Famous generals of the great war who led the United States and her allies to a glorious victory . and anexcellent master of tactics in the expedition into thesilent land, which was to end in a complete failure. General Gordon, an intelligent and experienced of-ficer, was at Khartoum, which he had reached on Feb-ruary 18th, 1884. In April he found himself besieged,and, in spite of the fact that he warned the homeauthorities of his perilous position, nothing was doneto relieve his distress. Finally, however, the Govern-ment realized that to allow this General to perish atthe hands of the Dervish
Famous generals of the great war who led the United States and her allies to a glorious victory . and anexcellent master of tactics in the expedition into thesilent land, which was to end in a complete failure. General Gordon, an intelligent and experienced of-ficer, was at Khartoum, which he had reached on Feb-ruary 18th, 1884. In April he found himself besieged,and, in spite of the fact that he warned the homeauthorities of his perilous position, nothing was doneto relieve his distress. Finally, however, the Govern-ment realized that to allow this General to perish atthe hands of the Dervishes might lead to the loss ofEgypt. With this fact fully impressed upon them,Lord Wolseley was instructed to relieve Khartoum atall costs. A flying column was thus dispatched acrossthe desert from Korti to Matammeh, and thence to Khar-toum. With it went a part of the 19th Hussars, underLieutenant-Colonel Barlow, and Major French as sec-ond in command. The column marched forward for about two weeksand then came in touch with the retreating enemy atAbu Klea. The 19th Hussars were sent forward to. SIR JOHN FRENCH SIR JOHN FEENCH 33 reconnoiter, and returning reported that the Mahdi —a native ruler — had drawn up a considerable forcenot far off. Beyond the Dervishes were some wells,and it was important that the British troops should getto them in order to relieve their thirst. After a con-sultation it was decided to fight a way through to thiswater at any cost. Leaving a small force to guard the camp, the mainbody was formed into a square and advanced across thedesert in this form. As the soldiers went forward, theenemy opened a terrific fire upon them, yet, in spite ofcasualties, the men pressed towards the natives, haul-ing their guns in the center of the square, and over therutted and uneven surface of the desert. The Dervishes did not wait for the English, butrushed on to the attack. An eye-witness says that thewild shouting of the Arabs as they advanced sounded likethe thun
Size: 1258px × 1986px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectgeneral, booksubjectworldwar19141918
