The Mahdi has appeared to him in a dream. Countless
angelic warriors will charge with those of Islam. The 'enemies of God'
will perish and their bones will whiten the broad plain. Loud is the
boasting, and many are the oaths which are taken, as to what treatment
the infidel dogs shall have when they are come to the city walls.
The streets swarm with men and resound with their voices. Everywhere is
preparation and defiance. And yet over all hangs the dark shadow of fear.
Nearer and nearer comes this great serpent of an army, moving so slowly and
with such terrible deliberation, but always moving. A week ago it was sixty
miles away, now it is but fifty. Next week only twenty miles will
intervene, and then the creep of the serpent will cease, and, without
argument or parley, one way or the other the end will come.
The road to the next camp was a long one; for though Royan island,
opposite to which the site had been selected, was only seven miles in the
direct line, it was necessary to march eight miles into the desert to avoid
the Shabluka heights, and then to turn back to the Nile. The infantry were
therefore provided with camel transport to carry sufficient water in small
iron tanks for one night; and they were thus able to bivouac half-way,
and to complete the journey on the next morning, thus making a two days'
march. The mounted troops, who remained at Wad Hamed till all had gone
south, were ordered to move on the 27th of August, and by a double march
catch up the rest of the army.
Wad Hamed then ceased for the time being to exist except in name.
All the stores and transport were moved by land or water to the south of
Shabluka, and an advanced base was formed upon Royan island. Communications
with the Atbara encampment and with Cairo were dropped, and the army
carried with them in their boats sufficient supplies to last until after
the capture of Omdurman, when the British division would be immediately
sent back. It was calculated that the scope of this operation would not
be greater than three weeks, and on the 27th the army were equipped with
twenty-one days' supplies, of which two were carried by the troops, five by
the regimental barges, and fourteen in the army transport sailing-vessels.
All surplus stores were deposited at Royan island, where a field hospital
was also formed.
The Expeditionary Force which was thus concentrated, equipped, and supplied
for the culminating moment of the River War, was organised as follows:
Commander-in-Chief: THE SIRDAR
The British Division: MAJOR-GENERAL GATACRE Commanding
1st Brigade 2nd Brigade
BRIGADIER-GEN. WAUCHOPE BRIGADIER-GEN. LYTTELTON
1st Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regt. 1st Btn. Grenadier Guards
" " Lincoln Regiment " " Northumberland Fusiliers
" " Seaforth Highlanders 2nd " Lancashire Fusiliers
" " Cameron Highlanders " " Rifle Brigade
The Egyptian Division: MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER Commanding
1st Brigade 2nd Brigade 3rd Brigade 4th Brigade
COL. MACDONALD COL. MAXWELL COL. LEWIS COL. COLLINSON
2nd Egyptians 8th Egyptians 3rd Egyptians 1st Egyptians
IXth Soudanese XIIth Soudanese 4th " 5th (half) "
Xth " XIIIth " 7th " 17th "
XIth " XIVth " 15th " 18th "
Mounted Forces
21st Lancers Camel Corps Egyptian Cavalry
COLONEL MARTIN MAJOR TUDWAY COLONEL BROADWOOD
4 squadrons 8 companies 9 squadrons
Artillery: COLONEL LONG Commanding
(British) 32nd Field Battery, R.A.(with two 40-pounder guns) 8 guns
" 37th " " " (5-inch Howitzers) . 6 guns
(Egyptian) The Horse Battery, E.A. (Krupp) . . . 6 guns
" No. 1 Field Battery, E.A. (Maxim-Nordenfeldt) 6 guns
" No. 2 " " " . . . . 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.
