THE STORY OF THE SIEGE OF KHARTOUM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 85, 18 April 1885, Page 5

THE STORY OF THE SIEGE OF KHARTOUM.

i fioidon's Gallant Defence of tho __.«mo* which fell by treachery on tho"; X A -v 'BSS was attn^cd in force | -fith January. --"-a> * J 'i_» first timo on March 12, 188.. . ftrtB l Gordon, charged rfth M* tt.*ion J «l,e«*rfthedog*BtKl, leaving behind | hio his *«tchwoc_ "No runic," h,d; arrived st Khartoum on Feb_-._ry !.. -ml _• . m/> between that _ab* and tlie ' jjwtaw' in «end_w -own women r ._ , -hiltlren, 2,000 of whom trero wnt safely j fWK h to Egypt, in addifloi. to 000 solim . It was stated by Sir Evelyn baring L there wore 15,000 pewms in Khar- ; y ,t!-,acktoE,->-pt S_ pews, civil servant-, wirf- „. und un. and .1 LTarn-nti of c*. thousand £ on-thW Of whom ~« disa.lbcted. Sort these people out of Khoi-touh. was ~,i,al Gordon's _rs. duty, and .fto tirst Edition of evacuation was f _o establish- _ «fa stable govornmc .', m thc-oudan. fl man who could establish that Lyernment was /.ebohr. Gordun d.o,ii_ed Zebdhr with evor-incrc.-iwi.; cm__ie. a"1"1 !u' q ro." est WR? "OCisivuly Scd. Ro had then twe alternatives— Aber to surrender absolutely to the Mahdi Ito hold-on to Khartoum nt all hazards. H'Hle he "'"s3 strengthening his position tto Mahdi sottlcd the question hy suddenly uanaing the offensive. The first stop in tiis meraorablo sioge was the daring march c.OOO rebels to the Nilo, by which on the Nth of March thoy cut off the SCO men at n",|L_, a village to tho north of Khartoum, from tho city. A steamer was sent h*a to reconnoitre, and th. Moment she niched the front of the Ycb-.l position a i-olley w*3 fircc* *nto cv' wounding an officer and a soldior. The steamer returned the.re, killing fivo rebels. Thus hostilities began. "Ouronly lustiticationfcr assuming tta offensive," wroto Goner.Vi Gordon on March 13, "w Gic extrication of tho Hal;,,a garrison." The vebels, however, did „ a t give him the chance. They cut off (kee companies: uf his troop, who had gone M ttocut wood, capturing eight of their tote, and killing or dispersing 100 to 150 m. -key entrenched themsolvea along tie Kile and kej't up a heavy rigo lire. Eetreatte tho garrison was obviously impjffiible when tho rebel force covered tho jjvtt, the only lino of retreat, with their lie, Twelve hundred men wero put an fcoud two grain barges, towed by thre. \ stemers defondod with boilor plates, and ditjbg mountain guns protectod by ; vvA-» mantlots ; and, with the loss o"f ' killed, they succeeded in extri- ] ol'iig the 500 men left of the garrison of ' Bißij-a and capturing 70 -camels and IS doit-, •ith which they returned to Khar- , tjw. T_e rebels, however, hold Halfaya, . jjlsaMarch 16Gordon tried to drive them , any. Advancing from a stockaded position coraing the north front of the town, 2,000 troops advanced across tho open in square _ rapported by tho lire of tho guns of two j ■ -earner. The rebels were retreating when Hasan and Seid Pashas, Gordon's black J joerala, redo into tho wood and called ', tick the enemy. The Egyptians, botrayed ■ bttheir officers, broke and. _cd after firing J iraele volley, and wore pursued to within. , i mile of the stockado, abandoning- two Muiitain guns with their ammunition— "sity horsemen defeated 2.000 mon " —and ! leaving 100 of their number on the field. . liter thia affair ho was convinced thot he c toild not take the offensive, but mu.t remai- qniet at Khartonm, and _s.it till ! 4s Kile rose. j Six days later tho black 'pashas were ' tried by court martial, found guilty, and ( Act. A very determined attack upon c-.e ' ■I the steamers coming up from Berber, at ' tie Salboka pass, was beaten off with great ! t'nafliter.Goidon's men firing no fewer than j 15,000 ion-da of Remington ammunition, j j Ms-H-Ue his effort, to negotiate with the i Kahdifaßed. " 1 will make you SaHr.h of ! Kotdofan," ho had said on arrival to the ' ML ."I am the MaHi," replied j Makitst A.chmet, by emissaries who wore "eueefagly cheeky," keeping their hands J mx_ their swordr, and laying a filthy' ptttai demsh _ coat boforo hfei—" Will' ' S.\»B)_nMussiilnian?" Gordon Rung ' ttietrandV- across the room, cancelled the J ___'« St/tuship, and tho ?.ur was re- , mid /__ that day to tho day of the : ktapt m day pass-d without fc. 'tots imppnfihto Khartoum. " G-T-Jn now set to work _, earnest to ' «oe Kiartoiim in a defensible position. Im tatand of tho Jtahdi's sympathisers ' __urtotim and joined tho onomy. Tho j *-_!- kept Yip a skirmishing tight on to KBes. All tho houses on tho north ' »- of Khartoum wero loopholed. A 10----i«i_te Krupp was mountod on a barge, ' «it»ire was stretched across tho front of ' Jbitockade. Tho houses on tho northern ! atkofthe Blue Nilo woro fortified and pnisotied by Bashi-Bazouks. Omdurman ' wield and fortified on tho v. ost and Buri «otha east. On th_ 25th March Gordon '-_ 1- to disarm and _Hsbsmi 250 Bashihtait, whorofased to cccnpy stockaded te_ in » village on tho south bank of He Blie Nile <Bm-i ?). The I'ebels ' ti-K»d Da Hadji Ali,-n villatre to tho Dorth d&e Kile, and fired into the pilacc. They 'mAetled ont of their position, but con<Wy returned to harass tho garrison, ntyaeemedtoGordon mere tag-rag and '_ W_.l>ut_edarenot go out to meet thorn, "fear of tho town. S.ve hundred bravo JW could have cloored out tho lot, but ho wwt a hundred. The fighting was «aWto trtillerv fire on ono srdo and Wtey rile shoo .ing on the other. This •atonantU tho ond of M»«h. Tho rebols »"*red mare closely round tho town ™Apnll9 Gordon telegraphed that he had Nsions for fito months, and if he only "«2,000 or ~000 Turkish trooDS ho could **Mh the robels. Unfortunately he »*•- not one fighting man. Shondy ™Hto the hands of tho rebels. Berber ™»»ed, and thon for months no word this country from KharOn tho 29th of September Mr Power's JWjjJk dated July 31, was Teceivod by * MB-,*- From that wo gather a *™>ly clear notion of tho way in which ffWcwaat on. Anything more utterly *« than the accusation that Gordon ««a fighting on the Mahdi cannot be •wwehred. He acted uniformly on the ywive, mer ol y trying to clear his road ff'Wiil! force, and failing bocauso ' "tad no fighting men to tako tho offen- ,!-, found himsolf in a trap, out of ™*hoconldnotcuthisway. If ho had ' P««- ft singlo regiment the front of "WMm might have been cleared with J"> hut his impotence encouraged the jj^iand they clustered round in overnumbers until at last they J™« ha resistance. After the middle Jgffl the rebels began to attack tho f*° a force, having apparently estabon the north bank. The 2a f was chiefly occasioned by the ex™™°f Mines devised by General Gordon, 1, *Paced as to explode whon trodden on Of all his expedients those £Si _! re *^c most Buccessful and tho open to any accusation of offensive C°ns. The rebels closed in all round gj* the end of April, and General *M oanied himself with a forniidVtok. rrlw of -uncl torpedoes, over Hj"*«e strewn broken glass and crows'*h- Wlrß entan_'emont and a formidifa.] 6Ta,]x **° fr!ee enabled the garrison tev _"_ S hat Beoum 0n the 27th of i_,l'* leh, Bey surrendered at Mesalimen, %Tte, y ' vh* eh General Gordon lost ti 2^ -^seventy shiploads of provisions, Cm.! 10? 1.-* 01- was now entirely cutoff •_«_- i ld6 world, and compelled to Wt Z my "Pen Mb own resou rcos. He "*«- tn DegT °eS t0 entice tho elave3 of tho 4* an_ co ™° °vor, promising them free-'-C-" 0- 8- Thia ho thought would -wT-i J- 8* 58*8 more thril- h-llets. It -Wnni. c b «Kinning of the end of i lajJiJP herß. and the robels would desert ftftO E° dfngorous to their hold on **-___!-*-* 0n APril the2Gth he e_-«at of _? J ft 88uo, of Paper money to tho °lWin-'i_ °> re(le6*nablo in six months. "•fiOlSft- d "stn to £26,000, besides -*»«£__. bi rrowedfrom merchants. On *SSdB. hostruck decorations for tho fflt «t.eflt . j mm> for officers in silvor, "WSt T? Pew-er for the Private "*1« skr -I? meda' 3 bear a crescent Sl** _______worda from the Koran' H,r^ wjtn an inscription-Siego of tttitte. .r R an ,-* ? hand-grenade in the ***tote <<i chi'dren and women," I1*-1*? I_» received medals ; conse- -% of X^ Very PoPnlar with tbe black fheatt i urn-" s_*Crttl th? rebala were --eP fc «» % 69, ft ? the beginning of May. On with __S attack °° Buri was reof U-e- chi«fiy fT c8' On May 7th the (-*>•&__ * V n force from the north ii' "tee d«„. hoi* Reß and holding them "^"loinin.' P otw'thstanding the exnin« mines, whifah cost them 115

lives. 'On th. ..th, hC-ove-*, "the*, won driven out, and after th-H, although the hriilgno\_-_ cc__.d, _-3_; Was a comparative cei-Mf.ti<?_ of attacks in force. On Ma> VM-., Colonel Stewart was slightly \Vot;nded m tls. nr-in, wiien working a fait.a.lleuse V-Q£i' tho Palace. -A grin *.'»_ mounted on both the Palace and .ho Government House, and at a m'jsequcnt period of the sice General cordon built himself a tower, from which ho watched over fH» <i„uio of the tortifkatiofis. AH t_*_ough May and Juno his steamer- _iauo foraging expeditions t— and der?. tho Nile, shelling the .--ots when they showed in forcu, •_•_ -ringing buck much cattle te t.'-_ aty. One midsummer day, Mr l_*___j__ formerly Gordon1 * incuts at -.-.-jcr, but nowa prison _.vif thoMahdi's, v. as sent to the we. »■ _o announce tho capture ofßorh .v. It was sad news fo. _,o throe J-lgiishmcn alono in t?."i uudst of a lic_'u!e Soudan. Und».ttntcd they continued to stand at b.v, ;-o|oicing greatly that, in one Saul,-: r<_y they had at least ft '"-".. and i-arr.'.-iu ollicer. Saati br.-" .'.uirge of the steamers, and for <_•;_) months ho had un-intorruptc.l'-.'.'vicss, in spito of tho twisted tologi-ptl wires which tho rebels stveteliod across tho rivor. Unfortunately, on July 10, Saati, with Colonel f_.waft and 200 men, after buVp."-* Kalaka and three villages, ntt:«_._d Gathrnulb. Eight Arab hor.ome- rode at tho 200 Egyptians. The 200 lied at onco, not caving to lire their Remingtons, and poor Saati was killed. Colonel Stewart narrowly escaped a similar fate. " Be assured," wroto General Oordoc on July :i(), "that these hostilitiesaiT for from boin^ sought for, but w _ _aVo no option. Uotreat is iriipossibl", Unless wo abandon the employees a'.rf thoir families, which tho genera' feeling of the troops is against." Two days before writing that despatch, Mch.mot Ali I'asha, with the Soudan regiments, mado an attack from Buri upon tho rebels, who had bee. firing day and night into our lines. It was brilliantly successful, it a.loss ol only four killed. Tho noxt day Mr Power went up to GarefT, on tho Blue Nile, with five armoured stcntr.oi _ and four nf the armoured barges, on which General lordon had raised 'castles 20 feet high, ■rivinj; a double line of lire. t_'tv/con Irarcff and Khartoum tlie robe!. ha'U lined tho river bank with no tower t'.ian thirteen small forts, nil of which thoy cleared out. ;Yt GaretT thoy iv.Vmd two strong earth.vork fort., bound together by trunks of 'aim flee*. Ono of them was defended by wo cannon, The Krupp gun disabled ho cannon after a bombardment of eight lours. "You is>ay rely on this," said rcneral OoHc-.i, "that if thoro was any I iossiblc way of avoiding theso wrctehefi j >;;ht-, I should adopt it, forth" w_oio war s hateful to me." Fortr.Sately, however, -though two of hh steamora had received 170 and SOO Kits on their hulls respectively, .nd hi_ men had fired half a million s_.t-.idgo.. in four months, he calculated hat ho had lost only thirty killed and ixty wounded sinco the action for which ho black pashas woro shot. All the ammunition was stored to the irgo mission premises on the river. At ho beginning of Au^'j.jt .ood was thirty imes its usual __._e. Tho poor wore ationcd. Thi conduct of tho pooplo and roops t__ oxeollent, and they lived in confer., expectation cf tho arrival of relief rom England. Gordon repeatedly dolared, " I will not teVe those poople after 11 they have gone through. I shall not _avo Kk-V.oum until I can put bodi. cno n." Again he said, "I stay nt Khartoum ocauso Arabs havo shut «_ ",'p and will not it us out. I also t»<-d that oven if the road ,as opened the people would not let me go nless I £_vo them some government or nnk them with mo, which I could, not <_■- After July 31st thero i: r. sudden cessaion of regular pc__munications. Power's . urnal break. off then, and we are left to lore cr '__s meagre reference in Gpt-C^s . spa'tches. On the 23rd of Affgisto ne sent characteristic mo.snff-p. '". which he anounces that the Nib r.aving risen, he has ent Colonel Mr Power, ,md tho 'rench Ccf'sul to tako Berber, occupy it 3r'"_ een days, burn it, and then return 4 Khartoum. Colonel Stewart was to iroceed to Dongola. Wi.ch tho steamers eturn to Khartoum General Gordon would end to tho Equatorial provinces and rescue hoh- .. "rt-ons. He wroto :—" I will look frir mo troops in the equator, Bahr-el-hozel, nnd in Darfur, although it cost mo ly life." Again hesa'd : " The prosperity f Egypt can only follow tho rostoraion of ;'eaco in the Soudan " In prden's opinion it was tho dread of *.o appearance of English or Turkish i-oops which alone led tho Mnhdi to retain ) lonjj from attacking Khartoum with an verwhclming forco. As month after mouth rolled by, and rte Dlioving forco made its appearance, "wo ppearedoven as liar, tc thc^copioof Khartum," said General Gordon. Ho had prolised themZobehr : Zebohr had novor como. le promised them relief: no relief arrived, lo had borrowed their money to food the tarving, and now his papor moiioy soemod sif it wonld novor bo rodeomed. Tho out_)ok was black ; but the Nile was rising, nd if Onco Colonel Stewart gift through to )ongoln much might fee dofie. At tho beiuning of Acgnst, with threo stoumors and .art of the garrison, ho seized 5,000 darters of grain, and replenished his almost xhaustod granary. Ho joined hands with he garrison of Senaar.and thus severed tho obols in two by tho Bluo Nilo. On August 2 a determined attack was mado by 5,000 ebels upon Khartoum. Tho exact locality of ..'.l those lights is omowhat obscure* but this prolonged tiugglo—in which ultimately tho attacking _>rco of 5,000 was beaten back with a loss . 1,800 and two shoikhs—was fought for ho possession of tho loopholod houses to ho north of the town. From that timo nward communications with Gordo_ wore cry litful. No npws wts ever allowed to iass the robe" lines. Messenger a.ter icssengor was seized. All tho late mesages from Gordon except a long dospateh f November 4, which has never been pubished, were written on tissuo papor no liggor than a postage stamp, and cithor oncealed in a quill thrust into tho hair or ewn on tho waistband of tho natives mployed. Gordon seems to havo been lost activo in August and September, when ho Nilo was high. Ho had 8,000 mon at Chnrtoum and Senaar. He rcoceupied lalfaya, drivinc out tho rebels, who lost wo sheikhs. He sent Colonel Stewart and ho troops with the steamers to recapture lerber. A eteamer which bore a rough fligy of Gordon at the prow was Baid to be articularly dreaded by tho rebels. On mgust 26, ho reported that ho had proviinns for five months, but in tho forays iade by his steamer on tho southern Nilo o enormously replenished his stores. On no of these southern raids ho took with im 0,000 mon in thirty-four boats, towed y nine steamers. Roused by this activity, tho Mahdi himolt left Obeid and advanced in person to he siege. Arriving before Omdurman bout the beginning of November, he sumioned Gordon to surrender. To the preiouß summons, Gordon had replied: "If ou are the true Mahdi, dry up the Nile nd come and take mo." To another sumions Gordon replied, " Surrender Kharoum? Not for twelve years." Tho Mahdi, vho had 25,000 men and four Krupps, .ccording to one account, and 30,000 foot .nd 2,000 horso according tc another, hereupon bogan the attack on Omdurman. Jordon, with twelve steamers, replied with uch effect that after eight hours' hard ightinc tho Mahdi was drivon southward ,o El Margatt. This appears to have boon ho most decisive victory gained by General iordon during the siege. After his defeat before Omdurman the dadhi is said to have mado a very romarkiblo prophecy. He retired into a cavo for hreo days, and on his return ho told his folowors that Allah had revealed that for sixty lays thero would bo a rest, and after that ilood would flow liko wator. Tho Madhi .a. right. Almost exactly sixty days after hat prophocy thore was fought tho battlo of \b\x Klea. Stewart had by this timo been killed on lis way down from Borbor to Dongola. iordon was all alono. The old men and vomen who had friends in the neighbouring •illa-'es left the town. Tho uninhabited jart was destroyed, the remainder was en;losed by a wall. In tho contre of Khartoum le had built himself a tower, from the roof if which be kept a sharp look-out with his iold-glass in tho day time. At night ho ivent tho rounds of tho fortifications cheorng his men and keeping thorn on the alert i:'ainst attacks. Treachery was always his -.reatest dread. Many of the townsfolk Sympathised with the Madhi; he could not depend on all his troops, and he could only rely on ono of his pashas, Mehemet AM. He rejoiced exceedingly in the news of the approach of the British relieving force. He illuminated Khartoum and tired Balutes in honour of the news, and he doubled his exertions to fill his granaries with gram. On the 21st of November his steamers brought in thirty boat loads of grain from the Blue Nile, the pricefallingatoncetoSOsperardel). The last detailed message arrived from Gordon November 13. It was dated November 4. and was addressed to Lord Wolseley, and contained SOO words. It gave many directions as to what should be done, and

) r.epudbvte'cj toes, 'el_p_4Hcaiiy the idea that i thfe ekjfcdi.roh wa_ Jcoiping td i-sctio him. " You are Co_ii_g," ho wrtitei " not to ' relievo _i_, but t'd rt5SCl_e the. garrisons which I wds unable to withdraw." Ho ha i previously i-e'ceiVod a, toeStelße frohi Wolseley of Oct. 14, .so that at.this time Khartoum and Dcngo'ia were within ten or fifteen days _f each Other. A subsequent message received on Dec. S gave furlher news of his operations. <*or_cn was then making powdo'.-, impairing disablod steamers, and actually building two new one?. His Admiral Knsham Amct-j, frith live steamers and 500. _qp .-, had driven the rebels from the HatiKs of the Nilo as far as Shondy, and had brought in largo sum .'e_ Oi grain. The Nilo_ from -"c.'ftai- to Shendy wa3 pitrollcd by..- steamers, and, although the Mabdi had 15,000 troops on tho w<j*t !_auu of the Nile, all was ccfe'* well inside, with one excci. _c_. On the 14th of December a letter __s received by ono of his fnon"." in '.iairo from General Gordon, *ay'mg : "Farowoll. You will jiovel' Hear from mo again I fear there Will bo treachery in the garrison, and all will bo ovor by Christmas." It was this melancholy warning that led Lord Wolsoloy to order tho dash across tho desert. Of tho origin of his forobodini-: nothing is known. Sir Henry Gordon appears to boliovo that tho 500 men who joined tho garrison of Khartotlin from Iho forces o' ll'/o iiahdi in Soptombet- n.ay hare ~c'_ii tho traitors. Of this there in no ovidonce. Ono Faraz I'asha was (.he man who oponeil the gates, and he probably was with Gordon from tho first. On the 16th of December came news that tho Mabdi had again failed in his attack on Omdurman. Gordon had blown up tho fort which ho had built over against tho town, and inflicted groat loss on his assailants, who, however, invested tho city closoly on all sidos. The Mahdi had returned to Omdurman, where he had coticontratod his troops. From thence he sent 14,000 men to Berber to vecruit tho forces of Osman Digna, and it was these men probably that fought us at Abu Kle?. After this nothing was heard beyond the rumour that Omdurman was captured and two fcVief messages from Gordon. Tho tirst, which arrived January 1, wiih ns follows : " Khartoum all right. —C. E. Gordon. December 14, 1854." 'The second was brought by the steamers which mot General Stewart at Metammoh on .la-vary 21 : "Khartoum all right; could hole 3ut for years. C. E. Gordon. Docembe. '".)." On tho _oth Janiu. y Fava. Pa .ha o"oncd tho gates of tho city tij *ha e'.'.omy, and one of tho mort L.'.„0'.l- sieges in tho world's history rfim'c to a closo. It had lasted from March 12 to January %— exactly 320 days