EGYPT. 



259 



and a force of irregulars. Three quarters of the 

 dervishes were well posted on an island in the 

 river when Col. Lewis advanced to the attack by 

 a ford. The Egyptian force captured the dervish 

 position, and then dispersed a detachment of 300 

 dervishes that Ahmed Fedil had taken across to 

 the opposite bank to fire upon the assailants as 

 they approached the island. Ahmed Fedil es- 

 caped southward, still with a large body of fol- 

 lowers, although the dervishes lost nearly 2,000 

 in killed and captured, while 6 Egyptian officers 

 were wounded and 27 men killed and 124 wound- 

 ed. Fedil withdrew to the province of Kordofan, 

 where he joined the Khalifa in the vicinity of 

 Lake Shirkeleh. The Khalifa had about 3,000 

 men, including a detachment under a Baggara 

 Emir that was sent from Omdurman before the 

 arrival of the sirdar's forces to form the nucleus 

 of a new army in case of defeat at that place. He 

 was joined also by the dervish force under Emir 

 Arabi Wad Dafalla, which had evacuated Bor. 

 Immediately after the battle of Roseires Lord 

 Kitchener went in search of the Khalifa, recon- 

 noitering as far as Duem, where he found the 

 dervishes well intrenched near Lake Shirkeleh, 

 and in such numbers that the Egyptian troops 

 retired without engaging the enemy. A force 

 of dervishes advanced toward the Nile, and their 

 outposts fired upon a passing gunboat. Later 

 the Egyptians moved in force upon the dervish 

 encampment near Lake Shirkeleh, causing the 

 Khalifa to evacuate the position and retire far- 

 ther away from the river. Duem was then occu- 

 pied as the advanced post of the Anglo-Egyptian 

 forces. The Khalifa's camp was 140 miles west 

 of the White Nile and 170 miles from Duem, 

 which was garrisoned by an Egyptian battalion 

 and some artillery and a camel corps. Parties 

 of dervishes continued to raid the villages on the 

 river, and ventured within a day's march of the 

 post at Duem. When the Egyptians developed 

 greater strength in the south they renewed their 

 efforts to capture the Khalifa, until in the middle 

 of May he moved farther south toward the Dar 

 Sagalla mountains. After that the expeditions 

 against him were abandoned for a time by order 

 of the sirdar. The troops available at Omdur- 

 man and at Duem when active operations were 

 resumed in the autumn consisted of 8 squadrons 

 of cavalry, 5 batteries of artillery, 8 battalions of 

 infantry, and 5 companies of the camel corps, 

 over 10,000 men altogether. There were besides 

 the garrisons left on the Blue Nile, in the eastern 

 Soudan, and in the Fashoda district. The rail- 

 road bridge over the Atbara, the construction of 

 which was given to an American firm because 

 none in England would contract to complete it 

 within the required time, was finished in August, 

 and the railroad was declared open to ordinary 

 traffic. There were 587 miles of railroad north 

 of the Bridge, and 122 miles were in working 

 order south of it, leaving 75 miles to be com- 

 pleted to Khartoum. Lord Kitchener took a 

 camel ride through the eastern Soudan in April, 

 and discovered there much ruin and famine, the 

 Hadendoas suffering most, the whole of them 

 having been collected by the Baggaras into Os- 

 man Digna's camp, where large numbers of them 

 perished. The Shukurieh tribe was reduced from 

 80,000 camels to 1,000. The sirdar met the 

 sheikhs of the different districts, who were then 

 repairing as far as possible the damage wrought 

 by the dervishes and collecting the scattered 

 people. 



In October Lord Kitchener ascended the Nile 

 to a point 400 miles above Omdurman, and then 

 marched inland about 50 miles until he was with- 



in 30 miles of the place where the Khalifa was 

 encamped. The Khalifa retired, being unwilling 

 to accept battle. He was reported to have a 

 force of 5,000 fighting men. Still, the sirdar did 

 not consider him formidable or likely to give trou- 

 ble, although his forces might at any time in- 

 crease from local causes, and the fanatical and 

 desperate tribesmen who remained true to him 

 were themselves a constant menace to the peace 

 of the Soudan. When Lord Kitchener withdrew 

 a part of the garrison at Omdurman, leaving only 

 a small force under Sir Francis Wingate, the 

 Khalifa decided to make a forward movement. 

 The Khalifa Abdullah el Taaishi, who had re- 

 mained for some time at Gedir, went northward 

 in November, and was heard of in the neighbor- 

 hood of Gedid. The sirdar collected a force as 

 rapidly as possible, with the object of cutting 

 him off and, if possible, destroying his army. 

 On Nov. 21 Col. Sir Francis Wingate set out from 

 Fachi Shoya in search of the Khalifa with a force 

 of Egyptian infantry, black irregulars who had 

 served under the Mahdi, Arab horsemen, a camel 

 corps, a field battery, and six Maxim guns. The 

 total strength of the column was 3,700 men. 

 The Khalifa's advance guard of 2,400 men was 

 encountered at Abo Adil, near the White Nile, 

 on Nov. 22, having retreated from Mefissa at the 

 approach of the Egyptian troops. The dervishes 

 bravely charged up the hill where the mounted 

 troops and artillery commanded their camp, and 

 were only stopped within 60 yards of the guns 

 by the infantry, who came up just in time. The 

 Egyptians then made a general advance, driving 

 the defeated enemy through their camp and sev- 

 eral miles beyond. The Egyptian loss was only 

 1 killed and 6 wounded, while of the dervishes 

 400 were killed and 300 taken prisoners, most of 

 them wounded. The rest rejoined the main body 

 of the Khalifa's troops. The Khalifa's army was 

 advancing northward when the Egyptian column 

 was sent out by the sirdar, and its intended route 

 was that by which Ahmed Fedil retreated. Col. 

 Wingate judged that the Khalifa would either 

 advance to give him battle or endeavor to escape 

 by way of Gedid to Sherkeleh; not retreat over 

 the route by which he had marched, as he had 

 exhausted all the food and water when coming. 

 The Egyptian column therefore proceeded as rap- 

 idly as possible to Gedid to stop the Khalifa from 

 going west out of reach or to be in advantageous 

 position to strike him if he tried to advance 

 north, according to his original plan. From 

 Gedid the Arab scouts that had enabled the 

 Egyptians to surprise the dervish advance guard 

 were sent out to find where the Khalifa was en- 

 camped. He was located with all his force at 

 Om Debrekat, only six miles away. Advancing 

 by a night march, the Egyptians before dawn 

 on Nov. 24 occupied a ridge overlooking the 

 dervish camp just before the Khalifa's men moved 

 up, intending to take up a position on the same 

 commanding ground. As the guns opened on 

 the advancing dervishes the Khalifa moved his 

 forces to the right, with the intention of turn- 

 ing the Egyptian left flank. The Egyptians con- 

 centrated their fire on that point and prolonged 

 their line with the reserve battalions, in order to 

 protect their flank. As soon as the dervish as- 

 sault was checked Col. Wingate swung his right 

 wing around, and a general advance all along 

 the line swept the enemy through their camp. 

 The Khalifa, although he saw that the battle was 

 lost, did not stir from the spot in the center of 

 the main attack, but courted death with his 

 brothers Senussi Ahmed and Haroun Mohammed, 

 Sadik, his son, Ali Wad Hila, Ahmed Fedil, his 





