Khartoum Campaign, 1898; or the Re-Conquest of the SoudanBurleigh, Bennet
History
Khartoum Campaign, 1898; or the Re-Conquest of the Soudan
Burleigh, Bennet
Omdurman, Battle of, Omdurman, Sudan, 1898; Sudan -- History -- 1881-1899; Sudan -- History, Military
On the 1st of September at 5.30 a.m. the steamers "Sultan," "Melik,"
"Sheik," "Nazir," "Fatah," "Tamai," and "Abu Klea" went again up the
river to destroy the forts and land the 50-pounder Lyddite howitzer
battery on Tuti Island, whence it was to shell Omdurman. Major Stuart
Wortley and part of his force were also to be transferred to that
island to support Major Elmslie's battery and clear off any dervishes.
It was found, as I have already stated, that Tuti was unsuitable as a
position, and the Lyddite guns were landed instead upon the east or
right bank of the river. The "Sultan" opened the attack, firing at the
forts and pitching shells into Omdurman. In a short time the other
gunboats came to her assistance, and the mud forts, of which there
were a dozen or more, were promptly silenced. Several of the dervish
gunners' shells, however, only missed the steamers that were their
target by a very few yards. Happily the embrasures of the forts were
so badly made, that the enemy had but a small angle of fire. It was in
more than one instance impossible for the dervish guns to train except
straight to their front. The flotilla passed down behind Tuti Island,
going by the east bank, and were brought-to below the island. There
the 37th R.A. Battery was landed, and the Lyddite shell fire was
directed against the great wall and the Mahdi's tomb, the range of the
latter being 3200 yards. Many dervishes were seen in and around
Omdurman, and a number were noticed upon the right bank. Two of the
gunboats remained all night to protect the Lyddite battery, using
their electric search-lights to detect any lurking dervishes. The
steamers fired that day several hundred shells and 8000 rounds from
their Maxims. Captain Prince Christian Victor was attached on board
the "Sultan," and Prince Teck, who had a sharp attack of fever and had
temporarily to abandon his squadron in the Egyptian cavalry, saw that
and the next day's battle from one of the other gunboats.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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