by G. A. Henty
Chapter 14: Omdurman.
The night passed quietly, except that shots were occasionally fired byDervishes who crept up within range; and that, once, a mounted man, whohad apparently lost his way, rode fearlessly into camp; and then,finding himself close to the troops, turned his horse and galloped offagain. No shot followed him, as the orders were strict that the campwas not to be alarmed, unless in the case of a serious attack.
At half past three the bugle sounded, and the troops were soon astir.The animals were watered and fed, and the men had a breakfast of cocoaor tea, with biscuits and tinned meat. At half past four ColonelBroadwood, commanding the Egyptian cavalry, sent out a squadron to thehills on the west, and another to Surgham Hill.
The latter arrived at their destination at two minutes past five, whendaylight had just broken. The officer in command saw at once that theDervish army had been reinforced in the night, and were marching toattack us. News was at once sent back to the camp, where all was inreadiness for an advance.
No news could have been more welcome. It was one thing to attack theDervishes in their chosen position, and to carry the narrow streets ofOmdurman at the point of the bayonet--the Dervishes had shown, at AbuHamed, how desperately they could fight under such circumstances--andanother to meet them while attacking our position, in the open. Thiswas protected, along the line occupied by the white troops, by a hedge;while the three Egyptian brigades had constructed shelter trenches.These afforded a vastly better defence against a foe advancing bydaylight, although they would not be so effective in checking a suddenand determined rush, in the darkness.
Preparations were at once made to oppose the enemy. The Sirdar and hisstaff were already mounting, when the news arrived. The horses were nowtaken to the rear, the reserve ammunition boxes lifted from the mules'backs, and the animals led to a sheltered position, behind some huts.
The guns were wheeled up into positions between the infantry brigades.The troops were disposed in line, two deep; two companies of eachbattalion, with the stretchers and bearers, taking post at a shortdistance farther back, to reinforce the front line if hardly pressed,and to supply it from the reserve store of ammunition.
Already the gunboats had recommenced the bombardment of Omdurman, andthe mosque of the Mahdi, but as soon as news came that the Dervisheswere advancing to the attack, they were signalled to return to coverthe flank of the zareba. On their arrival, they took up a positionwhence they could shell the line by which the Dervishes were advancing,and which would bring them apparently five or six hundred yards west ofSurgham Hill.
The Lancers at once started forward to cover the left flank of theposition. In a few minutes they reached Surgham Hill, and joined theEgyptian squadron there.
The sight from the crest of Surgham Hill was grand. The enemy's frontextended over three miles. The lines were deep and compact, and thebanners floated above them. They were advancing steadily and in goodorder, and their battle cries rose and fell in measured cadence. Theirnumbers were variously estimated at from fifty to seventy thousand--asuperb force, consisting of men as brave as any in the world, andanimated by religious fanaticism, and an intense hatred of those theywere marching to assail.
In the centre were the Khalifa's own corps, twenty thousand strong. Ontheir right was the banner of Yacoub, his brother, and beyond, twodivisions led by well-known emirs; while on his left was the divisionled by his son, Osman, known as Sheik Ed Din, the nominalcommander-in-chief of the whole force.
The 21st Lancers, out in skirmishing order, were speedily driven backby the Dervishes, and retired into the zareba. When the latter camenear enough to see the small British force, a shout of exultation rosefrom their ranks, for they felt certain now of surrounding andannihilating the infidels, according to the prophecy.
On our side the satisfaction was no less marked. The front line movedforward to the thorny hedge, and prepared to open fire above it. Theblack troops uttered a joyful shout of defiance, as they took theirplaces in their trenches.
When the enemy were two thousand eight hundred yards away, the threebatteries on the left of the zareba opened fire; and two batteries onthe right, and a number of Maxims, joined in pouring shell and bulletsinto the thickest of the Dervish mass round the Khalifa's banner. Theeffect was terrible. For a moment the Dervish lines halted, astonishedat the storm to which they were exposed. But it was only for a moment.The wide gaps were filled up, and at a quicker pace than before, thegreat line swept on; the banner bearers and Baggara horsemen pushingforward to the front, to encourage the infantry.
Seeing how persistently they were coming on, the Sirdar ordered the menof Lyttleton's brigade to open fire at long range. The Grenadiers werethe first to begin, firing volleys in sections. The other regiments ofthe brigade were soon hard at it, but neither they nor the Maximsappeared to be doing serious execution, while the terrible effect ofthe shell fire could really be seen. But, although great numbers of theenemy were killed or wounded by the bursting shells, there was no haltin the forward movement.
Suddenly, over the crest and sides of the Surgham Hill, the division ofthe Dervish right, reinforced by a portion of Yacoub's division,appeared; and over fifteen thousand men came streaming down the hill,waving banners and shouting their war cries. They were led by theiremirs, on horseback; but the infantry kept pace with these,occasionally discharging their rifles at random.
The guns of the three batteries, and one of the Maxims, were swunground and opened upon them. They were less than a mile away, and thewhole of Gatacre's division opened a terrific fire. Still the Dervishesheld on, leaving the ground they passed over white with fallen men.From seventeen hundred yards the sights had to be lowered rapidly, butat a thousand yards they held their foe. No man could cross the groundswept by the hail of balls. So rapid and sustained was the fire, thatmen had to retire to refill their pouches from the reserve ammunition,and the rifles were so heated that they could no longer be held. Insome cases the men changed their weapons for those of the companies inreserve, in others these companies closed up and took the places of thefront line. Not for a moment was there any cessation in the fire.
Unable to do more, Yacoub's men moved towards the front and joined themain body, whose advance had been checked by the fire of Maxwell'sEgyptian brigade. A few rounds had been fired by the three cannon thatthe Khalifa had brought out with him, but they all fell short.
On our side the casualties had been few. In their desperate attempt toget at close quarters, the Dervish riflemen had not stopped to reloadthe weapons they had discharged, and there was practically no return tothe awful fire to which they had been exposed.
But while Yacoub's force had been terribly punished, and the main body,brought to a standstill at a distance of fourteen hundred yards, hadsuffered almost as heavily, the battle had not gone so well to theright of our position, towards which the Khalifa was now moving.Broadwood's horse, and the camel corps, had been driven off the hillthey occupied; and so fierce was the attack that three of the guns ofthe horse battery had to be left behind. The camel corps were orderedto retire rapidly, and make for shelter to the right rear of the camp.The force made two or three stands, and the Egyptian cavalry more thanonce charged the pursuing horsemen. The gunboats opened fire, andcovered the final retirement of the camel corps, which had lost eightymen.
The cavalry did not retire to the zareba, but continued to fall back,occasionally turning and facing the enemy, until they were five milesaway; when the Dervishes gave up the pursuit, and sat down to restafter their tremendous exertions. Although forced to retire, thecavalry had done good service, for they had drawn off a great body ofthe enemy at a critical moment, and these were unable to return andtake part in the battle still raging.
At length, the Khalifa moved off with all his force behind the westernhills, and for a short time there was a lull in the battle. Many of thewounded tribesmen crawled up to within seven or eight hundred yards ofthe zareba, and there opened fire. Their aim was good, and men began todrop fast,
in spite of the volleys fired to clear off the troublesomefoe. But their fire was soon disregarded for, from the ravines in therange of low hills, behind which the Khalifa's force had disappeared, amass of men burst out at a hard run. From their shelter behind SurghamHill, a portion of the force who were there also swept down to join theKhalifa, while Yacoub advanced from the southwest, and another bodyfrom the west.
Instantly the infantry and artillery fire broke out again. On theprevious day, the distance had been measured and marked on severalconspicuous objects; and the storm of shells tore the ranks of theenemy, and the rifles swept them with a rain of bullets. But, in faceof all this, the Dervishes continued to advance at a run, their numbersthinning every minute.
Two or three hundred horsemen, with their emirs, dashed at the zarebaat full gallop. Shrapnel, Maxim and rifle bullets swept their ranks,but nearer and nearer they came, with lessening numbers every yard,until the last of them fell within about two hundred yards of Maxwell'sline. Animated by the example, the infantry rushed forward. The blackflag was planted within nine hundred yards of Maxwell's left; but, inaddition to the Egyptian fire, the crossfire of the British divisionspoured upon those around it.
The main body began to waver, but the Khalifa and his emirs did theirbest to encourage and rally them. The flag was riddled with balls, andthe men who held it were shot down; but others seized the post ofhonour, until a pile of bodies accumulated round it.
At last, but one man remained standing there. For a minute he stoodquietly immovable, then fell forward dead. Then the Dervishes lostheart, and began to fall back in ones and twos, then in dozens, untilthe last had disappeared behind the hills.
The troops then turned their attention to the men who, lying inshelter, were still maintaining their fire. There were fully a thousandof these, and the greater portion of our casualties took place fromtheir fire, while the troops were occupied in repelling the mainattack. It was not long, however, before bullets and shell proved toomuch for them; and those who survived crawled away, to join theirkinsmen behind the hills.
It was eight o'clock now, and the victory had apparently been won. Someten thousand of the Khalifa's best troops had been killed or wounded.In the British division, one officer and one man had been killed, andthree officers and sixty-five men wounded. The latter were at onceplaced on board the hospital barges. Fresh ammunition was served outand, half an hour after the last shot was fired, the army prepared tomarch on Omdurman.
It was most important that they should arrive at the town before EdDin's Dervishes should reach it; for unless they could do so, the lossthat would be incurred in capturing it would be vastly greater thanthat which had been suffered in the battle. At nine o'clock the startwas made. The troops advanced in brigades. Lyttleton led on the left,Wauchope was on his right, Maxwell somewhat in the rear, while stillmore to the right came Lewis, and farther out on the plain Macdonald.They formed roughly half a semicircle. Lyttleton, followed by Wauchope,was to march between the river and Surgham Hill. Maxwell was to crossover the hill, while Lewis and Macdonald were to keep farther out tothe right. Collinson's Egyptian brigade was to guard the stores andmaterials left behind.
The 21st Lancers scouted ahead of the British brigades, to discover ifany foe were lurking behind Surgham Hill. When about half a mile southof the hill, they saw a small party of Dervish cavalry and someinfantry, who were hiding in what looked like a shallow water course.The four squadrons rode forward at a gallop. A sharp musketry fireopened upon them, but without hesitation they dashed headlong at theDervishes, when they found that, instead of a hundred and fifty foemenas they had supposed, some fifteen hundred Dervishes were lyingconcealed in the water course.
It was too late to draw rein, and with a cheer the cavalry rode downinto the midst of the foe. There was a wild, fierce fight, lanceagainst spear, sabre against sword, the butt-end of a rifle or thedeadly knife. Some cut their way through unscathed. Others weresurrounded and cut off. Splendid feats of heroism were performed. Manyof those who got over returned to rescue officers or comrades, until atlast all the survivors climbed the bank.
The brunt of the fighting fell upon the two central squadrons. Not onlywere the enemy thickest where they charged, but the opposite bank ofthe deep nullah was composed of rough boulders, almost impassable byhorses. These squadrons lost sixteen killed and nineteen wounded.Altogether, twenty-two officers and men were killed, and fifty wounded;and there were one hundred and nineteen casualties among the horses.
Once across, the survivors gathered at a point where their firecommanded the water course; and, dismounting, speedily drove theDervishes from it. On examining it afterwards, it was found that sixtydead Dervishes lay where the central squadrons had cut their waythrough.
The charge, in its daring and heroism, resembled that of the 23rd LightDragoons at Talavera. The fall into the ravine, on that occasion, wasmuch deeper than that into which the Lancers dashed; but it was notoccupied by a desperate force, and although many were injured by thefall, it was in their subsequent charge, against a whole Frenchdivision, that they were almost annihilated.
Both incidents were, like the Balaclava charge, magnificent; but theywere not war. A desperate charge, to cover the retreat of a defeatedarmy, is legitimate and worthy of all praise, even if the gallant menwho make it are annihilated; but this was not the case at Talavera, norat Omdurman. It was a brilliant but a costly mistake. The bravery shownwas superb, and the manner in which officers and men rode back into thestruggling mass, to rescue comrades, beyond all praise; but the chargeshould never have been made, and the lives were uselessly sacrificed.
As yet, all was quiet at other points. Bodies of the enemy could beseen, making their way towards Omdurman. The battery opposite the townhad, from early morning, been keeping up a fire from its heavy gunsupon it; but, save for the occasional shot of a lurking Dervish, allwas quiet elsewhere.
While the cavalry charge was in progress, Gregory had moved along theline of the Egyptian brigades with General Hunter. Suddenly, frombehind the hills where the Khalifa had fallen back with his defeatedarmy, a column of fully twelve thousand men, led by the banner bearersand emirs, poured out again. A strong body sprang forward from anothervalley, and made for the southeastern corner of Macdonald's brigade,which had moved almost due west from the position it had occupied inthe zareba; while the large force that had chased away the Egyptiancavalry were seen, returning to attack him in the rear.
General Hunter, who was riding between Macdonald's and Lewis'sbrigades, which were now a good mile apart, exclaimed to Gregory, whohappened to be the nearest officer to him:
"Ride to Macdonald, and tell him to fall back, if possible!"
Then he turned, and galloped off to fetch up reinforcements. But theneed was already seen. The sudden uproar had attracted the attention ofthe whole army, and the Sirdar instantly grasped the situation. Themoment was indeed critical. If Macdonald's brigade were overwhelmed, itmight have meant a general disaster; and the Sirdar at once sent ordersto Wauchope's brigade, to go, at the double, to Macdonald's aid.
Fortunately Colonel Long, who commanded the artillery, had sent threebatteries with Macdonald's brigade. Collinson's brigade were far awaynear the river, Lewis's were themselves threatened. It was evident, atonce, that no assistance could reach Macdonald in time. When Gregoryreached him, the Dervishes were already approaching.
"It cannot be done," Macdonald said sternly, when Gregory delivered themessage. "We must fight!"
Indeed, to retreat would have meant destruction. The fire would havebeen ineffective, and the thirty thousand fierce foes would have beenamong them. There was nothing to do but to fight.
Macdonald had marched out with the 11th Soudanese on his left, the 2ndEgyptians in the centre, and the 10th Soudanese on the right--all inline. Behind, in column, were the 9th Soudanese. The last were at oncebrought up into line, to face the advancing enemy.
Fortunately, the Sheik Ed Din's force was still some little distanceaway. The batter
ies took their place in the openings between thebattalions, and the Maxim-Nordenfeldts were soon carrying death intothe advancing foe; while the Martini-Henry, with which the black andEgyptian troops were armed, mowed them down as by a scythe. TheSoudanese battalions fired, as was their custom, individually, as fastas they could load; the Egyptian battalion by steady volleys.
Still the enemy pressed on, until they were within two hundred yards ofthe line. The emirs and other leaders, Baggara horse and many spearmen,still held on; until they fell, a few feet only from the steadyinfantry. The rear ranks of the Dervishes now began to fall back, andthe desperate charges of their leaders grew feebler; but Ed Din'sdivision was now within a thousand yards. Macdonald, confident that themain attack was broken, threw back the 9th Soudanese to face it, andwheeled a couple of his batteries to support them.
The already retreating Dervishes, encouraged by the arrival of Ed Din'sdivision, returned to the attack. The 11th Soudanese swung round, toaid the 9th in their struggle with Ed Din's troops. The charges of theDervishes were impetuous in the extreme. Regardless of the storm ofshell and bullets they rushed on, and would have thrust themselvesbetween the 9th and 11th, had not the 2nd Egyptians, wheeling at thedouble, thrown themselves into the gap.
The Dervishes pressed right up to them, and bayonet and spearfrequently crossed; but in a fight of this kind, discipline tells itstale. The blacks and Egyptians maintained their lines, steadily andfirmly; and against these, individual effort and courage, even of thehighest quality, were in vain.
The ground being now cleared, the gunboats opened with Maxim and cannonupon the rear of the Dervishes. The camel corps coming up, each mandismounted and added his fire to the turmoil; and, finally, three ofWauchope's battalions arrived, and the Lincolns, doubling to the right,opened a terrible flank fire. The Dervishes broke and fled; not, asusual, sullenly and reluctantly, but at full speed, stooping low toescape the storm of bullets that pursued them.
Zaki had, throughout the day, kept close to Gregory, ready to hold hishorse when he dismounted; but, quick-footed as he was, he was leftbehind when his master galloped across to Macdonald. He was up,however, in the course of a minute or two, and Gregory was glad to seehim, for the horse was kicking and plunging at the roar of theapproaching enemy; and was almost maddened when to this was added thecrash of the batteries and musketry.
"Put my blanket round his head, Zaki," Gregory said, when the black ranup. "Wrap it round so that he cannot see. Hold the bridle with onehand, and stroke him with the other, and keep on talking to him; heknows your voice. I don't want to dismount if I can help it, for withmy field glasses I see everything that is taking place, and I will tellyou how matters are going."
For the moment, it seemed as if the surging crowd streaming down mustcarry all before it; but the steadiness with which the 9th Soudanesemoved into their place on the flank of the line, and the otherregiments remained, as if on parade, soon reassured him. The terribleslaughter that was taking place in the ranks of the Dervishes soonshowed that, in that quarter at least, there was no fear of thingsgoing wrong; but he could not but look anxiously towards the great massof men approaching from the north.
It was a matter of minutes. Would the present attack be repulsed intime for the position to be changed, to meet the coming storm?Occasionally, Gregory looked back to see if reinforcements were coming.Wauchope's brigade was visible over the tops of the scattered bushes.The movements of the line showed that they were coming on at thedouble, but they were farther away than Ed Din's host, and the latterwere running like deer.
He felt a deep sense of relief when the 9th Soudanese were thrown back,performing the movement as quietly and steadily as if on a drillground; and two batteries of artillery galloped across to theirsupport. He had hardly expected such calm courage from the blackbattalion. As to the bravery of the Soudanese troops, there was noquestion. They were of the same blood and race as their foes, and hadshown how bravely they could fight in many a previous battle; but hewas not prepared for the steady way in which they worked, under suchnovel circumstances; and although they, too, must have known that everymoment was of consequence, they moved without haste or hurry into thenew position, scarcely glancing at the torrent which was rushing ontowards them.
Not less steadily and quietly did the 11th, considered to be the crackregiment of the brigade, swing round; and as calmly and firmly did theEgyptian battalion--composed of the peasants who, but twenty yearsbefore, had been considered among the most cowardly of people, a hostof whom would have fled before a dozen of the dreaded Dervishes--marchinto the gap between the two black regiments, and manfully hold theirown.
And yet, he could not but feel sorry for the valiant savages who, underso awful a fire, still pressed forward to certain death; their numberswithering away at every step, until they dwindled to nothing, only tobe replaced by a fresh band, which darted forward to meet a similarfate; and yet, when he remembered the wholesale slaughter at Metemmeh,the annihilation of countless villages and of their inhabitants, and,above all, the absolute destruction of the army of Hicks Pasha, thecapture of Khartoum, the murder of Gordon, and the reduction to a stateof slavery of all the peaceful tribes of the Soudan, he could not butfeel that the annihilation of these human tigers, and the wiping out oftheir false creed, was a necessity.
When the last shot was fired, he dismounted and leant against hishorse, completely unnerved by the tremendous excitement that had beencompressed into the space of half an hour. Zaki was in ecstasy at thevictory. The ruthless massacre of so many of his tribesmen, the ruin ofhis native village, and the murder of his relations was avenged, atlast. The reign of the Dervishes was over. Henceforth men could tilltheir fields in peace. It was possible that, even yet, he might findhis mother and sisters still alive, in the city but a few miles away,living in wretched existence as slaves of their captors.
Tears of joy streamed down his cheeks. He would have liked to help torevenge the wrongs of his tribe, but his master needed him; andmoreover, there was no place for an untrained man in the ranks of theSoudanese regiments. They were doing their work better than he could.Still, it was the one bitter drop in his intense joy, that he had notbeen able to aid in the conflict.
He expressed this to Gregory.
"You have had your share in the fight, Zaki, just as I have had. I havenot fired a shot, but I have been in the battle, and run its risks, andso have you. Each of us has done his duty, and we can say, for the restof our lives, that we have borne our share in the great battle that hassmashed up the power of the Khalifa, and the rule of the Dervishes."