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678:. Out of the forty men in the Naval contingent, Lieutenants Alfred Piggott and Rudolph de Lisle were killed along with Chief Boatswain's Mate Bill (Billy) Rhodes and five other seamen and seven more were wounded. Beresford was 'scratched' on the left hand by a spear as he managed to duck under the gun. The weight of the rush pushed the sailors back into the face of the square. Several dervishes got inside the square, but found the interior full of camels and could not proceed. The troops in the rear ranks faced about and opened fire into the press of men and camels behind them, and were able to drive the dervishes out of the square and compel them to retreat from the field.
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650:, which they achieved with perfect discipline, though still under fire from enemy snipers. The square moved slowly towards the wells along the side of the wadi, over very difficult, undulating, rocky ground. Suddenly the square was ambushed by a huge Mahdist force that had been concealing itself in the wadi. The British guns were on the leading face of the square, and the Naval Brigade, with their Gardner machine gun, at the rear left-hand corner, nearest the wadi. Several officers and men of
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then gave an impromptu order for the Heavy Camel
Regiment to wheel out of the square in support of the Gardner gun. The gun had been tested and found very reliable in Britain, but had not been tested in a desert with loose sand getting into its mechanism. It fired seventy rounds and then jammed, and
767:
On 20 January a flotilla of four steamers with a motley force of
Sudanese and Egyptian troops sent downriver by Gordon reached the British camp. After some reconnaissance up and down the river, Wilson set off towards Khartoum with two of the steamers and a small force on 24 January. His orders from
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travelled by river from Korti to
Khartoum, Stewart's column was to cut across country by column directly for Khartoum, since time was running short according to what little information was available from the garrison. The force was composed of four regiments of camel-mounted troops (Guards, Heavy,
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The battle was short, lasting barely fifteen minutes from start to finish. Casualties for the
British were nine officers and 65 other ranks killed and over a hundred wounded. The Mahdists lost 1,100 dead during the fifteen minutes of fighting, made all the worse by only 3,000–5,000 of the dervish
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So 'ere's ~to~ you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan; You're a pore benighted 'eathen but a first-class fightin' man; An' 'ere's ~to~ you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick 'ead of 'air — You big black boundin' beggar — for you broke a
British square!
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Wolseley were to make contact and confer with Gordon. They arrived after 11 o’clock on 28 January and were met with enemy fire from the riverbanks. Khartoum had fallen to the Mahdi on 26 January and Gordon had been killed.
764:, his intelligence officer). (Stewart would die of his wound a month later.) Wilson was slow to organize his forces, and in tarrying another day, it was he who was the cause of that advance detachment's delay.
646:), but were sniped at from the high ground around them by Mahdist rifle units – mainly soldiers from southern Sudan – all night. They took several casualties. At first light Stewart ordered them to form a
1145:, volume 3, No. 3 (December 2001), 78–84. (Describes the failed British attempt to rescue major general Charles Gordon and friendly forces at Khartoum from the Dervishes led by the Mahdi.)
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The Desert Column arrived on the salient overlooking the wadi of Abu Klea not long before sunset, and
Stewart decided not to attack that night. The British built a defensive position (or
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were killed at the battle. As the
British halted to repel the Mahdist force, a gap opened up towards the rear left corner of the square. This was caused when Captain
1136:, "Khartoum - The Ultimate Imperial Adventure" Penguin, 2004. Includes a vivid description of the battle from the perspective of both British and Mahdist forces.
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on the afternoon of 19 January near Abu Kru, in the vicinity of
Metemmeh, in which it repulsed another charge by the Mahdists. The column's leader, Major General
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reported that he "fell while reforming a broken
British square" (this being one of only two recorded cases of a British square 'breaking' in the 19th century).
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The
British then withdrew from the Sudan, leaving the Mahdi to rule Sudan for the next 13 years. The official public blame for this failure was left with
906:"Abu Klea", awarded in 1955 in recognition of the Victoria Cross won by Gunner Smith. The battle, together with that of Tamai, was also referenced in
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More celebrated and of higher literary quality , but taking substantial liberties for the exact events, is the mention of the battle in verse two of
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The rhymes in these poems show varying attempts at pronouncing "Klea" from the English spelling, and the rhyme with "fear" shows British English
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The place is generally known in British military records as Abu Klea, which arose as a contemporary British spelling of its Arabic name, '
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The Desert Column set out from Abu Klea in the late afternoon of 18 January and marched through the night towards Metemmeh. It fought a
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Light and Mounted Infantry), detachments of the various infantry regiments in Egypt and of the River Column, and a detachment of the
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Weep not my boys, for those who fell, They did not flinch nor fear. They stood their ground like Englishmen, and died at Abu Klea
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565:, against a Sudanese force of approximately 14,000 fighters. While the main British force (the River Column), led by General Sir
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955:, a film from 2002, where the battle is portrayed very different from reality and as a disastrous defeat instead of a victory.
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force being engaged. Among the dervish dead was Musa wad Helu, one of the Mahdist chiefs. British national hero Colonel
1162:
Snook, Col Mike, "Beyond the Reach of Empire: Wolseley's Failed Campaign to Save Gordon and Khartoum." (London, 2013).
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The battle and one of its notable participants is mentioned in the song "Colonel Burnaby", which has as its chorus:
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forces encamped near Abu Klea. The Desert Column, a force of approximately 1,400 soldiers, started from
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712:) distinguished himself when several horses were shot under him during the engagement, earning him a
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for delaying several months to authorise a rescue, to the considerable anger expressed in public of
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Craig, Simon, "Breaking the Square: Dervishes vs. Brits at the 1885 Battle of Abu Klea",
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Beyond the Reach of Empire: Wolseley's Failed Campaign to Save Gordon and Khartoum'
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The British forces consisted of 1,400 British of the Desert Column under Sir
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fought bravely to save his officer, Lieutenant Guthrie, and was awarded a
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unit which took part in the battle still exists today, re-numbered as
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as the crew tried to clear it they were cut down in a rush by the
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Dictionary of battles from the earliest date to the present time
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is wrong, as the British force at Abu Klea had the American
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The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan
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And sing in praise of Sir Herbert Stewart’s little army,
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took place between 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea,
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Photograph of two Sikh soldiers of the Camel Corps, by
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The emblem of 176 (Abu Klea) Battery Royal Artillery
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867:But the voice of the schoolboy rallies the ranks,
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1183:Full text of the poem, from McGonagall Online.
661:RN, commanding the Naval Brigade, ordered the
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279:1,100 killed, unknown wounded (British claim)
1154:, Middlesex: The Echo Library, 2007. 43–48.
861:And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
549:(أَبُو طُلَيْح). The British commander Sir
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813:At the charge of the bayonet at Abou Klea
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69:Learn how and when to remove this message
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518:, between the British Desert Column and
383:British-Egyptian expeditions (1885–1889)
32:This article includes a list of general
869:"Play up! play up! and play the game!”
665:to be run out on the left flank of the
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851:…The sand of the desert is sodden red,
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865:And England’s far, and Honour a name,
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264:14,000 (3,000 engaged in the battle)
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685:Map of the battle field of Abu-Klea
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1034:. 20 October 2007. Archived from
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432:Italian campaigns (1890–1894)
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1093:McGonagall, William (1885).
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613:Royal Marines Light Infantry
327:Mahdist uprising (1881–1885)
7:
1112:Ayers, R. (25 March 2021).
1007:"The Desert Column, 1884–5"
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714:Distinguished Service Order
600:Mounted Infantry Detachment
530:", was to march across the
460:British-Egyptian reconquest
10:
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1213:Battles of the Mahdist War
1068:White-Spunner, pp. 400–408
818:and so on for 19 stanzas.
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671:Frederick Gustavus Burnaby
1189:Painting by Karl Kopinski
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597:Guards Camel Detachment
53:more precise citations.
1181:The Battle of Abu Klea
934:The Triumph of the Sun
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218:Commanders and leaders
108:The Battle of Abu Klea
1116:. The Kipling Society
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582:completed the force.
536:Charles George Gordon
389:Emin Pasha Expedition
269:Casualties and losses
112:William Barnes Wollen
1078:Snook, Mike (2013).
981:"Battle of Abu Klea"
807:, come join with me,
512:Battle of Abu Tulayh
1218:January 1885 events
580:Gardner machine gun
156:16.9833333°N 33.3°E
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1038:on 20 October 2007
1011:Savage and Soldier
985:BritishBattles.com
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796:William McGonagall
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508:Battle of Abu Klea
88:Battle of Abu Klea
1208:Conflicts in 1885
1168:978-1-84832-601-9
1142:Military Heritage
1099:McGonagall Online
952:The Four Feathers
894:machine gun. The
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912:Fuzzy-Wuzzy
900:176 Battery
803:Ye sons of
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547:Abu Tͅuleiħ
462:(1896–1899)
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438:1st Agordat
317:Mahdist War
159: /
95:Mahdist War
51:introducing
1197:Categories
1016:4 February
960:References
748:, England.
578:manning a
557:Background
276:82 wounded
147:33°18′00″E
144:16°59′00″N
34:references
1042:21 August
776:Gladstone
728:Aftermath
716:. Gunner
701:The Times
676:dervishes
654:Alexandra
510:, or the
478:Abu Hamed
421:Guté Dili
274:76 killed
1187:Abu Clea
944:Khartoum
928:See also
840:'s poem
792:doggerel
742:Brighton
540:Khartoum
488:Omdurman
443:Serobeti
426:Gallabat
367:Kirbekan
357:Abu Klea
352:Khartoum
256:Strength
135:Khartoum
130:Location
1120:15 June
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888:Gatling
857:Gatling
831:arhotic
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520:Mahdist
453:Kassala
362:Abu Kru
337:Shaykan
233: (
47:improve
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946:(film)
910:poem "
754:battle
648:square
643:zariba
624:Battle
483:Atbara
468:Ferkeh
399:Suakin
394:Dufile
377:Ginnis
372:Tofrek
342:El Teb
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172:Result
36:, but
794:poet
710:Cecil
524:Korti
516:Sudan
473:Rejaf
416:Kufit
404:Toski
347:Tamai
261:1,400
1164:ISBN
1122:2023
1044:2020
1018:2016
992:2023
855:The
805:Mars
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122:Date
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332:Aba
236:DOW
110:by
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1009:.
983:.
968:^
846::
798::
782:.
744:,
724:.
1170:.
1124:.
1101:.
1046:.
1020:.
994:.
308:e
301:t
294:v
239:)
72:)
66:(
61:)
57:(
43:.
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