. . . 6 guns
" No. 3 " " " . . . . 6 guns
" No. 4 " " " . . . . 6 guns
Machine Guns
(British) Detachment 16th Co. Eastern Division R.A. . 6 Maxim
" " Royal Irish Fusiliers . . 4 "
(Egyptian) 2 Maxim guns to each of the five
Egyptian batteries . . . . 10 "
Engineers
Detachment of Royal Engineers
The Flotilla: COMMANDER KEPPEL
1898 Class Armoured Screw Gunboats (3): the Sultan, the Melik, the Sheikh
each carrying: 2 Nordenfeldt guns
1 quick-firing 12-pounder gun
1 Howitzer
4 Maxims
1896 Class Armoured Screw Gunboats (3): the Fateh, The Naser, the Zafir
each carrying: 1 quick-firing 12-pounder gun
2 6-pounder guns
4 Maxims
Old Class Armoured Stern-wheel Gunboats (4): the Tamai, the Hafir*,
the Abu Klea, the Metemma
each carrying: 1 12-pounder gun
2 Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns
Steam Transport
5 Steamers: The Dal, The Akasha, the Tahra, The Okma, the Kaibar
[*The steamer El Teb, wrecked at the Fourth Cataract in 1897, had been
refloated, and to change the luck was renamed Hafir.]
The total strength of the Expeditionary Force amounted to 8,200 British
and 17,600 Egyptian soldiers, with 44 guns and 20 Maxims on land,
with 36 guns and 24 Maxims on the river, and with 2,469 horses, 896 mules,
3,524 camels, and 229 donkeys, besides followers and private animals.
While the army were to move along the west bank of the river - the Omdurman
side - a force of Arab irregulars, formed from the friendly tribes, would
march along the east bank and clear it of any Dervishes. All the debris
which the Egyptian advance had broken off the Dervish Empire was thus to be
hurled against that falling State. Eager for plunder, anxious to be on the
winning side, Sheikhs and Emirs from every tribe in the Military Soudan
had hurried, with what following the years of war had left them, to Wad
Hamed. On the 26th of August the force of irregulars numbered about 2,500
men, principally Jaalin survivors, but also comprising bands and
individuals of Bisharin; of Hadendoa from Suakin; of Shukria,
the camel-breeders; of Batahin, who had suffered a bloody diminution at
the Khalifa's hands; of Shaiggia, Gordon's vexatious allies; and lastly
some Gellilab Arabs under a reputed son of Zubehr Pasha. The command of
the whole motley force was given to Major Stuart-Wortley, Lieutenant Wood
accompanying him as Staff Officer; and the position of these officers among
the cowed and untrustworthy Arabs was one of considerable peril.
While the infantry divisions were marching round the heights of Shabluka
to the camp opposite Royan island, the steamers and gunboats ascended the
stream and passed through the gorge, dragging up with them the whole fleet
of barges and gyassas. The northern end of the narrow passage had been
guarded by the five Dervish forts, which now stood deserted and dismantled.
They were well built, and formed nearly a straight line - four on one bank
and one on the other.
