From
http://www.warwickfusiliers.co.uk/default.asp?mid=34&id=46Need help with research?
We can help you, contact the museum now:
Tel: +44 (0)1926 491653
RRF Museum (Warwickshire)
St John's House
Warwick
England
CV34 4NF
The last line from the following narrative mentions "
the account in The Antelope, vol. iii", which the museum may have.
Pages 109 to 115 inclusive, CHAPTER XV, ATBARA AND KHARTOUM, 1898, from
The Story Of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment by C. L. Kingsford.
"
WHEN the 1st Royal Warwickshire landed at Alexandria in January 1897, twelve years had passed since the death of Gordon and the virtual abandonment of the Soudan. For a time the British Government had been content to maintain the security of Egypt proper. But in the summer of 1896 Dongola had been reconquered; the railway was gradually pushed forward along the valley of the Nile, and in September 1897 an Anglo-Egyptian force, under General Hunter, re-entered Berber. Then the time was ripe for the destruction of the power of the Mahdi's successor, the Khalifa Abdullah.
At the beginning of 1898 the Khalifa had sent Mahmud, one of his principal generals, with a large force of Dervishes to Metemma, a place on the Nile about ninety miles above Berber. There was reason to suppose that Mahmud intended to attack Berber, and the Royal Warwickshire received orders to proceed up the Nile as part of a British brigade. They left Alexandria —856 strong of all ranks—by rail for Cairo, where they embarked on a steamer and barges, which brought them on January 18 to Wady Halfa. There two companies under Major Etheridge were detached to form a garrison for Korti, whilst the remainder were sent across the desert to the rail-head, which was then at Guheish, fifteen miles south of Abu Hamed.
The British brigade was formed by the 1st Royal Warwickshire, 1st Lincoln, 1st Cameron Highlanders and 1st Seaforth Highlanders, under the command of General Gatacre. The Seaforths had to be brought from Malta and had not yet arrived. The rest of the brigade was concentrated on February 13 at Abu Dis, where they were exercised in route marches and field-firing. The Royal Warwickshire had come up the Nile under Lieut.-Col. Longbourne, who completed his term of command on February 24, when his place was taken temporarily by Lieut.-Colonel Quayle Jones.
On February 25 the brigade had just returned to camp from a route march, when they received orders to proceed at once to Dabeika, a little south of Berber. The railway had now advanced and carried them as far as Shereik, whence they had four marches, first over heavy sand, then over rocky ground, both bad going, to El Haasa. There they rested for a day, and on March 3 reached Dabeika. At Dabeika they stayed eight days whilst the rest of the army assembled.
On March 10, Sir Herbert Kitchener, the Sirdar, arrived, and two days later the army moved forward to Darmali. Another advance on March 15 brought them to Kenur, near the con-fluence of the Nile and Atbara, where the brigade was completed by the arrival of the Seaforths. There it was learnt that Mahmud had left the Nile, and was crossing the desert towards the Atbara, with the obvious intention to march round the Anglo-Egyptian army and attack Berber.
Besides the British brigade Kitchener had with him three brigades of Egyptians and Soudanese, which were commanded by Colonels Maxwell, MacDonald and Lewis, a force of Egyptian cavalry under Colonel Broadwood and the Egyptian Camel Corps, together with artillery, both British and Egyptian. The total was nearly 14,000 men of all arms.
In order to frustrate Mahmud's intention, on March 20-21 the Anglo-Egyptian army advanced to Ras-el-Hudi, about twelve miles up the Atbara. On the former of these days Mahmud had reached Nakhila, twenty miles further up, where he crossed the river and formed a zereba on the northern bank. The move to Ras-el-Hudi had effectually checked his plans, but in spite of daily reconnaissances by our cavalry he could not be drawn to come out. It became clear that the Dervishes must be attacked in their camp, and on April 4 Kitchener ordered a further advance to Abadar. Thence on the following day another strong reconnaissance was made, and then on April 6 the army moved forward to Umdabia, within eight miles of the Dervish position.
Soon after sundown on April 7 Kitchener's army started from Umdabia, and after a three hours' march reached Muttrus, where the troops rested till one o'clock next morning. Then the advance was resumed, till shortly before daybreak, when about a mile and a half from the Dervish zereba a fresh halt was made and the whole army formed into line. The Royal Warwickshire was on the extreme left; next to the British brigade came MacDonald's Soudanese in the centre, with Maxwell's on the right and Lewis's Egyptians in support. The cavalry was on the left flank. In the British brigade the Camerons were extended in line along the whole front, the purpose being that they should first break down the zereba and then let the rest pass through to the attack. The other three battalions were behind in columns of companies, the Lincolns on the right, the Seaforths in the centre, and the Royal Warwickshire on the left. To the Royal Warwickshire fell the special task of protecting the left flank from the Dervish cavalry, who were hovering at a distance of about 1000 yards; thus four of their six companies were in column of route in order that they might be able to show an immediate front to the left should need arise.
At dawn the long black line of thorn bushes which formed the Dervish zereba on the river bank was in sight about half a mile away. The troops halted and the artillery opened fire. The bombardment lasted for an hour and a half, and then the infantry once more advanced. When they came within 600 yards of the zereba volleys were fired at intervals; but the Dervishes made no reply until the British line was only 200 yards away, when a pretty hot fire began, which caused most of the casualties amongst the Royal Warwickshire. When the Camerons, with General Gatacre at their head, his position marked by a huge Union Jack, reached the zereba there was some sharp fighting amongst the thorn bushes. The man who carried the Union Jack was shot down, but his place was taken by a soldier of the Warwickshires, who was one of the general's orderlies and carried it through the rest of the fight. The zereba proved a less formidable obstacle than had been expected, and the Camerons would not be denied but went straight on, with the Lincolns and Seaforths close behind. The Royal Warwickshire, delayed by their duty of guarding the left flank, came last, but all swarmed over the zereba in quick succession. MacDonald's and Maxwell's Soudanese, in the centre and on the right, rivalled their British comrades in the valour of their attack. There was half-an-hour's hard righting at close quarters amid the trenches and huts within the enclosure. But the British, breaking in at the north-eastern end, enfiladed the enemy with their terrible rifle fire, and the whole force, advancing steadily, drove the Dervishes in hopeless confusion to the river bed.
Of 12,000 men whom Mahmud had under him only one-third escaped. The rest were slain, taken prisoners, or scattered. The British loss was not heavy: 21 killed and 101 wounded. In the Royal Warwickshire Lieut. M. Greer, a sergeant and 13 men were wounded, of the latter four afterwards died. One of the officers wrote home:- "Our men behaved splendidly, their volley firing was as steady and well-aimed as if on parade."
After the battle the troops remained all day in the scorching sun, and in the cool of the evening started on a weary march back to Umdabia. A few days later they returned to the neighbourhood of Darmali, where the Royal Warwickshire encamped at Es Sellem. Immediately after the battle of the Atbara, Colonel W. E. G. Forbes, who had arrived on the previous day, took over the command of the battalion. Four months of inaction followed, whilst preparation was being made for the great advance to Omdurman. It was a trying time, spent in indifferent native huts during the heat of a Soudanese summer, and all rejoiced when the inevitable period of delay came to an end.
For the final phase a larger force was needed. Another British brigade came out, together with the 21st Lancers. General Gatacre received the command of the division, and was succeeded in the first brigade by General Wauchope. The Egyptian division was also increased by a fourth brigade under Colonel Collinson. The two companies of the Royal Warwickshire which had been at Korti rejoined on August 8, and a week later the 1st brigade embarked on steamers which con-veyed them up the Nile to Wad Hamed. There, during the next few days, the whole army was concentrated, and on August 25 the great advance began. A considerable detour had to be made in order to avoid the rocky heights which formed the river gorge at Shabluka, but in two night marches they reached Royan on the Nile. From Royan four marches, with a day's halt at Wady el Abid, brought them soon after midday on September 1 to Egeigu, a village only six miles north of Omdurman.
At Egeiga the ground slopes gently up from the Nile to form a wide, rolling, sandy plain, round which there curve without entirely enclosing it, on the south a low ridge ending in a hill called Gebel Surgham, and on the north the rocky heights of Kerreri. On the river bank, where the gunboats could give support, a large zereba was at once formed, and whilst it was making the Lancers and Egyptian cavalry were sent out to reconnoitre towards Omdurman. They brought back news that the whole Dervish army, numbering over 40,000, was massed outside the town and apparently preparing to advance. An immediate attack was expected, and the night was spent in anxious watchfulness.
When at dawn the Anglo-Egyptian force stood to arms the 2nd British brigade under General Lyttelton held the southern end on the river bank, then on their right came the 1st British brigade, with MacDonald's, Maxwell's and Lewis's brigades in this order completing the defence, and Collinson's in reserve. The Egyptian cavalry under Colonel Broadwood with the Camel Corps were posted on Kerreri, whilst the Lancers patrolled towards Surgham, The gunboats were sent up the river to renew the bombardment of Omdurman which had begun on the previous day.
About 6.40 the huge Dervish host began to appear over the rising ground in front. It was in point of fact only one part of the whole, for the Khalifa himself with his right wing lay behind Surgham to watch his opportunity, whilst the left stretched out towards Kerreri to make a flank attack. The British artillery opened fire with good effect, but the Dervish centre came on undaunted, directing their main advance to the southern end of the zereba. When the enemy were within 2000 yards the Guards first began their volleys, then the Royal Warwickshire followed, and the rest in turn, till the fire ran all along the line, and from one end to another there was a continuous blaze of flame. The Dervishes in front fell fast, but ever more and more pressed on to take their place, though all gradually withered away and one old sheikh alone charged to within 200 yards of the zereba. Still for an hour they continued their vain onrushes; but by eight o'clock it was clear that the central attack had failed. Soon after its close Captain Caldecott, of the Royal Warwickshire, was mortally wounded by a stray bullet fired from Gebel Surgham. Thus ended the first phase of the battle, the brunt of which had been borne by the British brigades.
Meantime Broadwood with the Egyptian cavalry and Camel Corps on Kerreri found himself confronted by the enemy in unexpected strength. For a time the position was critical; but the Camel Corps regained the zereba under cover of fire from a gunboat which did great execution, whilst the cavalry after luring the Dervishes away northwards were able in their turn to rejoin the main body. Though here we must pass over this incident lightly, it was of importance, both by preventing the attack on our right developing simultaneously with that on the left, and also for the understanding of what happened afterwards.
When the first attack had been repulsed it was important to head off the rest of the Dervish army from the possibility of return to Omdurman. The Lancers were sent out on the Surgham ridge; the enemy were already streaming back to the city, and the Lancers coming suddenly on a large body, who were concealed in a deep nullah, charged through them with great courage. In the meantime the infantry, wheeling to the left in echelon of brigades, had begun to advance towards Surgham. At the same time the position of MacDonald's brigade was shifted to the extreme right. These double movements produced for the time a dangerous gap between MacDonald's and Lewis's brigades. Before MacDonald had reached his right position the Khalifa's army was seen advancing to the attack. Wauchope's brigade was at once ordered to double back and fill the gap. By the time they could begin to deploy the Khalifa had been repulsed and his army was in full retreat. But simultaneously a new danger developed on the right, where the Dervishes were at last advancing from Kerreri. MacDonald, however, supported by Lewis and Wauchope, handled his brigade skilfully and crushed this attack also.
It was now nearly noon, and the Dervish army being practically annihilated, the order was given to resume the march on Omdurman. As our army advanced the remnants of the Khalifa's host were driven off into the desert, and in the afternoon Kitchener with his victorious troops marched into the city. It was near dusk before Wauchope's brigade arrived, and bivouacked for the night in the great square in the centre of Omdurman. Besides Captain Caldecott the losses of the Royal Warwickshire were only Lieut. C. E. Etches and six men wounded. Except in the Lancers the casualties were everywhere light.
Two days after the battle detachments of all regiments crossed the river to take part in the Memorial Service for Gordon amidst the ruins of Khartoum. It was not desirable to detain British troops in the hot Soudan longer than was necessary, and as soon as possible they all started on their homeward journey. By September 14 the Royal Warwickshires were back in Alexandria.
For their services in the Soudan campaign Lieut .-Colonels Quayle Jones and W. E. G. Forbes received the C.B. Captain F. A. Earle received his brevet as major, and Quartermaster C. J. Dixon was granted the honorary rank of captain. The D.C.M. was awarded to Sergeant Girling, Corporal Darnley and Lance-Corporal Marsden. For the regiment there was the double battle honour, " Atbara " and " Khartoum."
NOTE.- There is considerable literature for the Soudanese campaign.
Amongst the most useful works are Mr. Winston Churchill's The River War, and the more succinct narrative in C. Royle's Egyptian Campaigns, 1892-99.
To these must be added the account in The Antelope, vol. iii.
"
Regards
Richard