, of the soldiers are smokers on a campaign.

Happily, just as the men have been driven to experiment The larger steamer — the one which. THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS EMBARKING ON THE "MANORA" AT GRAVESEND. than the cleaning-rod in the breech of a Martini-Henry rifle, it was clear that the fault lay less in the horseshoe lever than in the Boxer cartridge, which is an adaptation of that un scientific arrangement in brass and iron. As the lives of our soldiers in the field were at the mercy of " cartridges which would not leave the rifle when they ought to make room for full ones," the correspondent of the Daily Chronicle did good work in calling at tention to this serious state of things. received a shot in her boiler — was in the habit of being run down past Metemneh or Shendy almost daily, or up, for ten miles or so, foraging and obtaining in formation from the villages that were friendly to us.

If a flock of sheep or herd of cattle, or a water-wheel (which was useful for fuel) were seen, a few picked Infantry shots and blue-jackets were quickly at work to bring them off. The cordon formed by the two forces would begin to fire on the Arabs, creeping stealthily with their rifles through the high reeds or crops, when half an hour's skirmish would ensue, in which hardly any would be hit ; and if a prisoner was taken he was dismissed with a copy of Lord Wolseley's last proclamation in Arabic. Every other country, even the realm of the despised Ottoman, used drawing cartridges which neither expand nor jam the breech-blocks of their rifles. They are not more costly than our perilous Boxer, and are waterproof, which the latter is not. " I believe there is no reason," says a writer on this im portant subject, " from the existence of patents or otherwise, why we should not have drawn cartridge cases of brass, or, as in the United States army, of pure copper ; but even if there were, it would not stand for a moment against the fact — which can be ascer tained officially by means of a question in Parliament, that the Boxer cartridge, by jamming, endangers the lives of our troops at close quarters, and even im perils the success of our operations.

If the fact should, as usual, be officially denied, it can be established by over whelming testimony from this column alone." On board the steamers, as ashore, the men complained bitterly of the jamming of the rifle cartridges— an hourly occurrence. On the 8th February a party of the Guards Camel Corps, under Captain Crabbe, on board the Sofia, had five rifles useless out of twenty through the cartridge case refus ing to come out after firing. In most instances, says the correspondent of the Daily Chronicle, the men had to resort to the cleaning-rod as a last resource. It is obvious that in this there was a considerable element of danger. The soldiers kept their weapons as clean and bright as the nature of the coun try permitted ; but if any detachment was taken, then it was certain that from five to five-and-twenty per cent. of the rifles would jam after firing a couple of rounds.

A peremptory order issued at Abu Kru on the 1:2th of February decreed that the sick and wounded, regardless of state or probable condition, should be Though there are better extractors TALBOT'S CONVOY. 7 removed to Korti on the next day by dawn, and seemed to indicate a prospect of more fighting at an early period, for whether the column advanced or retired, the Field Hospital with its patients could not be left without adequate defence ' and attendants. The opportunity was accepted of utilising as bearers of the more severely wounded (including Sir Herbert Stewart, who had also a touch of fever) General Gordon's irregulars, whom it was wisely determined to send back to Korti or Dongola, and who could not be scattered or lost to the service ; and thus the General freed himself of two causes of anxiety.

To a commander operating in the field the wounded are always a serious care, and in this case we were fighting an enemy who knew nothing of the obligations of humanity, but would slay without mercy all who fell into their hands. " The departure of the Bashi-Bazouks," says the correspondent of the Standard, " places at the service of the doctors the arms and legs of fully a hundred men as dooly-bearers, and when they and their fellows are gone, with 300 men from the Heavies, the Guards, and the Mounted Infantry to look after them, we shall all feel relieved of an incubus. It may be doing these dark-skinned persons an injustice, but one cannot, after what has happened, help suspecting their fidelity, and I have assigned reasons why they might believe the Mahdi for the future to be quite as promising a master as the Khedive.

The only people among them to be trusted are those who have blood feuds with some of the Mahdi's men ; but the impossibility of picking out these, makes it better that all hands should be sent about their business as soon as possible. It has certainly taken a portion of our force for the last week or so to watch them, and now we know just what we have to depend upon." Regarding the convoy under Colonel Talbot, a correspondent wrote thus : — " I have been able to gather a few details of the attack on the convoy which left Abu Kru on Friday with the wounded. They had got about eight miles on the road from the Nile, when they were fired upon from the scrub and long grass by a party which had been seen to follow them from Metemneh, though we did nothing to check it. Colonel Talbot at once formed square on the highest ground within reach, and fought for over an hour, keeping the enemy, whose numbers were esti mated at some seven or eight hundred, at a distance, but unfortunately losing one soldier and one native soldier, and having six men rather badly wounded.

The enemy never showed in the open, but seemed to have had enough of it, one part of his force falling back. Just as they went away our Light Camel Corps arrived on the scene, and un happily they were mistaken for a party of the enemy returning. Consequently the convoy gave them a volley at 800 yards, which went just over their heads ; then another at 700 yards, which hit several of Colonel Clarke's men, bu without wounding any ; and then the mistake was found out before a third volley, already in the rifles, was fired, cases among the wounded suffered and which must have cost several lives, severely en route, and subsequently. These accidents will occur in warfare They, however, were able to be conveyed in a wild country; but it is well no towards Gakdul yesterday morning. SURGEON-GENERAL IRVINE, M.I PRINCIPAL MEDICAL OFFICER TO THE FORCES IN EGYPT. harm was done.

The loss of the enemy could not be ascertained, as the convoy — to the rescue of which we were too late in preparing to march — proceeded under the escort of the Light Camelry, and got safely here (Korti), though General Stewart and some of the worst The enemy had not been idle in Metemneh while the column had been waiting at Abu Kru ; and the former place was not so easy of capture as it had been three weeks before, the garri son having added very materially to its defences, with businesslike ' despatch. THE STEAMER "YARROW" TAKING WOUNDED TO DONGOLA. they failed to make any use of the opportunity, and sent out only two or three dozen of scouts to observe what was ffoinff on. " The marches of Stewart and the going to and fro of convoys, during which many of the camels were occasionally five and six days without water and food, except the dry reed-like sabas grass of the desert, told fatally upon hundreds of the poor brutes," wrote a correspondent at this time.

" The stamina was gone out of the survivors, and protracted rest, with good feeding, was necessary for all of them. The situation had admitted of neither, and with huge gaping wounds and terrible sores from packs and girths the wretched animals continued to be driven about. An awful effluvia, noxious as a pest-house, ex - haled from the wounds of the miserable creatures, and has latterly filled the air whenever a camel convoy marches. It was therefore with the Generals not so much the minor question about the transport of stores, as whether camels enough could be mustered to carry the wounded and the barest sufficiency of water, food, and ammunition to enable the flying column to get back to Gak dul or Korti." Instead of an advance on Berber or Khartoum a retreat across the Bayuda Desert was ordered, and on the 14th of February the camp and works at Abu Kru were abandoned at dawn, and the whole force prepared for its march to wards Abu Klea.

Gordon's steamers, the Sofia and Tewfikia, were rendered useless by the removal of part of their machinery, which the Naval Brigade carried off; several Nile boats were sunk ; and vast quantities of tinned meat were abandoned, with tents, stretchers, bedding, clothing, medicines, and even ammunition, all of which could not be brought away — a painful scene of waste. At 5 a.m. the whole force fell in, in rear of the Guards' Fort, when a few boxes of stores were burned, and at six the march began in the following order, the movement being directed by Major Davidson of the Marines. First went a half troop of the 19th Hussars ; the 40 dismounted Guards ; then the main body in column of route, with 1,500 camels carrying the baggage and stores on the right of the column, the Mounted Infantry being on its left, and the Sussex Regiment on its left rear.

The Soudanese formed the rear guard, with two Royal Artillery guns, two companies of the Royal Irish, and the remainder of the Hussars. A small party of the latter also moved from 500 to 1,000 yards off, covering the flanks. The first daj^'s march was quiet. According to the Daily Chronicle, a halt was called within ten miles of the camp at Abu Klea, the men for some time past having been unused to marching, and General Buller took the utmost precautions against a night attack. A zeriba was formed and advanced sen tries thrown out. Many of the men had been on duty nearly the whole of The enemy at Metemneh did not notice that the camp was being evacuated, and were certainly unaware of the retrograde movement until seve ral hours had elapsed. Even then, MAKING FOR GAKDUL. 11 the previous day and night, and all were very tired. that Buller awaited instructions, and might possibly advance to Berber, join ing hands with Brackenbury's column ; another was to the effect that he was waiting to give the Arabs a chance, if they wished it, of doing battle.

The force was only 1,800 strong, with 200 horses, and 1,179 camels. They left the graves of our slain at Abu Kru undisturbed, and the enemy were found to have buried the greater part of their dead furtively in the night. The graves at the zeriba had been attempted by carrion birds, but the dead had been lain too deep for their talons. As the camels were exhausted, and there was a great want of water and forage, a convoy of the Guards and Heavies was immediately put under orders, to push on rearward to Gakdul, whither they were to be accompanied by the heavily-worked 19th Hussars, whose chargers were in a very sorry plight, from the same causes that affected the camels. Regarding the sufferings of the troops, one wrote thus : — " Perhaps there never has been been a campaign when, in so brief a period, so many serious dangers have been run as by those with the flying column, or so many close calls made by the grim enemy ' Death.' Heads luxuriant but three months ago with hyacinthine locks I have now noted showing silver streaks.