Two or three carcasses, lying in the
shallows, show that the soldiers are thirsty rather than particular.
On all sides water-bottles are being filled from the welcome Nile, which
has come into the desert to refresh the weary animals and men.
During the attack on MacDonald's brigade the Egyptian cavalry had
watched from their position on the southern slopes of the Kerreri Hills,
ready to intervene, if necessary, and support the infantry by a charge.
As soon as the Dervish onsets had ended and the whole mass had begun to
retreat, Broadwood's cavalry brigade formed in two lines, of four and of
five squadrons respectively, and advanced in pursuit - first west for two
miles, and then south-west for three miles more towards the Round-topped
Hill. Like the 21st Lancers, they were delayed by many Dervishes who threw
down their arms and surrendered, and whom it was necessary to escort to
the river. But as they drew nearer the mass of the routed army, it became
apparent that the spirit of the enemy was by no means broken. Stubborn men
fired continually as they lay wounded, refusing to ask for quarter -
doubting, perhaps, that it would be granted. Under every bush that gave
protection from the lances of the horsemen little groups collected to make
a desperate stand. Solitary spearmen awaited unflinching the charge of a
whole squadron. Men who had feigned death sprang up to fire an unexpected
shot. The cavalry began to suffer occasional casualties. In proportion as
they advanced the resistance of the enemy increased. The direct pursuit had
soon to be abandoned, but in the hope of intercepting some part of the
retreating mob Major Le Gallais, who commanded the three leading squadrons,
changed direction towards the river, and, galloping nearly parallel to
Khor Shambat, charged and cut into the tail of the enemy's disordered array.
The Arabs, however, stood their ground, and, firing their rifles wildly in
all directions, killed and wounded a good many horses and men, so that the
squadrons were content to bring up their right still more, and finally to
ride out of the hornet swarm, into which they had plunged, towards
Surgham Hill. The pursuit was then suspended, and the Egyptian cavalry
joined the rest of the army by the Nile.
It was not until four o'clock that the cavalry received orders to ride
round the outside of the city and harry such as should seek to escape.
The Egyptian squadrons and the 21st Lancers started forthwith, and,
keeping about a mile from the houses of the suburbs, proceeded to make the
circle of the town. The infantry had already entered it, as was evident
from a continual patter of shots and an occasional rattle of the Maxim guns.
The leading Soudanese brigade - Maxwell's - had moved from Khor Shambat at
2.30, formed in line of company columns and in the following order:-
^ Direction of Advance ^
XIVth XIIth Maxims 8th 32nd XIIIth
Soudanese Soudanese Egyptians Field Battery Soudanese
The Sirdar, attended by his whole Staff, with the Black Flag of the Khalifa
carried behind him and accompanied by the band of the XIth Soudanese, rode
in front of the XIVth battalion. The regiments were soon enveloped by the
numberless houses of the suburbs and divided by the twisting streets;
but the whole brigade pressed forward on a broad front. Behind followed the
rest of the army - battalion after battalion, brigade after brigade -
until all, swallowed up by the maze of mud houses, were filling the open
spaces and blocking and choking the streets and alleys with solid masses of
armed men, who marched or pushed their way up to the great wall.
For two miles the progress through the suburbs continued, and the General,
hurrying on with his Staff, soon found himself, with the band, the Maxims,
and the artillery, at the foot of the great wall. Several hundred Dervishes
had gathered for its defence; but the fact that no banquette had been made
on which they could stand to fire prevented their resistance from being
effective. A few ill-aimed shots were, however, fired, to which the Maxim
guns replied with vigour. In a quarter of an hour the wall was cleared.
The Sirdar then posted two guns of the 32nd Field Battery at its northern
angle, and then, accompanied by the remaining four guns and the XIVth
Soudanese, turned eastwards and rode along the foot of the wall towards
the river, seeking some means of entry into the inner city. The breach made
by the gunboats was found temporarily blocked by wooden doors, but the main
gate was open, and through this the General passed into the heart of
Omdurman. Within the wall the scenes were more terrible than in the suburbs.
The effects of the bombardment were evident on every side. Women and
children lay frightfully mangled in the roadway. At one place a whole
family had been crushed by a projectile. Dead Dervishes, already in the
fierce heat beginning to decompose, dotted the ground. The houses were
crammed with wounded. Hundreds of decaying carcasses of animals filled the
air with a sickening smell. Here, as without the wall, the anxious
inhabitants renewed their protestations of loyalty and welcome;
and interpreters, riding down the narrow alleys, proclaimed the merciful
conditions of the conquerors and called on the people to lay down
their arms. Great piles of surrendered weapons rose in the streets,
guarded by Soudanese soldiers. Many Arabs sought clemency; but there were
others who disdained it; and the whirring of the Maxims, the crashes of
the volleys, and a continual dropping fire attested that there was fighting
in all parts of the city into which the columns had penetrated.
All Dervishes who did not immediately surrender were shot or bayoneted,
and bullets whistled at random along or across the streets. But while women
crowded round his horse, while sullen men fired carefully from houses,
while beaten warriors cast their spears on the ground and others, still
resisting, were despatched in corners, the Sirdar rode steadily onward
through the confusion, the stench, and the danger, until he reached
the Mahdi's Tomb.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 105 of 126
Words from 105684 to 106713
of 127807
