Khartoum 1885 - General Gordon's Last Stand

Early in 1881 unrest in the Sudan began to crystallize around Mohammed Ibn Ahmed el-Sayyid Abdullah. Proclaiming himself the long-expected Madhi, the Guided One of the Prophet, he preached that the Sudan was to be purged of its Egyptian oppressors. Drawn in by the Egyptian failure to deal with the situation, the British sent General Gordon to organize an evacuation. On reaching Khartoum however, General Gordon believed, incorrectly, that the Madhi could be reasoned with. Instead of negotiating, the Madhi besieged the town for 317 days, ending in the fall of the city, and the death of Gordon, which has come to encapsulate the myth of the Imperial hero. This title details the campaign in context and, in particular, at the battles fought by the British columns sent to relieve Khartoum.