page_title: Nile Expedition
section_title: Organising the Relief Force
hierarchical_section_title: Nile Expedition / Organising the Relief Force
caption_attribution_description: English: Wood engraving entitled The Nile Expedition for the Relief of General Gordon Français&#160;: Gravure sur bois intitulée The Nile Expedition for the Relief of General Gordon
context_page_description: The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition, was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan after Britain decided to abandon the country in the face of a rebellion led by self-proclaimed Mahdi, Mahommed Ahmed. A contingent of Canadians was recruited to help the British navigate their small boats up the Nile River. The Nile Expedition was the first overseas expedition by Canadians in a British imperial conflict, although the Nile Voyageurs were civilian employees and did not wear uniforms.
  The expedition was commanded by Garnet Wolseley. After Sir Herbert Stewart was mortally wounded Brigadier-General, Charles William Wilson took command of this group of about 1,400 men. On two Nile steamers Wilson's Desert Column reached Khartoum in the afternoon of 28 January 1885. It came two days too late: Khartoum had been seized by the Mahdists in the early hours of 26 January. Between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants were slaughtered, among them Gordon.
context_section_description: The Expedition was put under the command of General Garnet Wolseley, who had seen service in the Crimean War, Canada, the Gold Coast and southern Africa.  The Expedition was composed of two officers and 43 soldiers from each British Light Cavalry Regiment.
  Wolseley decided that the best way of reaching Khartoum would be to ascend the Nile River.  Based on his favourable experience with them during his expedition along the Red River to Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) in 1869–1870 to suppress the Red River Rebellion, Wolseley asked the Governor General of Canada, the Marquess of Lansdowne, if it would be possible to recruit a contingent of Canadian voyageurs to help him navigate the Nile.  He requested that they be commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Fred C. Denison, who had served as Wolseley's aide-de-camp during the Red River expedition.  The Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald, did not object once he was assured that the voyageurs were volunteers and would be paid by the British. Denison complied and on 15 September 1884, only 24 days after the request was received, 386 voyageurs set sail for Egypt.
  The Canadians were known at the time as the Nile Voyageurs. As the traditional role of the voyageur was waning, most were formerly employed helping transport log booms down rivers such as the Ottawa, Gatineau and Saguenay. Eighty-six of the voyageurs were members of the First Nations, mostly Caughnawaga, an offshoot from the Mohawk and Ojibwa.
caption: The Nile Expedition for the relief of Gordon
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