Battle of Omdurman

The Battle of Omdurman was a military engagement that took place on 2 September 1898 between Anglo-Egyptian and Mahdist forces during the Mahdist War. The result was an overwhelming Anglo-Egyptian victory under the command of Major General Horatio Kitchener. The Anglo-Egyptian forces won due to superior firepower and technology compared to the Mahdists.

Background

On 26 January 1885 the Mahdists had captured Khartoum and and killed British General Charles Gordon. The British, wanting to re-establish control in the region, eventually decided to act years after the capture of Khartoum. They made a plan to put Major General Horatio Kitchener in charge of an Anglo-Egyptian force that would advance down the Nile and wrest control of the region from the Mahdists. Kitchener was appointed as sirdar (commander-in-chief) of the Egyptian army, and was supposed to lead the campaign as an Egyptian (rather than British) effort to re-take Sudan. The Anglo-Egyptian army advanced towards Khartoum in Sudan under the command of Major General Horatio Kitchener, making slow but steady progress. The Mahdists, under the command of Abdullah al-Taashi, suffered many defeats attempting to block the Anglo-Egyptian force on its drive to Khartoum. Once Kitchener's army reached Omdurman (the Mahdist capital and stronghold), Kitchener quickly decided to settle just a few miles from the city after learning that Abdullah al-Taashi had a force of 52,000 Mahdists with him at Omdurman.

Battle

On the morning of 2 September 1898 the Mahdists attacked the Anglo-Egyptian army awaiting them near Omdurman by launching a massive frontal assault. The Mahdists were subsequently met with a barrage of firepower pouring from the British-equipped Anglo-Egyptian army. Although the Mahdists greatly outnumbered the British and Egyptian troops at Omdurman, the Anglo-Egyptian army was armed with British modern rifles and Maxim machine guns, while the Mahdists were only armed with spears and some outdated firearms. The result was that the Mahdists were slaughtered in the thousands by the hail of bullets. Seeing their assault had failed, the Mahdists began to retreat. In order to prevent their retreat into Omdurman, Kitchener ordered the 21st Lancers under the command of Colonel R.H. Martin to pursue and crush the retreating force. However, they ran into dervish cavalry and Mahdist troops which had been lying in ambush. The result was an inconclusive melee, after which the 21st Lancers rejoined Kitchener's main army. After about an hour of Mahdist retreat during which Kitchener's army rested, Kitchener ordered them to march the seven miles to Omdurman in order to finish off the Mahdist army. During this march, some gaps appeared in the Anglo-Egyptian lines, and the Mahdists used this opportunity to launch unsuccessful counterattacks. During the second such counterattack, British Brigadier-General Hector MacDonald repulsed a Mahdist attack from the south, and then rotated his entire brigade to defeat another Mahdist attack from the north. Because of MacDonald's actions, Kitchener successfully destroyed the remaining Mahdists and captured Omdurman.

Aftermath

9,700 Mahdists were killed in the battle, while 13,000 were wounded and 5,000 were captured. British and Egyptian forces only suffered 47 killed and 340 wounded. Because of their victory, the Anglo-Egyptain army under the command of Kitchener was able to march on and retake Khartoum. The Mahdists ended up losing in the Mahdist War.

References

1. Kennedy, H. (4 June 2019). Mahdist War: Battle of Omdurman. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/mahdist-war-battle-of-omdurman-2360833

2. (N.d.). Battle of Omdurman. BritishBattles.com. Retrieved from https://www.britishbattles.com/war-in-egypt-and-sudan/battle-of-omdurman/

3. Knighton, A. (2 June 2017). The Battle of Omdurman: The High-water Mark of British Imperialism. War History Online. Retrieved from https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/battle-omdurman-high-water-mark-british-imperialism-m.html