Customer Reviews

Odurman (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

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This is a really well-written account on the battle of Omdurman in 1898, and the preparation leading up to it. There is also a brief description of the unsuccessful relief expedition to rescue Gordon in 1885, as well as the "River War" to which Omdurman was the conclusion. This is no dry-as-dust military history- it reads like a bullet. Nor is it just a recycling of previous information since the author uses personal material from journals and letters that has never before been published.

I never knew that the original start to the campaign was to be brief expedition to drive Mahdist forces from the Egyptian frontier. There was no plan to move on to Omdurman. General Kitchener appears to have talked the British and Egyptian governments into moving farther up the Nile since "he was already there- and it would be cheaper to proceed- now!" In fact Kitchener had been a young engineering officer on the unsuccessful mission to relieve Gordon in 1885 and he had long felt that Gordon's slaughter, and British honour, needed to be avenged.

The character of Kitchener is objectively examined- this is no excercise in nostalgic imperial hero worship. Kitchener really did not seem to have any true concern for the men under his command. They were a means to an end, and disposable if needs be. Nor was he a brilliant strategist. His real strength was as an engineer, which was what made this campaign work. His buillding of a military railway over the Nubian desert in record time was one of the most remarkable engineering feats of the day. His detailed knowlege of logistics was also remarkable (it was said that he knew the exact count of every bullet and biscuit in the expedition.) However, when it came to the actual fighting it was invariably a matter of direct frontal assault with overwhelming force. One officer is recorded as saying that the tactics used were not substantially changed since Waterloo.

There were a couple of notable historic footnotes to this campaign. It was the first use of high-explosive artillery shells in actual combat. Prior to this, high explosives were too unstable to load in shells and tended to explode in the barrel. The incredible effectiveness of the new shells by the gunboats and field artillery even amazed the gunners.

It was also the last major cavalry charge in modern times. While the charge of the 21st Lancers has been glorified from the start, it was actually not ordered by Kitchener and essentially ruined their effectiveness for the recon and screening duties that he really needed them for.

The description of the actual battle reads like you are actually there. Try to imagine taking part in a fight of six brigade strength units (two British and four Sudanese and Egyptian) against perhaps 100,000 Mahdists. The fighting was done in the classic style of the front rank kneeling and the rear standing (with no cover other than a thorn bush barrier or zariba) while pouring on volley after volley. When the brigades advanced on Omdurman after the initial enemy assault they didn't even have that much cover...

This hardcover edition by Knopf is full of military-grade maps, photographs, line drawings, and really glorious full-colour reproductions of paintings and lithographs. There is a bibliography of published references.

The only other book that I have found that describes military operations of the late 19th century this well is _Showdown at Little Big Horn_ by Dee Brown.

Omdurman is a really gripping account of Kitchener's conquest of Omdurman from the Mahdist forces in 1898. The prologue provides the background on the 1885 fall of Khartoum and death of General Gordon. The Mahdi died that same year and was succeeded by the Khalifa Abdullahi. The rest of that decade, the Egyptian and Sudanese troops of the Khedive were being properly trained to become a disciplined force. In 1889 they defeated an attempted Mahdist invasion of Egypt at Toski north of Wadi Halfa in Nubia.

Kitchener's success required a huge effort, including building a railway from Wadi Halfa through the Nubian desert to where the Atbara joins the Nile. After the Anglo-Egyptian force took Dongola in 1896, the reluctance of the British government to allow its further advance was overcome through the sensational reports of the brave spy Reginald Wingate. The army, joined by gun-boats, easily took Abadia and Berber.

On 1st September 1898 the gun-boat bombardment first destroyed the island forts then turned their howitzers on the inner city walls. Soon the Mahdi's tomb had taken some direct hits. Meanwhile the army was establishing itself on the south slopes of the Kerreri hills. On the day of battle, the thousands of dervishes that stormed the Anglo-Egyptian position were repelled mainly by artillery.

The action and the various close shaves are expertly narrated by Ziegler, including the famous charge of the 21st lancers. The battle turned into a wholesale slaughter of the Khalifa's forces that retreated into the city. As the army entered Omdurman on 2nd September, the Khalifa fled. Prisoners were freed and the Mahdi's tomb was razed to the ground the next day. On Sunday 4th September representatives of every regiment and corps crossed the Nile to Khartoum where a ceremony was held in Gordon's honor.

The text is enhanced by plenty of black and white illustrations and many maps and the book concludes with a bibliography and index. The bulk of Omdurman deals with the battle itself and the few days preceding it. For in-depth history of the campaign, recommended books include The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881-98: A Study of Its Origins, Development and Overthrow by P M Holt and The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan by Winston Churchill.