Accordingly An Egyptian
Force 3,500 Strong Marched From Suakin In February 1884 To Relieve Tokar,
Under The Command Of General Baker, Once The Gallant Colonel Of The
1Oth Hussars.
Hard by the wells of Teb they were, on the 5th of February,
attacked by about a thousand Arabs.
'On the square being only threatened by a small force of
the enemy. . . the Egyptian troops threw down their arms and ran,
carrying away the black troops with them, and allowing themselves
to be killed without the slightest resistance.' [General Baker to Sir
E. Baring, February 6 (official despatch), telegraphic.] The British and
European officers in vain endeavoured to rally them. The single Soudanese
battalion fired impartially on friend and foe. The general, with that
unshaken courage and high military skill which had already on the Danube
gained him a continental reputation, collected some fifteen hundred men,
mostly unarmed, and so returned to Suakin. Ninety-six officers and
2,250 men were killed. Krupp guns, machine guns, rifles, and a large
supply of ammunition fell to the victorious Arabs. Success inflamed their
ardour to the point of madness. The attack of the towns was pressed with
redoubled vigour. The garrison of Sinkat, 800 strong, sallied out and
attempted to fight their way to Suakin. The garrison of Tokar surrendered.
Both were destroyed.
The evil was done. The slaughter was complete. Yet the British Government
resolved to add to it. The garrisons they had refused to rescue they now
determined to avenge. In spite of their philanthropic professions,
and in spite of the advice of General Gordon, who felt that his position
at Khartoum would be still further compromised by operations on his only
line of retreat [Sir E. Baring to Earl Granville, Cairo, February 23.],
a considerable military expedition consisting of one cavalry and two
infantry brigades, was sent to Suakin. The command was entrusted to
General Graham. Troops were hurriedly concentrated. The 10th Hussars,
returning from India, were stopped and mounted on the horses of the
gendarmerie. With admirable celerity the force took the field. Within
a month of the defeat at Teb they engaged the enemy almost on the very
scene of the disaster. On the 4th of March they slew 3,000 Hadendoa
and drove the rest in disorder from the ground. Four weeks later a second
action was fought at Tamai. Again the success of the British troops was
complete; again the slaughter of the Arabs was enormous. But neither
victory was bloodless. El Teb cost 24 officers and 168 men; Tamai,
13 officers and 208 men. The effect of these operations was the dispersal
of Osman Digna's gathering. That astute man, not for the first
or last time, made a good retreat.
Ten thousand men had thus been killed in the space of three months
in the Eastern Soudan. By the discipline of their armies the Government
were triumphant. The tribes of the Red Sea shore cowered before them.
But as they fought without reason, so they conquered without profit.
As soon as Gordon had been finally refused the assistance of
Zubehr Pasha, it was evident that the rescue of the garrisons
was impossible. The General had been sent as the last hope. Rightly or
wrongly, his recommendations were ignored. His mission was an admitted
failure. After that the only question was how to bring him away as quickly
as possible. It was certain that he would not come willingly. Force was
necessary. Yet it was difficult to know how to apply it. After the
victories in the Eastern Soudan the opportunity presented itself.
The road was open. The local tribes were crushed. Berber had not then
fallen. The Mahdi was himself still on the road from El Obeid to Khartoum.
Sir Evelyn Baring saw the chance. He did not then occupy the formidable
and imposing position in Egyptian politics that he has since attained.
But with all his influence he urged the despatch of a small flying column
to Khartoum. His idea was simple. One thousand or twelve hundred men
were to mount on camels and ride thither via Berber. Those who fell ill or
whose camels broke down would have to take their chance by the roadside.
The plan, however, broke down in the military detail. Only one honourable
course remained - a regular expedition. This the British Agent at once
began to urge. This the Government obstinately refused to admit;
and meanwhile time was passing.
The situation at Khartoum became grave even before the breach between
General Gordon and Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet was complete. While the British
Government was indulging in vengeful operations in the Eastern Soudan,
the Mahdi advanced slowly but steadily upon the town with a following
variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty thousand men. On the 7th
of March Colonel Stewart telegraphed from Khartoum: 'The Mahdi has
attempted to raise the people of Shendi by an emissary. . . . We may be
cut off;' [Lieut.-Colonel Stewart to Sir E. Baring, March 7, 1884.]
and on the 11th Gordon himself reported: 'The rebels are four hours
distant on the Blue Nile.' [Major-General Gordon to Sir E. Baring,
March 11, 1884.] Thereafter no more telegrams came, for on the 15th
the wire was cut between Shendi and Berber, and the blockade
had commenced.
The long and glorious defence of the town of Khartoum will always
fascinate attention. That one man, a European among Africans, a Christian
among Mohammedans, should by his genius have inspired the efforts of 7,000
soldiers of inferior race, and by his courage have sustained the hearts
of 30,000 inhabitants of notorious timidity, and with such materials and
encumbrances have offered a vigorous resistance to the increasing attacks
of an enemy who, though cruel, would yet accept surrender, during a period
of 317 days, is an event perhaps without parallel in history. But it may
safely be predicted that no one will ever write an account which will
compare in interest or in detail with that set forth by the man himself
in the famous.
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