During the whole march from Korti the entire scouting duty had been taken by the 19th Hussars, so that, each day, they covered far more ground than the rest of the force. The men also were thoroughly exhausted with the tremendous efforts they had been called on to make, but their health continued to be good. There was wonderful freedom from sickness of any kind. The casualties in the whole force on the 19th January, amounted to 1 officer and 22 non-commissioned officers and men killed; 8 officers and 90 non-commissioned officers and men wounded. Many non-combatants also were killed or wounded.
The 20th was occupied in placing the village of Gubat in a state of defence, and, at dawn of the 21st, Barrow and his Hussars rode out to reconnoitre Metemmeh, preparatory to an attack in force. So exhausted were the horses that all the Hussars could do was to ride up in a body to some high ground on the north of the village, while the rest of the force opened fire from the east side. While the attack was proceeding, four small steamers sent down by Gordon from Khartoum on the 14th December, appeared in sight, and landed some native troops. They brought intelligence of Arab reinforcements being on the march from Khartoum. It was important to husband ammunition, and incur no further losses of men, so the attack was withdrawn. But the Arab reinforcements never reached Metemmeh. The news of the disastrous defeats their comrades had sustained at Abu Klea and Abu Krou, caused them to retrace their steps.
Reconnoissances having shown that no large force of the enemy was in the vicinity, Sir Charles Wilson started on the 24th for Khartoum, with two of the steamers, taking with him two hundred men. On the 28th, after great difficulties, Khartoum was reached, and found to be in the hands of the Arabs. The town had been captured by the Mahdi, two days before, and Gordon was dead. On the 4th February, Sir Charles Wilson and his party rejoined the camp at Gubat, after adventures that read more like a page of romance than of modern history. In the interval, both his steamers had been wrecked, and the whole party had been continuously under fire for eight days and a half. In the meantime, the force at Gubat received some reinforcements and supplies from Korti. The 19th were engaged in daily skirmishes with the outlying pickets of the enemy who showed a wholesome respect for them: “Even the fierce Baggara horsemen appeared unwilling to cross swords with our Hussars,” wrote one who was present with the force. On the 11th, Major General Sir Redvers Buller arrived to take command of the force, with orders to retire on Abu Klea.
On the 14th February, Gubat was evacuated, and Abu Klea reached on the 15th, followed by the enemy who annoyed the force with long range rifle fire. At Abu Klea, on the 17th, a smart skirmish took place which cost the force 3 killed and 27 wounded. Among the killed was Sergeant Horwood of the 19th Hussars, who was acting as Sergeant Major with the Mounted Infantry. It had been intended to occupy Abu Klea permanently, in view of a second advance on Khartoum in the autumn; but want of food, scarcity of water, and the complete breakdown of transport necessitated Buller’s withdrawal to Korti. On the 16th, the 19th Hussars marched out for Jakdul, leaving at Abu Klea with Sir R. Buller a small detachment under Major French. The march was a painful one, about half the men being on foot. While on the march they heard of Sir Herbert Stewart’s death near Jakdul. Wishing to be present at the funeral of the commander they had served under in two campaigns, they made a long forced march into Jakdul, but arrived too late. They had the melancholy satisfaction of erecting a walled enclosure, with headstone, round his grave. On the 3rd March they left Jakdul, and reached Korti on the 8th. On the 23rd February the last of the desert column left Abu Klea, and returned to Korti, 16th March. In a dispatch from Jakdul, dated 26th February, Sir R. Buller wrote of the 19th Hussars:—
“I wish expressly to remark on the very excellent work done by the small detachment of the 19th Hussars, both during our occupation of Abu Klea and during our retirement. Each man has done the work of ten, and it is not too much to say that the force owes much to Major French and his 13 troopers.”
Meanwhile, the men of the 19th, left at Korti, had not been idle. In February they were engaged in establishing two watering posts in the desert, distant respectively twelve and thirty miles from Korti, for the use of the retiring force. The water was conveyed in tin lined biscuit boxes, and every animal in camp was pressed into the service.
The River Column
The primary object of General Earle’s column was to clear the river line of all hostile parties as far as Abu Hamed, punishing, en route, the Monassir tribe of Arabs who had treacherously murdered Colonel Stewart and a small party sent down by Gordon from Khartoum, in September. At Abu Hamed a base was to be established for a further advance on Berber. The force, under General Earle, consisted of four battalions of infantry, a battery of Egyptian Artillery, an Egyptian Camel Corps, and one squadron of the 19th Hussars; the latter under Major Hanford-Flood, amounting to 91 sabres and 107 horses. The total strength of the force was about 3000 officers and men.
The force left Korti, in detachments, for Hamdab, about 50 miles up the river, whence the final start was to be made. On the 18th January, 60 men of the 19th Hussars together with the Egyptian Camel Corps, under Major Flood, made a forced march into the desert to surprise a party of the enemy collected at the wells of El Kooa, 35 miles from Hamdab. The Arabs having received timely notice of their coming, hastily broke up their camp and disappeared, before Flood’s arrival. The detachment returned to Hamdab after 32 hours’ absence.
On the 24th, the start was made; the Hussars, Camel Corps and baggage, marching along the left bank, the infantry and stores in boats. Progress was very slow, the banks of the river being rough and difficult, and the frequent rapids and cataracts causing great labour in tracking the boats up. On the 27th, the cavalry skirmishers first came in touch with the enemy, but beyond a harmless interchange of shots at long range nothing occurred. This happened frequently, the enemy falling back, day by day, as the river column advanced. The progress of the boats was very slow owing to the succession of rapids here formed by the Nile. Major Flood’s men worked and camped independently, reconnoitring along the left bank, far ahead of the main body, and, owing to the rocky nature of the ground, often at a considerable distance from the river. The rocky ridge, on which the battle of Kirbekan was afterwards fought, was ascended and mapped, and a reconnoissance of the 19th Hussars was pushed some way into the Shukook Pass, five days before the action. On the 6th February, a two days’ halt at Birti became necessary, in consequence of the fall of Khartoum making a change of plans possible. The enemy meanwhile had fallen back to the Shukook Pass.