Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 22.djvu/181

Gordon of Khartoum began on 12 March, and from that time to its fall Gordon carried on the defence with consummate skill. His resources were small, his troops few, and his European assistants could be counted on the fingers of one hand, yet he managed to convert his river steamers into ironclads, to build new ones, to make and lay down land mines, to place wire entanglements, and to execute frequent sorties, while he kept up the spirits and courage of his followers by striking medals in honour of their bravery, and baffled a fanatic and determined foe for over ten months, during the latter part of which the people who trusted him were perishing from disease and famine, and the grip of the enemy was tightening.

In April the necessity of a relief expedition was pressed upon the government at home, but without avail. In May popular feeling found vent not only in public meetings but in the House of Commons, where a vote of censure on the government was lost by only twenty-eight votes. Eventually proposals were made to send a relief expedition from Cairo in the autumn, and on 5 Aug. a vote of credit for 300,000l. was taken for ‘operations for the relief of General Gordon should it become necessary, and to make certain preparations in respect thereof.’ Even when it was decided that Lord Wolseley should take command of a relief expedition up the Nile, hesitation continued to mark the proceedings of the government, and time, so valuable on account of the rising of the Nile, was lost. It was 1 Sept. before Lord Wolseley was able to leave England. Then everything was done that could be done, but the delay had been fatal.

In September 1884, having driven the rebels out of Berber, Gordon authorised his companions, Colonel Stewart and Frank Power (‘Times’ correspondent), to go down the river in the steamer Abbas to open communication with Dongola. The steamer struck on a rock, and they were both treacherously murdered. Gordon was now the only Englishman in Khartoum. On 30 Dec. Lord Wolseley launched Sir Herbert Stewart's expedition from Korti across the desert to Metemmeh, where, after two severe engagements, it arrived on 20 Jan. 1885 under command of Sir Charles Wilson, Stewart having been mortally wounded. In order to succour the advancing force, Gordon had deprived himself for three months of five out of his seven steamers. These five steamers, fully armed, equipped, and provisioned, were in waiting, and in them were his diaries and letters up to 14 Dec. On that date he wrote to Major Watson, R.E., at Cairo, that he thought the game was up, and a catastrophe might be expected in ten days' time, and sent his adieux to all. On the same day he wrote to his sister: ‘I am quite happy, thank God, and, like Lawrence, I have tried to do my duty.’ His diary ended on the same day with: ‘I have done the best for the honour of my country. Good-bye.’ It was necessary for the safety of his troops that Wilson should first make a reconnaissance down the river towards Berber before going to Khartoum, and when he started up the river on the 24th the difficulties of navigation were so great that it was midday on the 28th before the goal was reached, and then only to find it in the hands of the Mahdi, Khartoum having fallen early on the 26th, after a siege of 317 days.

From the most accurate information since obtained it appears that the garrison early in January had been reduced to great straits for want of food, and great numbers of the inhabitants had availed themselves of Gordon's permission to join the Mahdi. Omdurman, opposite to Khartoum on the west bank of the river, fell about 13 Jan., and about the 18th a sortie was made, in which some serious fighting took place. The state of the garrison then grew desperate. Gordon continually visited the posts by night as well as day, and encouraged the famished garrison. The news of Sir Herbert Stewart's expedition, and the successful engagements it had fought on the way to Metemmeh, determined the Mahdi to storm Khartoum before reinforcements could arrive for its relief. The attack was made on the south front at 3.30 on Monday 26 Jan. 1885. The defence was half-hearted, treachery was at work, and Gordon received no tidings of the assault. The rebels made good their entrance, and then a general massacre ensued. The accounts of Gordon's death are confused and conflicting, but they all agree in stating that he was killed near the gate of the palace, and his head carried to the Mahdi's camp.

Intelligence of the catastrophe reached England on Thursday, 5 Feb. The outburst of popular grief, not only in this country and her colonies, but also among foreign nations, has hardly been paralleled. It was universally acknowledged that the world had lost a hero. Friday, 13 March, was observed as a day of national mourning, and special services were held in the cathedrals and in many churches of the land, those at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's being attended by the royal family, members of both houses of parliament, and representatives of the naval and military services. Parliament voted a national monument to be placed in Trafalgar Square (executed by Mr. Hamo Thornycroft, R.A.,