Omdurman

by Philip Ziegler

Book Overview

General Kitchener amassed his Anglo-Egyptian troops in Cairo and set off into the desert with a motley arm which, as time went on, included the Grenadier Guards, the Rifle Brigade and kilted... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394489365
• ISBN13: 9780394489360
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 237 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Surely, now Gordon is avenged!

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 Om