Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VIINorman, Charles Boswell
History
Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VII
Norman, Charles Boswell
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
21st Lancers.
Grenadier Guards.
Northumberland Fusiliers.
Royal Warwicks.
Lincolnshire.
Lancashire Fusiliers.
Seaforth Highlanders.
Cameron Highlanders.
The decisive success achieved at the Atbara on April 8, 1898,
opened the road to Khartoum. The railway was now pushed on to the
Atbara River, and fresh reinforcements sent out from home, bringing
up Sir Herbert Kitchener's force to nearly 26,000 men, thus
distributed:
British Division: Major-General Gatacre.
First Brigade--Brigadier-General A. Wauchope: 1st Warwicks, 1st
Lincolns, 72nd (Seaforth Highlanders), and the 79th (Cameron
Highlanders).
Second Brigade--Brigadier-General Hon. N. Lyttleton: 1st
Grenadier Guards, 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, 2nd Lancashire
Fusiliers, and the 1st Rifle Brigade.
Egyptian Division--Major-General Hunter: Consisted of four strong
brigades.
In addition, there were 2 batteries of Royal Artillery, 5 Egyptian
batteries, 20 machine guns, a flotilla of 10 gunboats, under
Commander Keppel, R.N., the 21st Lancers, with a brigade of
Egyptian cavalry and the camel corps, making a total force of 8,200
British and 17,600 Egyptian troops, with 44 field, 12 mountain, and
22 machine guns. The flotilla of armoured gunboats mounted 36 guns
in addition, and these in the final action contributed not a little
to the success of the day.
Late in August the whole force was concentrated at Metemneh, the
site of one of the actions between the little force under Sir
Herbert Stewart and the Mahdi's troops in January, 1885. On the
left bank of the river lay the British force, on the opposite bank
a large levy of friendly tribes eager to throw off the despotism
and tyranny of the Khalifa. On September 4 the British force
encamped four miles from Khartoum, and Sir Herbert Kitchener, who
was not the man to leave anything to chance, threw up a strong
breastwork, and bivouacked for the night. On the morrow the
gunboats bombarded the fort of Omdurman. The Khalifa, stung into
action, delivered a fierce attack on the zareba, but was repulsed
with heavy loss. Kitchener then left its shelter, and advanced
towards Omdurman; but the spirit of the Mahdiists was by no means
broken. Twice did they attack the British troops, but all was
of no avail. The training of the British officer now bore good
fruit. Under its incomparable leader, Brigadier Hector Macdonald,
his brigade of black troops manœuvred with all the coolness of
veterans, and the 21st Lancers, seizing their chance, charged into
the struggling mass of the enemy, who met them with the utmost
gallantry. The day was well won, and ere nightfall the British flag
was flying over the walls of the Khalifa's capital. His black flag
was amongst our trophies, and 10,000 of his misguided followers
lay dead on the sand-hills outside the accursed city. The results
of the battle, in which we lost some 500 of all ranks, killed
and wounded, were the destruction of the Khalifa's army, and the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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