After Omdurman

The Egyptian cavalry carried the same weapons as the 21 st Lancers, except for the lance, which was not carried. British cavalry Maxim machine gun: The Dervish army comprised tribesmen armed with long swords and spears, most on foot, with a few horsemen. In this process, the Dervishes acquired the rifles of the Egyptian soldiers, with a small number of artillery pieces and Maxims, so that in any Dervish force there was a percentage of men with firearms, although not particularly skilled in their use.

The Dervish warriors wore white tunics, with black patches sewn on the front and back. Each contingent was led by a flag of a distinctive colour; red, green or black. Many more flags were carried by the army, a common motif being a white flag, with quotations from the Koran embroidered across it. Background to the Battle of Omdurman: During the months before the final advance, many of the British officers went on leave to Cairo and in some cases to England, leaving their troops encamped in the desert, while the new units came down the River Nile to Berber.

Kitchener was inundated with requests to serve on his staff. Three new gunboats, named Sheikh, Melik and Sudan and manufactured in Britain, were brought up the River Nile in pieces on the Desert Railway and assembled at Atbara for the final voyage upstream. These gunboats were of the most modern design, with screws instead of side paddles, giving Commodore Keppel a total of ten vessels.

A further Egyptian infantry brigade joined the force, with a new British brigade, comprising 1 st Northumberland Fusiliers and 1 st Lancashire Fusiliers from Cairo, 1 st Grenadier Guards from Gibraltar and 2 nd Rifle Brigade from Malta. The 21 st Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman: A British cavalry regiment joined the force from Cairo, the 21 st Lancers. The regiment was the junior cavalry regiment and had seen no action since its incorporation into the British army.

The 21 st was a regiment of hussars for some years, being converted to lancers in the previous 18 months. It was short of officers and the orders for the Sudan caused a rush of cavalry officers, from across the army, to obtain attachments to the 21 st for the campaign. One of these officers was Winston Churchill, a lieutenant in the 4 th Hussars.

Kitchener refused to appoint Churchill to his staff. Six junior officers from other regiments served attachments with the 21 st Lancers in the Omdurman campaign. On arrival in Egypt, the 21 st Lancers were mounted on local Syrian light horses. A further change was that the Sirdar wanted a four-squadron regiment.

Determined that his regiment take part in the campaign, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Martin, reorganised his three-squadron regiment into four squadrons. It was a substantial handicap, for a regiment about to go on active service, to change its mounts, its main weapon, add several new officers and re-organise its sub-units. Colonel Martin and his officers, and possibly his men, were thirsting to distinguish themselves in the coming campaign and the whole army knew that if there was an opportunity for a charge, the 21 st Lancers would take it.

Churchill described the extraordinary appearance of the 21 st , when arrayed for the campaign, each trooper hung about with all the items of kit considered necessary in the desert. The regiment made a curious sound, with pots and pans and other items banging together, as the troopers trotted along.

Grenadier Guards leaving London for the Sudan: British troops at the Battle of Omdurman: Seaforth Highlanders on exercise in Britain: Egyptian troops at the Battle of Omdurman: Battle of Omdurman on 2nd September in the Sudanese War: Map of the Sudan: Account of the Battle of Omdurman: The British infantry, some of the cavalry, the staff, guns and stores were moved to Wad Hamed in the steamers, while the rest of the cavalry, the Egyptian division and the war correspondents were required to march up the left or western bank of the River Nile.

The march continued over the next few days, while the cavalry caught up the infantry, having stayed an extra day in the Wad Hamed camp. On 29 th August , the gunboat Zafir developed a leak and sank in the middle of the River Nile, with no loss of life. The Khalifa formed the idea of laying mines in the River Nile.

An Egyptian engineer was brought from prison in Omdurman and required to prepare a mine, comprising a large boiler, made watertight and filled with gunpowder. The charge was to be detonated by a pistol built into the boiler, fired remotely with a string. In the process of planting the mine, the string was accidentally pulled, showing the efficiency of the system, by blowing up the riverboat that was carrying the mine, with its crew and the Egyptian engineer.

The Khalifa ordered a second mine prepared. This one was laid without mishap, because the Emir put in charge took the precaution of flooding the mine before working with it. The Emir was showered with honours by the grateful Khalifa. Artillery on the march in the Sudan: Everyone in the army was aware that battle was imminent, in view of the proximity of Omdurman, ten miles to the south.

On 1 st September, the cavalry moved out to conduct a reconnaissance. The 21 st Lancers advanced up the river bank, while the Egyptian cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel Broadwood, followed a wide curving route into the desert, around the western end of the Kerreri Hills. In the centre rode a column of the Camel Corps and the Horse Artillery. The cavalry cleared the Kerreri Hills by 7am.

Once past the Kerreri Hills, the 21 st Lancers could see Omdurman in the distance, on the west bank of the River Nile and the ruins of the city of Khartoum in the angle of the confluence of the two great rivers, the Blue Nile and the White Nile. Nearer, about three miles away, on the west bank of the River Nile, rose the Jebel Surgham, a black hill above a ridge. Immediately in front of the advancing horsemen lay a wide rolling sandy plain, bounded on three sides by a line of rocky hills and ridges, and on the fourth side by the River Nile.

The plain was covered with patches of scrubby grass and an occasional bush. This plain would be the scene for the two main Dervish attacks during the Battle of Omdurman. Along the river bank was a straggling mud village, El Egeiga. The whole area was empty of people and animals. The cavalry moved across the plain and climbed the ridge of the Jebel Surgham, from where they looked south towards Omdurman. About four miles away to the half right, was what appeared to be a long zeriba, or thorn fence, with men behind it.

This advancing army was topped by a sea of flags. Horsemen rode along the line.

Hardback Editions

A deep murmur of thousands of voices was to be heard, with horns and drums playing. There appeared to be around 55, men, moving in five great divisions. River Nile gunboat in action: There were some 40 guns in these forts, but they were no match for the weapons and crews of the gunboats and were destroyed in turn, the Dervish gunners taking refuge in the city of Omdurman. Finally, the gunboats turned their fire on the walls of the city, making several breaches. While this river operation was being conducted, a force of Arab irregulars loyal to Turkish rule and commanded by a British officer, Major Stuart Wortley, moved up the east bank of the River Nile, storming the forts and villages held by the Dervishes.

The final attack took place opposite Omdurman and enabled the gunboats to land the battery of howitzers. These guns opened fire on Omdurman, destroying buildings and damaging the dome on the ornate tomb of the Mahdi. They were pursued by parties of Dervish horsemen, kept at a distance by dismounted rifle fire. The troops were ordered to stand to and man their positions at 2pm. They fired their rifles in the air and gave a great shout.

1. Mahdist Omdurman.
2. Designing Social Research: A Guide for the Bewildered!
3. Follow the Author?
4. Navigation menu;

They then settled down in the desert and prepared to sleep. Watching the advancing Dervish line at the beginning of the Battle of Omdurman on 2nd September in the Sudanese War. It was assumed that the Dervishes would attack during the night and dispositions were made on that basis. The gunboats returned from their bombardment of Omdurman and were moored at each end of the long encampment, to provide fire support for the vulnerable flanks. During the night, the gunboats played their powerful searchlights over the desert, producing an eerie effect.

Churchill relates that the beams of light caused the Khalifa to take down his tent, as he feared the lights were specifically looking for him. Map showing the Dervish attack at the Battle of Omdurman on 2nd September However, the cavalry were on the move before that. An Egyptian squadron, commanded by Captain Baring of the 10 th Hussars, left the camp before dawn to watch the Dervish line.

The expectation was that, having made no attack during the night, the Dervish army would have withdrawn. However, there it was, where the 21 st had seen it settle down for the night on the previous afternoon.

After Omdurman: John Ferry: www.newyorkethnicfood.com: Books

Five minutes later, at 5. The cavalry on the Jebel Surgham and its surrounding ridges could see the full Dervish line, but it was not yet in sight of the infantry in the zeriba. The steamboats remained moored at either end of the line, as they had been overnight, to provide supporting fire to the flank battalions. The 21 st Lancers continued in their position, on and around the Jebel Surgham to the south. The Dervish army came on at a fast walk; the left, led by the bright green flag of Ali-Wad-Hedu, heading for the Jebel Kerreri; the centre, marching into the wide plain and the right, swarming up the ridge around the eastern end of the Jebel Surgham, led by the red flag of Sherif and carrying hundreds of apparently blank white flags, each of which was in fact embroidered with texts from the Koran.

On the Dervish right, the division led by the red flag of Sherif, with the swarm of white flags, advanced over the Jebel Surgham ridge, to be met by fire from the 32nd Field Battery and the guns of the boats moored at the southern end of the line. While this attack was in progress, the Khalifa and his trusted deputy, Yakub, watched, with their 15, troops, from behind the Jebel Surgham, intending, if the frontal assault by Osman Azrak was successful, to emerge from their cover and join it. If unsuccessful, the Khalifa could withdraw to Omdurman, with his most reliable and important force intact, to fight again or carry out some other stratagem.

Osman Sheikh ed Din led the left of the attacking force, against the northern end of the zeriba, where the weakest Egyptian battalions were stationed. The direct hand to hand combat began in the Kerreri Hills, where Broadwood was positioned, with the Egyptian cavalry on the western end of the hills, the Camel Corps next in the line and the Horse Artillery at the eastern end.

The number of Dervishes attacking the Kerreri Hills and the speed of their advance, made it necessary for the mounted Egyptian troops to retreat with some urgency. The Camel Corps suffered particular difficulty, as camels are unable to move swiftly across rocky hills, with their soft padded feet. The Camel Corps reached the northern end of the zeriba and were saved from the pursuing Dervishes by a barrage of gunfire from the gunboats moored at that end of the camp. The Dervishes came up so fast on the Horse Artillery that two guns had to be left behind, when horses were shot and gun teams became intertwined.

The lost guns were recovered later in the battle. As his cavalry withdrew north, squadrons, in turn, halted and gave dismounted fire at the pursuing Dervishes. In the central plain, the division led by the white flags came down from the Jebel Surgham ridge and joined the main body advancing on the zeriba, making an attacking Dervish force of around 20, warriors. As the range shortened, infantry small arms fire all along the British and Egyptian line joined the artillery and Maxim barrage, inflicting heavy casualties on the advancing Dervishes.

Dervish losses were particularly heavy in the attack against the two British brigades, armed with magazine Lee-Metford rifles and supported by field artillery, Maxims and the gunboats.

Kindle Editions

The Dervish attack here came to a halt yards from the zeriba, with the Dervishes lying down in the sand and, where armed with rifles, returning the fire. The Dervish attack against the Sudanese and Egyptian battalions managed to get within yards of the line, before being halted. One tribesman, carrying a flag, rushed on to within yards of the line, before being shot down. The leader, Osman Azrak, rode on until he was shot. The attack, all along the line, was at a halt by 8am, and the Dervish soldiers melting away back across the plain. Map showing the second Dervish attack at the Battle of Omdurman on 2nd September The Sirdar, anxious to prevent the Dervish army from escaping back into Omdurman and continuing their resistance in the streets of the city, resolved to march his infantry and guns around the eastern side of the Jebel Surgham, thereby cutting off the surviving sections of the Dervish army from the city, and compelling them to escape west into the desert.

The British advance in spring was observed with concern by Khalifa Abdullah, leader of the Mahdists. The Mahdists then fell back to wait for the invaders at their capital, Omdurman , near Khartoum. He sent gunboats to shell the town while his cavalry scouts tried to locate the Mahdist army. His force of around 50, warriors streamed out of Omdurman to take up positions around the British camp. After a nervous night for the British, fearing an attack under cover of darkness, the fighting began at dawn.

After Omdurman

The Mahdist forces were arranged into five sections, with some concealed behind hills and the rest directly confronting the British forces on the plain. Especially deadly were the Maxim guns —the first self-powered machine guns—that could fire rounds per minute. The waves of Mahdists were cut down in front of the British lines by the rain of bullets from rapid-fire rifles and Maxims. With the initial attack defeated, the British moved out of their defenses to advance on Omdurman, unaware of the number of Mahdists present in concealed positions. Sent ahead for reconnaissance, the 21st Lancers, with young war correspondent Winston Churchill temporarily one of their number, rode into a hidden mass of Mahdists, who inflicted sixty-one casualties on the startled horsemen.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, the khalifa ordered his concealed forces to attack.

• ARE YOU ADDICTED TO SHAME?, Self-Hypnotic Tricks To Get you Away From This Habit.
• Lucifer, Bright Son of the Dawn.
• Mahdist Omdurman - Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History;
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Explained: For Teenagers, By Teenagers;
• Almond Accessories Set - Individual Knitting Pattern.
• Product details.
• Battle of Omdurman.

A brigade of Sudanese troops, under General Hector Macdonald , found itself isolated in the face of some 15, Mahdists; they resisted courageously until support arrived and disciplined firepower drove off the enemy. The failure of this second phase of Mahdist attacks left Omdurman open to be occupied by British forces. Kitchener ordered the tomb of the Mahdi destroyed, while the khalifa retreated into southern Sudan , where he was trapped and killed.

We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed.

This contribution has not yet been formally edited by Britannica.

Sudan Omdurman market stroll

British, 48 dead, wounded of 25,; Mahdist, 10, dead, 14, wounded of 50, Tony Bunting Learn More in these related Britannica articles: By midday the Battle of Omdurman was over.