A Mahdist soldier wearing a jibba (1899). The Mahdist War lasted from 1881 to 1899 and was between the Mahdist Sudanese (in response to Egyptian colonization in the early 1800's), the Khedivate of Egypt and later the forces of Britain, who were protecting their interests in the region. The Anglo-Egyptian victory at Ginnis December 30, 1885 effectively ended the first third of the Mahdist War. The Sudan was reconquered with the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, under the command of Sir Herbert Kitchener. Sudan finally gained independence from British domination in 1956.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madhist_Dervish.jpg
Public Domain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdist_State
Charles King participated in the Nile Expedition of 1884-5 and then found himself a part of the combined forces of British and Egyptian troops, setting up advanced outposts up the Nile, for the remainder of 1885. The Frontier Field Force was put in place in an effort to slow the spread of the Mahdist rebellion and obtain retribution for the death of Gordon.
Charles was coming to the end of his service in Egypt. We continue with his narrative regarding his activities at the outpost in Akasheh. He wrote these memories on the back of two pages of his business invoice sheets. These pages were on the very bottom of the pile of Bazaar flyers and are literally falling apart. The lines from the tops and bottoms of the pages are hard to make out or are lost. I believe some pages may even be missing entirely. These two pages give more in-depth detail which did not make it into the final narrative, written in Charles' larger notebook. I will conclude his thoughts using his larger notebook, in which he switched from pen back to pencil (My Trip to Egypt Part II).
I have also attempted to reconstruct his last months in Egypt using historical records from the 79th Cameron Highlanders. Charles' movements and activities can be extrapolated using the recorded history of this regiment, which was at the Korosko outpost the summer of 1885 along with my Great Great Grandfather.
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"During my stay at Akasha (continuing from page 29, last post) we were privileged to live in a reed hut & although this was rather more comfortable than tents..."
Page 30
...(the top line is gone) "...blow the dust with such force that (we?) would almost get smothered whilst inside. Our hut was built on the bank of the river & immediately opposite one of the rapids forming the extreme end of the 3rd cataract* some 90 miles from the commencement at Wadi Halfa, although the river is not entirely innavigatable (sic) the whole of this distance but some places there are spaces of one or 2 miles of smooth water. The expedition on going up the Nile found their greatest difficulty in getting over the third cataract & some of you will no doubt remember pictures showing some of these difficultys (sic) being dealt with...The first night I spent at Akasha I was unable to sleep although I was as tired as very well could be. But the roaring of the rapids was so great that it was almost enough to bewilder one. These rapids are formed by inundated**" (the last line is not readable)....
*I believe he was talking about the Dal Cataracts which were nearer to Akasheh, and not the actual 3rd Cataract which was more than 50 miles up river. The Dal Cataracts could be considered the extreme end of the Third Cataract.
**Winter is considered the dry season (the water levels tend to rise more in the summer months due to monsoons in Ethiopia). Charles was in Akasheh at the tail end of monsoon season. https://www.britannica.com/place/Nile-River/Climate--hydrology. He may have been describing the inundation caused by the monsoons which in turn created the roaring sound making it difficult for him to sleep. See map below.
Page 31
This next page does not continue with the cataract description, but describes getting lost while on a survey mission. It appears there may be a page or two missing?.....
...(the first line is gone) "...yet the more we advanced the more difficult we had to encounter, so the officer decided to give up & return to camp if we could find our way back...but to find our whereabouts was the next question so it was decided that we should go in various directions, in search of something to identify our position...I happened to take the direction that eventually brought me in sight of the Nile after travelling about 4 miles & so I returned retracing my own foot marks in the sand in search of the rest of the party & eventually we meet after wandering about for several hours & neither one but myself having discovered anything certain. So I suggested that we all return to camp by way of the Nile bank a distance of several miles & that on the following day take the river route to Dal (a smaller cataract between Akasheh and Ginnis) & recommence our survey from that end. This was eventually decided on & we returned to camp, only in time to save being overtaken by darkness...On the following day we equipped ourselves for 3 days & started by boat & reached Dal & recommenced our survey which this time proved successful...(the last line is lost)...
Part II Page 17 (pencil)
I cannot however dwell longer here than to say that we were gradually being annoyed more & more after the retreat of Wolsleys (sic) Columb (sic) down the river by party of the enemy who had taken fresh courage & made the best of their way down the river & had become a nuisance to the peaceful dwellers in our camp...The idea of our station being the frontier was necessary that this advance of Natives should be checked so it was decided to send a Batallion (sic) of Blacks of the Egyptian Army to a place called Troshe (Toski) about 7 miles above our station...One man of our party went with them for the purpose of laying out a fort & ultimately the Cameron Highlanders were sent up from Korosko who after being there for a few weeks were besieged for about 6 weeks but they stood their ground...
Part II page 18 (pencil)
...manfully until relief was sent up from down country. During this time things began to look rather serious at our camp for during the whole of this time we were more or less under arms expecting to be be engaged with the Enemys reconoitering (sic) partys (sic) but although they never shew fright (fight?) with our (?) on they made their way between the hills to a station below on the railway about 16 or 14 miles called Ambigol Wells. In one night they destroyed about 2 miles of the permanent way & beseiged (sic) Ambigol Wells where there were only about 20 men & a smart time they had of it for 2 or 3 days. We not being able to communicate with Ambigol or the stations below by rail or telegraph it was necessary to send...
Part II Page 19 (pencil)
...a scout to find out the mystery & this task was undertaken by a private of the 20th Hussars who dashed at a gallop on his way down through the enemys forces who fired upon him with vengance (sic) you may expect but without hurting him & as soon as he arrived in sight of the fort at the Wells he was litterally (sic) dragged in by the men who were holding their position against enormous odds. Having ascertained the desired information it was now his duty to return to Akasha & make known the state of affairs at the wells. And with the same bravery & fortitude he rode gallantly through the enemy again & returned to camp again. It was then decided to form a relief party from Wady Halfa & Akasha with the hope of hemming in the...
Part II page 20 (pencil)
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Locations of movement of the Frontier Field Force in the latter part of 1885 are highlighted in yellow.
Here is a brief timeline of movements and battles of the Egyptian Frontier Field Force in the Fall of 1885. Sentences in quotes are taken from Great Britain. Army. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders; Mackenzie, Thomas Arthur; Ewart, John Spencer, Sir, 1861-1930; Jameson, Robert.
13th October 1885...."...the first Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment arrived at Korosko to relieve the regiment..(the Cameron Highlanders).... The Cameron Highlanders embarked on three steamers and barges." Orders were received to proceed up the Nile to the advanced outposts of Kosheh and Akasheh. Charles King was also on his way to Akasheh from Korosko, and spent the latter part of his journey on a camel. The Highlanders moved by train, and then marched from Akasheh to Kosheh, which was the most advanced British post at that time.
Madhist forces were estimated at 7,000-10,000 men by late October, and Egyptian Mounted Infantry including a half a battalion of black troops were sent to strengthen the fort at Akasheh where Charles King was serving. The rest of the posts were also being fortified with more British and Egyptian troops in preparation for an enemy advance.
Around this time the railway was attacked at Ambigol Wells by 700 Mahdists. Communication lines were cut and a mile of railway was torn up. The fort was attacked but the small force of 30 men held strong until reinforcements arrived four days later. (The Egyptian Campaigns, 1882-1885 by Charles Royle. Hurst and Blackwell Publishers 1900). The Cameron Highlanders also recorded the event..."On the 1st of December information was received that a force of the enemy had moved around to the rear, had torn up a mile of the railway between Ambigole and Akasheh, and had attacked the fortified post at Ambigole Wells." This is very close to Charles' description of the incident as he experienced it.
By early December Kosheh and other frontier posts came under consistent attack. "On the fifth of December the enemy advanced on both banks of the river...from this date the dervishes kept up an almost ceaseless fire of artillery and musketry upon the fort....occasioning many casualties in the garrison. When it became evident that they did not mean to attack in earnest, but to harass and annoy the garrison with their fire...magazines and covered ways were constructed to protect the men." The enemy's fire was described as "incessant". The Cameron Highlanders engaged enemy snipers, mounted sorties to dislodge the enemy marksmen and gathered intelligence from spies and deserters. (Edward Spiers The Victorian Soldier in Africa) . They also engaged the enemy from the Nile steamer Lotus, using machine gun fire. This may have been the activity Charles King referred to when he described the Highlanders as being "besieged for about 6 weeks but they stood their ground manfully until relief was sent up from down country". The Highlanders had bought sufficient time for General Stephenson to bring more brigades into the area.
Charles King refers to a "hard fight of 7 hours duration" in which he was only within the sound of firing. What fight was this?
In the early morning hours of December 30, 1885, the Frontier Field Force, "...under Lieutenant-General Stephenson, attacked and dispersed the dervishes at Ginnis." A force of two infantry brigades and a cavalry brigade engaged the enemy in two separate actions in a short but fierce battle, which effectively sent the enemy into full retreat south and back into the desert. Overwhelming firepower had produced a decisive outcome. The British counted 7 killed and 30 wounded, with 500 dead and 300 wounded on the enemy side. The victors were entitled to the Egyptian Medal and the Khedive's Star. The Battle of Ginnis is now largely forgotten, but it effectively ended the first Mahdist Campaign and halted the previously unstoppable Dervish advance on Egypt. (dcmmedals.co.uk and Edward Spiers The Victorian Soldier in Africa). Charles was within earshot of this battle but did not participate in the actual fighting. That was left to the First and Second British Brigades and their Egyptian counterparts.
Charles King's service in Egypt and the Sudan was over, and now it was time to go home. To be continued.....
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Mahdists[edit]
Various western historical writers have sometimes used the term dervish rather loosely, linking it to, among other things, the Mahdist War in Sudan and other conflicts by Islamic military leaders. In such cases, the term "dervishes" may have been used as a generic (and often pejorative) term for the opposing Islamic entity and all members of its military, political and religious institutions, including persons who would not be considered "dervishes" in the strict sense. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervish
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