The Khartoum Campaign

The campaign to overthrow Mahdism as witnessed by a British journalist

The rise of Mahdism entered British consciousness as the fanatical followers of the man and his faith swept into Khartoum in 1885, slaughtering the Egyptian garrison and-of more importance to the Imperial public-their charismatic English commander General 'Chinese' Gordon. A relief force had been fighting its way to relieve Khartoum, but all now knew it would never achieve its objective. It would be 13 years before another British expedition would be launched down the Nile to exact punishment for the outrage. The Mahdi was long dead ,but his creed still flourished among the fierce tribes of the region. It was now 1898 and also the age of the great special correspondents reporting colonial wars everywhere the Union flag flew. One of the most famous was Bennett Burleigh of the Daily Telegraph and it was his task to accompany Kitchener's British/Egyptian army to the Upper Nile. He has provided a well written and intimate account of his experiences throughout the campaign, through skirmishes and battles to the final confrontation at Omdurman. This volume includes several photographs of the campaign including insightful images of British cavalry and infantry on the battlefield.