War Office, January 25, 1898.
A DESPATCH and its enclosure, of which the following are copies, have been received by the Secretary of State for War from the General Officer Commanding the Force in Egypt

NILE EXPEDITION, 1897.
From the General Officer Commanding the Force in Egypt to the Under Secretary of State for War, War Office, London, S.W.

	Head-Quarters, Cairo,  December l7, 1897.
SIR,

    I HAVE the honour to forward a Despatch of Major-General Sir Herbert H. Kitchener, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., Sirdar, detailing the action which resulted in the capture of Abu Hamed, and the subsequent occupation of Berber.
    It would be superfluous on my part to add any words of commendation, as I feel sure that after perusal of this Despatch, the behaviour of the Officers of the Royal Navy and Officers and men of the Egyptian Army, both in action at Abu Hamed, the passing of the steamers and sailing-craft through the cataracts, and in the work on the railway, will be fully appreciated.
    But I trust I may be permitted to bring to the notice of Her Majesty's Government the brilliant services rendered by Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar, by whose untiring energy and skilful dispositions many hundred miles of the Nile Valley have been recovered for the Egyptian Government and the Eastern Sudan pacified and opened to trade.

I have, &c.,
	F. GRENFELL, Major-General, Commanding in Egypt.

 

From Major-General Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, to Major-General Sir Francis Grenfell, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., General Officer Commanding in Egypt.

	Cairo, December 9, 1897
SIR,

I HAVE the honour to report that on the 15th July, the construction of the railway from Wadi Haifa having been pushed almost half way across the desert towards Abu Hamed, I deemed it inadvisable to continue the work until the Dervishes had been expelled from that position which information led me to believe the Khalifa was about to reinforce. In order, therefore, to seize Abu Hamed and, at the same time, to cover the passage of the gun-boats over the fourth cataract, I despatched :from Kassinger on 29th July a flying column under the command of Major-General A. Hunter, U.S.O., consisting of :-

A detachment of cavalry.

No. 2 Field Battery under Brevet Major N. E. Young (Royal Artillery).

A Brigade of Infantry under Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel H. A. MacDonald, C.B., D.S.O. (Royal Fusiliers), with Captain C. E. Keith-.Falconer (Northumberland Fusiliers) as Brigade-Major, composed of :—

3rd Battalion Egyptian, under Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. Sillem (Welsh Regiment), Captain A. Blewitt (King's Royal Rifle Corps), Second in Command.

9th Battalion Sudanese, under Lieutenant II. V. Ravenscroft (Manchester Regiment), Lieutenant A. R. Hoskins (North Staffordshire Regiment), Second in Command.

10th Battalion Sudanese, under Brevet Major H. M. Sidney (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry), Captain C. Fergusson (Grenadier .Guards), Second in Command.

11th Battalion Sudanese, under Captain V. T. Bunbury (Leicestershire Regiment), Lieutenant G. de H. Smith (Indian Staff Corps), Second in Command.

In charge of Transport, Second Lieutenant T. H. Healey (Cameron Highlanders).

On the Staff of General Officer Commanding :—Brevet Major W. F. H. S. Kincaid (Royal Engineers), A.A.G. ; Captain F. I. Maxse . (Coldstream Guards) ; Captain the Honourable C. E. Walsh (Rifle Brigade) ; Lieutenant G. F. Gorringe, D.S.O. (Royal Engineers) ; Medical Staff :—Surgeon-Captains H. E. H. Smith and C. S. Spong (Army Medical Staff).

    The intervening distance of 132 miles over an exceptionally rough road and during excessive heat was accomplished in eight days and, after a night march of 18 miles, Abu Hamed was stormed at 6.30 A.M. on 7th August, the position being captured after an hour's house-to-house fighting, with the loss of two British officers and 21 men killed, and three Egyptian officers and 61 men wounded.
   Major-General Hunter reported that the behaviour of everyone engaged was deserving of all praise.
   The death of two gallant and capable officers, Major Sidney and Lieutenant FitzClarence (Dorsetshire Regiment), both of the 10th Sudanese Battalion, is a great loss to the army, and is deeply deplored by the whole force.
    A small number only of the original Dervish garrison escaped, and, falling back on the reinforcements which were still some distance from Abu Hamed. the whole retired to Berber.
    During this operation it was necessary to maintain. a considerable garrison at Merowe, and a strong patrol of Camel Corps under Brevet Major R. J. Tudway (Essex Regiment) was despatched thence to Gakdul to hold in check the Dervish force at Metemma.
    Simultaneously with the advance of the flying column; one unarmed and six armed stern wheelers besides a quantity of sailing craft were sent across the fourth cataract. I cannot speak too highly of the zeal, energy, and skill displayed by Commander Keppel, Royal Navy, assisted by Lieutenant the Honourable H. Hood, Royal Navy, and Lieutenant D. Beaty, D.S.O., Royal Navy, as well as by Captain H. G-. Fitton, D.S.O. (Berkshire Regiment), Captain E. A. Stanton (Oxfordshire Light Infantry), and Captain E. G. T. Bainbridge (East Kent Regiment), who were employed in connection with the steamers which (with the exception of the gunboat "El Teb" capsized in the cataracts) were all successfully brought to Abu Hamed by 29th August ; whilst Major F. J Pink, D.S.O. (Royal West Surrey Regiment), Captain H. S. Slomen (East Surrey Regiment). Captain W. R. B. Doran (Royal Irish Regiment), Captain J. J. Asser (Dorsetshire Regiment), Lieutenant E. P. Strickland (Norfolk Regiment). Lieutenant J. M. A. Graham (East Lancashire Regiment), and various other officers and men were employed on the arduous and, dangerous task of hauling the sailing craft through the rapids.
    Meanwhile reports having reached Merowe and Abu Hamed that the Dervishes were evacuating Berber, Major-General Hunter was ordered to push on with four gunboats to occupy that place, but being somewhat delayed by one of  the steamers striking a rock which necessitated repairs, a party of irregular Arab scouts under Ahmed Bey Khalifa, who had been sent by land to verify the news, succeeded in entering Berber unopposed, followed on 6th September by the steamers, two of which were despatched south on the same day and succeeded in capturing, off Ed Damer, the sailing craft of the retreating Dervish force.
   The unexpected withdrawal of the enemy front Berber threw a great additional strain on the organization and transport of supplies which had now to be carried from Kassinger, a distance of upwards of 270 miles, portage stations being established at the cataracts under Captains F. M. B. Hobbs (Royal Marines), J. A. E. MacBean (Royal Dublin Fusiliers), and other officers, and the fact that the requirements of the Berber garrison were fully met reflects great credit on Honorary  Major W. H. Drage, D.A.A.G. (Army Service Corps), and on all the transport officers.
    Commander Keppel, Royal Navy, with the gunboat flotilla reconnoitred the enemy's position at Metemma on 16th and 17th September, and again on 3rd November, proceeding on that date as far south as the foot of the sixth cataract, On both occasions the gunboats were heavily fired on by the Dervish forts, but sustained little damage. They captured several of the enemy's sailing craft.
    In order to clear the districts round Berber of the presence of Dervish raiders from Osman Digna's camp on the Atbara, a small column was despatched on 23rd October, under the command of Major-General Hunter, composed of the 11th Sudanese Battalion (Brevet Major H. W. Jackson, Gordon Highlanders, Commanding), 2 guns under Captain M. Peake (Royal Artillery), and detachments of Camel Corps and transport, but the enemy retired south before the arrival of the troops and consequently, after reconnoitring the country towards Goz Regeb and burning Adarama on 2nd November, the column returned to Berber on 9th November. During this operation a post was established at the mouth of the Atbara under Lieutenant J. F. Wolseley (Cheshire Regiment).
    The withdrawal of Osman Digna from this portion of the Eastern Sudan has thus enabled the tribes to rally to the Government, and the road between Suakin and Berber has been opened. An Egyptian garrison is also on its way to Kassala to take over that place from the Italians under agreement with the Egyptian Government.
    The presence of a considerable force of Dervishes at Metemma necessitates the maintenance of a strong garrison at Merowe under the command of Major-General H. M. L. Rundle, C.M.G., D.S. O. (Royal Artillery), to safeguard the Dongola District, but it is satisfactory to note that the tribes inhabiting the Bayuda Desert are almost without exception loyal to the Egyptian Government.
    On 31st October the desert railway from Wadi Haifa was opened to Abu Hamed, and the extension towards Berber was at once begun. The rapid completion of this line, which has greatly facilitated communications, reflects much ere it on Lieutenant-Colonel J. G. Maxwell, D.S.O. (Commanding Nubia District), Lieutenant E. P. C. Girouard, D.S.O. (Royal Engineers), and his Staff, and on all officers and men employed on this undertaking, which has been successfully accomplished in almost record time, under great vicissitudes and during exceptionally hot weather.
    In conclusion, it is my pleasant duty to record my appreciation of the excellent services of not only the officers and troops mentioned above, but also of the whole force of the Egyptian Army in the Sudan, who, whether British or Native, officers or men, willingly and ably carried out the often arduous duties they were called upon to perform, and maintained throughout the trying summer heat most excellent discipline and soldierlike spirit.
     As fuller accounts have from time to time been submitted to you dealing in detail with the various movements described, I have thought it merely necessary in the above despatch to touch on the salient points of the recent operations, which have resulted in retaking for Egypt upwards of 300 miles of the Nile Valley, besides the whole of the Eastern Sudan, and in freeing the inhabitants of these districts from terrible oppression.

I have, &c.,
	HERBERT KITCHENER, Major-General, Sirdar.