"We Commence Our Journey In Real Earnest on Sept. 3rd, 1884......."

 

Charles King wearing his  Corps of Royal Engineers dress tunic, 1885. 

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    "I have....a friend spending a few days with me in the town so that I do not desire to go home. The time of leave & preparation having expired we commence our journey in real earnest on Sept. 3rd, 1884. Two companys (sic) of Royal Engineers, (The 8th Railway Company & the 11th Field Company, the latter of which I was one) was drawn up in line on the parade ground of Brompton Barracks Chatham at 10 o'clock am we are reviewed by the general commanding the district & after receiving a few complimentary & encouraging remarks, the command of the two companies are then handed over to the senior officer of the detachment who at once assumes the command & quickly the order quick march is given. We are headed by 3 garrison bands, the strains(?)  of which at one time cheers & makes sad, for best remembered that we have young men who have sweethearts & mothers, married men with young wives & others who have wives and familys (sic)  and leaving all behind not knowing whether....

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they will ever be privileged to meet again in this life and alas in many instances no hope of the next. The streets are thronged en route to the station where a special train awaits our arrival.  I need not describe the seens (sic)  that is witnessed on the way for your imaginations if they are lively will grasp it at once especially if anyone has lived in a garrison town & witnessed for themselves the troops leaving for active service. We have now arrived at the station and soon take our seats and after a few hearty handshaking with those privaliged (sic)  to go (?)  the station, the train slowly moves out at 11:30 am the united bands playing ''the girl I left behind me" and the thousands of spectators cheering heartily as the train is lost sight of in the tunnel. We are travelling by a London Chatham and Dover train but we are going to Gravesend which is on the Southeastern Railway, so after passing through the ancient city of Rochester we cross lines at Strood station without stopping..."

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kent_Railways.svg#/media/File:Kent_Railways.svg

Charles King's journey began by railway....

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 "...and after a run of about a half an hour we arrive at Gravesend station, here we are joined  by a party of about 150 officers & men from the Telegraph Battalion of R E from Aldershot. We have just a little way to march in order to reach the pier where we shall embark on a tender, but as things are not quite ready we will just sit down or stand up and wait as you please & whilst we are eating a bit of crib (a light meal, usually eaten at work)  we may have a little talk about Gravesend. I am not a stranger here as I have been here several times before & in fact stayed here for several weeks at a time as we have a musketry depot here & thoroughly well have I enjoyed myself. Gravesend is a pretty town & like many other towns consists of one very long street or succession of streets & several smaller ones, although one of those smaller ones is called High Street & leads from the Main Street to the pier (.)  One of the chief attractions of Gravesend are the Rosherville Gardens (.)  I have often seen advertisements in London announcing where to spend a happy day (.)  I need hardly say that Rosherville...

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..gardens Gravesend is the place in question an(d) I can vouch for it that you can spend a happy day there...."

 

Rosherville Gardens was one of the largest and most popular Victorian pleasure gardens in England. Going by train from London, you could see botanical and zoological gardens, fireworks, circus performers and attend dances.  This book was published by the Gravesend Historical Society in 2007 and written by Lynda Smith.  It is on the history of "The Place to Spend a Happy Day".  (northfleethistorygroup.weebly.com)  

 "Gravesend posseses (sic) a Baptist Chapel and a Wesleyan to but I cannot say anything of the rest as I was never in but those two and a church or two of course. Gordon spent several happy years here & used a large amount of his spare time in teaching the waif and stray boys of the (?)  in the things which have proved to the uplifting of many. Most of you know that Gordon's name has become memorable on a/c (account) of his work teaching the youth of the poorer classes ------"

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  I am not exactly sure when Charles King enlisted in the British Army initially, but he described being at Brompton Barracks in 1884 when the call to action came.  Charles was listed in the 1881 England Census as a 17 year old, and his occupation was listed as carpenter's apprentice (his father was a carpenter/joiner) . The family lived in Saltash on Fore Street at the time. He enlisted sometime between 1882-1884. He also described being at Gravesend before 1884, possibly to train with the musketry depot, so he may have been in the army for a short time before the expedition occurred. More research is needed to locate his military records. 

 Brompton Barracks is located in Chatham, Kent, England and is the home of the Royal School of Military Engineering which began in 1812, and traces its origins back to the military engineers brought to England by William the Conqueror.  Curriculum offered at the time my Great Great Grandfather attended consisted of field fortification, survey, photography and chemistry, lithography, estimating and building construction, ballooning, diving and submarine mining, and mechanics.  He probably studied subjects geared more towards construction and engineering as he became a builder/contractor after his service ended, and built homes in St. Austell, England, San Francisco and Grass Valley, California.  He was also a master woodworker.   (Wikipedia Royal School of Military Engineering)

  What exactly did the Royal Engineers do? Specifically, they were the scientific and engineering specialists of the British Army and were responsible for a large number of scientific and technical developments throughout the Victorian period. 

"The Nile Expedition:  Royal Engineers Building a Fort at Korti"...."Sketch by our special artist, Mr. Melton Price"....Source The Illustrated London News 86 (31 January 1885: 106.  Found on the website The Victorian Web

Sappers performed backbreaking work in the heat and dust of the desert while fighting off malaria and other diseases.  

                                     

The skills of the Royal Engineers (or "Sappers") were put to use all over the British Empire during Victorian times.  They built bridges, canals, roads, railways, telegraph systems and docks. They were used in the Expedition of 1884-5 to build depots for supplies and ammunition, build forts, repair telegraph lines and build railway lines.  (The Victorian Web/The Role of the Victorian Army)

  Brompton Barracks is now home to  the Royal Engineers Museum (link on the right)  and the Institution of Royal Engineers. 

A Squad of RE Sappers in front of Brompton Barracks c. 1909.  The statue in the background is of General Gordon riding a camel.  The statue was erected by the soldiers and officers of the RE and is the work of Edward Onslo Ford.  He used a real camel from the London Zoo to sculpt this likeness.   It was unveiled in 1890.   flickr.com

  What was General Gordon doing in Gravesend? After he served in China, and before his service in the Sudan,  Gordon was assigned duty as the Commander for the Royal Engineers ' project around Gravesend, Kent, to erect forts for the River Thames.  He disapproved of the forts being built and regarded them as useless and expensive. He was also estranged from his father at the time, and after his father's death he felt a great deal of guilt that they had not reconciled.  This period of his life led him to begin social and charitable work in the area. 

  Gordon, while in Gravesend, took in homeless boys he found begging on the street.  He let them live in his home while he fed them and tried to find them homes and jobs.  He rented out another home for the purpose of providing free education to the boys. One of his "scuttlers" recalled later in life that "He made me feel, first of all, the meaning of the phrase, the Goodness of God. Goodness became to me, through Gordon, the most desirable of ideas. We were under the spell of Gordon's personality. We lived in the magic of his mystery-enchanted." 

  Octavia Freese published a book in 1894 in which she highlighted Gordon's charity work and Christian beliefs. Freese was a Christian evangelical he met while in Gravesend. They corresponded quite frequently and these letters  were included in the book.  My Great Great Grandfather was obviously already an admirer of Gordon as a great Christian gentleman and benefactor even before this book was published. 

Wikipedia Charles George Gordon

  

A statue of General Gordon can be seen in the Gordon Gardens of Gravesend.  He is remembered in Gravesend primarily for his charity work.

https://www.visitkent.co.uk/attractions/gordon-gardens-2114/

"I Received My Orders About the Middle of August 1884...."

 

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 A Trip to Egypt & Back

 Written by Charles J. King 

  "The cry of General Gordon and Khartume (sic) is fresh in the memory of many today, as fresh as I may say as in the year 1884, for the lives of great men remain in our memories long after their departure from this life. And I may justly say (that) Gordon was one of those men who has won for himself (both by his self-denial and large heartedness) a fame that will be handed down in history with loving respect for many generations to come.  But the life of Gordon will not form the subject of my paper tonight, but simply a few personal experiences of one whose good fortune it was to take part in that celebrated Nile expedition, who undertook (under the leadership of Lord Wolsley)(sic) one of the most gigantic expeditions of modern times. Before I start on my journey I want to recall to your mind that a famous English general & patriot is hemmed in at Khartoum, a city in central Africa at least 1,100 (?) miles from 

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Alexandria, the chief port of Egypt on the Mediterranean sea, 'he has a band of faithful' (crossed out) followers with him but some of his (?) 'staff have been' (crossed out)   & to reach and release him is the subject of momentous importance, plans are thought of & proposed & among others are a boat expedition up the river Nile, proposed by Lord Wolsley (sic)  , and entrusted to his lordship & guidance & direction.  To carry out the proposal thousands of men are at once placed under orders (,) boats are contracted for (,)stores are preparing (,) ships are chartered (,) munitions of war are dispatched, and more are to follow & the excitement & bustle is the order of the day better known of course to those used to military & naval routine. I received my orders about the middle of August 1884 to proceed at any moment, so the preparations proceed & ultimately we receive our definate (sic)  orders that we are to proceed on Sept 3rd. Men are granted a few days leave and receive their pay full up to day of sailing and a good sprinkling avail. themselves of the opportunity of spending their last Sunday in England with the friends at home."

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   "The Cry of General Gordon and Khartume" 

Here is a brief and basic timeline of unfolding events that led to the Nile expedition of 1884-1885.......

British General Charles George "Chinese" Gordon 

b. 28 January 1833 d. 26 January 1885

  public domain image

    

  Charles Gordon was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1852 and went on to distinguish himself in the Crimean War (1853-56).  In 1863 he became commander of the 3,500 man peasant force raised to defend the city of Shanghai, China.  He became known for his bravery in battle (he refused to carry a a gun or a sword; he carried his rattan cane with him) as well as his string of victories.  He and his troops helped suppress the Taiping uprising which was the bloodiest civil war of the entire 19th century.  Gordon's service as well as the conflict itself received a great deal of coverage from the British newspapers.  On his return to England he was given the name "Chinese" Gordon by an enthusiastic public. 

  In 1873 Gordon was appointed governor of the province of Equatoria in the Sudan. While there he mapped the upper Nile.  He became governor general and worked to crush rebellions and suppress the slave trade. His reforming zeal made him popular with the ordinary people of the Sudan but he was unable to make any reforms to the corrupt Egyptian bureaucracy.  He was so shattered by his experience he suffered a nervous breakdown. 

  The Sudan was a dependency of Egypt and was invaded and occupied by the British in 1882 to safeguard Britain's  strategic interests. Britain allowed the khedive and his ministers to continue governing the Sudan but years of misrule and corruption  fueled a popular revolt led by the Muslim religious leader Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi.  The Egyptians were defeated at El-Obied in 1882 and Mahdist forces overran Kordofan and Durfur in 1883. Hoping to avoid the cost of British intervention Prime Minister William Gladstone chose not to intervene, but appointed Gordon to evacuate Egyptians from the Sudan. 

From The Victorian Soldier in Africa Manchester University Press 2018

  In February of 1884 Gordon returned to Sudan to oversee the withdrawal. He succeeded in evacuating around 2,000 women, children and wounded soldiers from the capital at Khartoum. In March he tried to stage an offensive to clear the road northward to Egypt which failed, and he retreated to set up defensive works around Khartoum, creating a fortress.  He refused to leave the city despite orders by Parliament to abandon Sudan. His resulting insubordination angered the Prime Minister, who refused to send reinforcements to Gordon. 

  The result was a 10 month long siege of Khartoum by the Mahdists.  Gordon was essentially cut off from food, supplies and troops. Both the civilian and military populations began to suffer from starvation after several months of dwindling food supplies.  Communication was kept up with couriers and Gordon made his dispatches to London public to gain support for his plight.  A battle began in England between the press, Parliament  and Queen Victoria herself.  A rescue expedition was called for and Gladstone reluctantly ordered relief troops to Khartoum led by Sir Garnet Wolseley in July of 1884.  

  The expedition took several months to organize, and did not enter Sudan until January 1885. The city of Khartoum was desperate. The relief expedition was attacked at Abu Klea on January 17th 1885 and then at Abu Kru several days later.  The British were able to repel the Mahdists. The Mahdists went on to take Khartoum in a final assault on January 25-26th, 1885. The garrison, weakened by hunger, was not able to fight off the invasion and were slaughtered.  7,000 British and Egyptian soldiers and 4,000 civilians were killed; women and children were taken into slavery.  Gordon was most likely killed fighting on the stairs of the palace and was then beheaded by the Mahdists. 

  Advance parties of the expedition arrived in Khartoum two days later on January 28th, 1885, sadly not in time to save Gordon.  After the fall, surviving British and Egyptian troops withdrew from the Sudan and Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi was in control.  The Islamic state Ahmad founded fell to the British in 1899 after Lord Kitchener and his Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated the Mahdists at the Battle of  Omdurman.  

  This is just a quick synopsis of events to help put the expedition into historical context.  I chose not go into more detail regarding the psyche/motives of General Gordon, the political issues, the permeating issue of slavery,  the clashing personalities and  decisions that ultimately led to the failure of the expedition, nor the many themes surrounding  occupations of the British Empire during Queen Victoria's reign.  If you are interested, there are numerous resources available to help you understand the quite complex situation that ultimately led to Gordon's death.  These are the internet sources I used to construct this timeline...

Sources:

BBC  History General Charles Gordon 

Britannica Siege of Khartoum 

Wikipedia Charles George Gordon

Wikipedia Muhammad Ahmad

Wikipedia William Ewart Gladstone

Wikipedia Siege of Khartoum

The Victorian Web (victorianweb.org)

The Victorian Soldier in Africa  Manchester University Press July 2018  Chapter: The Gordon Relief Expedition by Edward  M. Spiers