March 1884 – January 26, 1885 · Confluence of the Blue and White Nile Theater
March 1884 – January 26, 1885
Sent to evacuate the Egyptian garrisons, the charismatic and headstrong General Gordon instead resolved to hold Khartoum, and was besieged there by the Mahdi's army for ten months. As the Nile fell and the city starved, a British relief expedition was despatched too late; on January 26, 1885, the Mahdists stormed the weakened defences and killed Gordon on the steps of his palace — two days before the relief steamers arrived.
Commanders