The stand made by the Dervishes has earned the praise of G. W. Steevens, who witnessed it. “Our men,” he says, “were perfect, but the Dervishes were superb—beyond perfection. It was their largest, best, and bravest army that ever fought against us for Mahdism, and it died worthily of the huge empire that Mahdism won and kept so long.” They lost, roughly, 11,000 men killed with 16,000 wounded; and with the battle of Omdurman came the end of the long struggle in the Soudan, and not only that, but the avenging of the death of Gordon.
The losses amongst the two Highland regiments, and indeed the British force as a whole, were trifling for such a hard-fought action.
Whatever else the Highland regiments may have been asked to face before or since—for whirlwind fury and deathless courage, for wild disturbing swiftness and noisy violence, nothing could surpass a Dervish charge.
Troops that can meet that without wavering—front, rear, and flank—need have no qualms for the future exigencies of war.
CHAPTER XXIII
CHITRAL AND THE GORDONS AT DARGAI
(1895-1898)
Come gather, come gather, ye lads o’ the heather,
An’ down thro’ the glen in the pipers’ wake;
Baith gentles and commons, gie heed tae the summons,
An’ haste tae the muster make.