Suakin, Egyptian Soudan: On the 7th instant Brigadier Andersen and his forces relieved the besieged garrison of El Tiempo es Oro. Our reporter in Suakin, Thomas Pigout, accompanied the column, which is today supposed to joined Sir Gerald Graham's column marching on Berber. Pigout's report follows. Suakin, 4 April 1884: the column departed at 5 a.m. with no fanfare. Brig. Andersen and Col. Østergaard took the lead with the K.D.L. Cavalry, whilst the infantry and supply column followed. Brig. Andersen divided the command into three columns to move faster and protect the center supply column. Our forces consisted of the Highland Light Infantry, K.D.L. infantry and Red Watch, Naval Brigade and one company each of Wood's newly trained Egyptian and Soudanese infantry. We encountered no Mahdist forces the first day out. However, 5 April was a completely different matter. The left wing, commanded by Col. Østergaard was attacked twice once in the am. and once in the p.m. The right wing under the command of Lt. Col. MacGregor, H.L.I., was attacked once. The Mahdist forces used every tiny bit of cover they could to attempt surprise attack on the columns, but it never worked. Standing orders included the lead companies to investigate all possible cover that the Mahdists might utilize before the main column passed. Never during the march did the Mahdists come close to the center supply column much to the credit of Brig. Andersen and Col. Østergaard. The first attack on the 5th instant against the left column consisted of appoximately 240 Fuzzy Wuzzy's. A tleast a hundred were left on the field after several well timed volleys by Østergaard's men of the K.D.L. The second attack at noon on the 5th was against the right flank Highland Light Infantry who moved amongst the rocks as the Fuzzy attack began. The H.L.I. Coy broke up the attack quickly but not before taking casualties. One Officer and 9 Other ranks were wounded in this skirmish, 90 Fuzzy bodies were counted. See page three for the current casualty list, including those from Graham's force. Graham's casualties arrived on the 10th just hours after Andersen's casualties. Unfortunately, there is no report from Graham's column besides the casualty list. The final attack of the day came just prior to going into camp for the night. The K.D.L. lead Coy and a troop of cavalry charged into an area of heavy brush and thorn bushes before the Fuzzy Wuzzy had a chance to launch their attack on the column. The enemy was routed, but again casualties were taken by both the infantry (2 O.R.) and cavalry (1 Off. and 1 O.R.). One hundred and sixty Fuzzy bodies were counted before night fall. The camp was quiet during the night of the 5th although an extra heavy guard was posted. The march started off on the 6th with no conflicts until 11 am. when a small unit of about 80 Ansars attacked the column and were completely destroyed. The rest of the day continued without incident. The column camped five miles from El Tiempo es Oro on the night of the 6th. Brig. Andersen stated that he wanted to ensure that the troops would be fresh for the fight through the town to the old fort. Gun fire could be heard during the night. Brig. Andersen's chief scout Sgt. Østergaard reported that the fort was still intact and holding out against an unknown number of Dervishes. The Dervishes had the fort surrounded and the town is heavily defended. He also reported that most of the town's former walls were down and access would be simple to the town. Brig. Andersen and Cols. Østergaard and MacGregor spent the night in conference with company grade officers being called in for final orders about 4 a.m. At 5:30, just before sunrise on the 7th, the camp began to break up. The forces split into three columns for a three pronged attack on the city. The center column reached the city gates at 8 am. and began their attack. The heaviest British loses occurred in the attack on the gates. The attack had been under way about 15 minutes when the two other columns attacked the enemy city. The enemy forces were apparently waiting for the attacks as they countercharged the charging British forces. Thousands of Dervishes charged out of the city into the waiting guns of Andersen's brilliantly planned attack. Andersen's plan lured the Dervishes into leaving their protective defensive positions and to expose themselves to Andersen's trained rifles. The city fell with relatively few British casualties (see page three). The Egyptian and Soudanese Coys performed exceptionally well under fire much to the delight of Brig. Andersen. Andersen was further delighted when the K.D.L. cavalry rode up to him moments after the city had fallen with Lt. H. Homblower. Homblower reported that the Dervishes had retreated to the south and the occupants of the fort were safe. He reported four marines wounded and five killed since the siege began. Homblower also stated that the Soudanese garrison deserted to the Dervishes after the first night of the siege. Over two thousand Dervish bodies were counted, whilst the British had total campaign casualties of 4 Off. and 35 O. R.,with Egyptian loses at 5 O. R. and 4 O. R. among the Soudanese troops. The casualties and fort supplies returned to Suakin on the 8th with the Naval Brigade Back to MWAN #63 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1993 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com