At times the horses floundered to their girths
in wet sand; at others rocky khors obstructed the march; horses and camels
blundered and fell.
The darkness complicated the confusion. At about ten
o'clock Colonel Broadwood decided to go no further till there was more
light. He therefore drew off the column towards the desert, and halted on
a comparatively dry spot. Some muddy pools, which were luckily discovered,
enabled the bottles to be filled and the horses to be watered. Then, having
posted many sentries, the exhausted pursuers slept, waking from time to
time to listen to the intermittent firing which was still audible,
both from the direction of Omdurman and from that in which
the Dervish army was flying.
At 3 A.M. on the 3rd Colonel Broadwood's force moved on again.
Men and horses seemed refreshed, and by the aid of a bright moon
the ground was covered at a good pace. By seven o'clock the squadrons
approached the point on the river which had been fixed for meeting the
steamer. She had already arrived, and the sight of the funnel in the
distance and the anticipation of a good meal cheered everyone, for they had
scarcely had anything to eat since the night before the battle. But as the
troopers drew nearer it became evident that 300 yards of shallow water and
deep swamp intervened between them and the vessel. Closer approach was
prevented. There was no means of landing the stores. In the hopes of
finding a suitable spot further up the stream the march was resumed.
The steamer kept pace along the river. The boggy ground delayed the columns,
but by two o'clock seven more miles had been covered. Only the flag at the
masthead was now visible; and an impassable morass separated the force from
the river bank. It was impossible to obtain supplies. Without food it was
out of the question to go on. Indeed, great privations must, as it was,
accompany the return march. The necessity was emphasised by the reports
of captured fugitives, who all told the same tale. The Khalifa had
pushed on swiftly, and was trying to reorganise his army. Colonel Broadwood
thereupon rested his horses till the heat of the day was over, and then
began the homeward march. It was not until eleven o'clock on the 4th of
September that the worn-out and famished cavalry reached their camp
near Omdurman.
Such was the pursuit as conducted by the regular troops. Abdel-Azim,
with 750 Arabs, persisted still further in the chase. Lightly equipped,
and acquainted with the country, they reached Shegeig, nearly a hundred
miles south of Khartoum, on the 7th. Here they obtained definite
information. The Khalifa had two days' start, plenty of food and water,
and many camels. He had organised a bodyguard of 500 Jehadia, and was,
besides, surrounded by a large force of Arabs of various tribes.
With this numerous and powerful following he was travelling day and night
towards El Obeid, which town was held by an unbeaten Dervish garrison of
nearly 3,000 men. On hearing these things the friendly Arabs determined
- not unwisely - to abandon the pursuit, and came boastfully back
to Omdurman.
In the battle and capture of Omdurman the losses of the Expeditionary
Force included the following British officers killed: Capt. G. Caldecott,
1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Lieut. R.G. Grenfell, 12th Royal Lancers,
attached 21st Lancers; Hon. H. Howard, correspondent of the TIMES.
In total, the British Division and Egyptian Army suffered 482 men killed
or wounded.
The Dervish losses were, from computations made on the field and corrected
at a later date, ascertained to be 9,700 killed, and wounded variously
estimated at from 10,000 to 16,000. There were, besides, 5,000 prisoners.
CHAPTER XVII: 'THE FASHODA INCIDENT'
The long succession of events, of which I have attempted
to give some account, has not hitherto affected to any great extent other
countries than those which are drained by the Nile. But this chapter
demands a wider view, since it must describe an incident which might easily
have convulsed Europe, and from which far-reaching consequences have arisen.
It is unlikely that the world will ever learn the details of the subtle
scheme of which the Marchand Mission was a famous part. We may say with
certainty that the French Government did not intend a small expedition,
at great peril to itself, to seize and hold an obscure swamp on the Upper
Nile. But it is not possible to define the other arrangements. What part
the Abyssinians were expected to play, what services had been rendered them
and what inducements they were offered, what attitude was to be adopted to
the Khalifa, what use was to be made of the local tribes: all this is
veiled in the mystery of intrigue. It is well known that for several years
France, at some cost to herself and at a greater cost to Italy, had courted
the friendship of Abyssinia, and that the weapons by which the Italians
were defeated at Adowa had been mainly supplied through French channels.
A small quick-firing gun of continental manufacture and of recent make
which was found in the possession of the Khalifa seems to point to
the existence or contemplation of similar relations with the Dervishes.
But how far these operations were designed to assist the Marchand Mission
is known only to those who initiated them, and to a few others who have so
far kept their own counsel.
The undisputed facts are few. Towards the end of 1896 a French expedition
was despatched from the Atlantic into the heart of Africa under the command
of Major Marchand. The re-occupation of Dongola was then practically
complete, and the British Government were earnestly considering the
desirability of a further advance. In the beginning of 1897 a British
expedition, under Colonel Macdonald, and comprising a dozen carefully
selected officers, set out from England to Uganda, landed at Mombassa,
and struck inland.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 107 of 126
Words from 107715 to 108723
of 127807
