The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-04-24
Difficulty of Relieving Gordon.


The state of the Soudan and the dangerous po-
sition Of the garrison of Khartoum naturally at
tract attention at the present moment. The
probability of sending relief across the desert be
comes matter of Importance, and some account
| of the region will be of interest, while move
ments on the part of the Egyptians or General
Gordon expected The distance from Masso-
wah to Khartoum in a straight line is near to
four hundred miles while from Suakim to Der
her is only about two hundred. Berber, again.
| is two hundred miles north of Khartoum, but
along that line there is the Nile, which would
supply water for troops and might be used for
! boats to carry troops and stores to Khartoum
for its relief, or to aid the garrison in the other
! direction if an evacuation should be determined
| upon. The route from Massowah although the
| longest, has some advantages 1t crosses the
| northern spurs of the Abyssinian mountains
! along good part of its length, and water is
plentiful, and even rivers may be found on this
| line such as the Barca, the Cash March, and
| the Atbara. The Suakim- Berber route, on the
| contrary, is through the great Nubian desert,
| where wells are few and the water in them is of
| the most doubtful kind. Its being the shorter
| of the two is its great merit if a sudden move
| has to be made.
A large force of the enemy, 5000 or 1900 in
number, horse and foot, assembled near Khar-
| toum last month, and was on the evening of the
18th ult. drawn up under arms, with banners
waving, on the right bank of the Nile, opposite
| to the Palace. At 3 A. NJ. the next morning the
| Times correspondent was awakened by heavy
| rifle fire. He could see the flashes from the roof
of the Palace The firing continued till day
break, when about 5000 rebels returned from
the direction of the river and drew up in four
ranks. each nearly two miles long. Later in
| the day they commenced making huts and put
| ting up tents. He subsequently discovered that
the cause Of the firing was an attack on party
| of 300 soldiers who had been sent down the river
for firewood The following are General Cor
| dons words on the subject
MY arrangements Of last night have unfort-
unately been put stop to by the following cir
cumstance: 1t appears that by some unaceount-
| able negligence three hundred of the black troops
had been left on the Nile below. These were
cut off by the advance of the Arabs, and they
attempted TO get TO Khartoum at night by means
of boats. When passing Halfyeh, they were
seen by the rebels, who opened fire on them,
! killing one hundred In consequence of some
| further disgraceful negligence the steamers that
| should have gone to their rescue did not get
| der way for six hours after the event. This sad
| loss, with the intelligence brought to me Later,
| that some Chaggias who had been bockaded at
| Halfyeh had gone over to the rebels, combined
with the vast accumulation of these latter on
the other bank of the Nile, have decided me to
| restrict myself to the defense of khartoum and
not to risk any outside expedition further than
may be necessary to keep the enyirons clear"
| On the 18th the correspondent had an inter
| view with General Gordon, who announced his
| intention of attacking the rebels on the follow
| ing day. The reasons he gave for this course
were as follows:
II have 800 men, to whom have given arms,
| and who have remained faithful to me- shut up
| at Halfyeh, some miles to the north of
| Khartoum. The presence of the enemy round
| Hafyeh blocks our line of communications by
| steamer. For instance the steamer Bourdain
| yesterdays attempted to pass and the rebels
| opened fire. wounding three soldiers. The
4 rebels cannot be more than 1000, and l will
| make my attack on three sides-one from that
| of Khartoum, one from that of the beleaguered
| garrison and one from armed steamers. The
rebels have entrenched themselves along the
river bank, being thus enabled to fire with i'm
| punty on passing steamers, and must dislodge
| them This assemblage of rebels has not APP
4 parently interfered with the forwarding of sup
| plies to the town market One hundred eamels,
carrying food, arrived here to-day. This is above
| the usual daily number, and fhe fact shows that
| the people would not rise unless they were egged
| on by some malcontents. They would be quiet
| if they believed the government had any back
| bone. Provided that no influence be brought TO
| bear from without, the loss of an action will not
! involve immediate danger to Khartoum. The
| only justification for assuming the offensive
against these poor unfortunate peasants is de-
| rived from the law of self defense, and the duty
of the extrication of the men beleaguered in
Halfyeh. But for this, it is questionable
whether we ought to shoot down those whose
reason for rebellion is fidelity to the only person
| whom they can see as their coming governor in
| the immediate future with the wish to preserve
| their possessions, the security of which cannot
be guaranteed by the present provisional govern
| ment."
The necessity of rescuing the garrison at
| Halfyeh led to the postponement Of the attack
| on the enemy until the 10Th. The result of the
| action is known General Gordon was forced to
retire. and has since then been still more closely
| besieged, with less and less hepe of relief.
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