VOL. CLXI.

GENERAL GORDON'S remarkable career and tragic end at Khartúm have frequently been described; but the public know little of the man who, at a few hours' notice, was ordered to accompany Gordon to the Súdán, and acted as his staff officer. It is evident, to any one who studies the history of Gordon's mission, that Colonel Stewart's appreciation of the position created in the Súdán by the successes of the Mahdi was juster than that of his chief. And a notice of his brief career and services may not be without interest at the present moment when the reoccupation of Dongola, and the declared intention of Government to continue the advance southward this year, have reawakened interest in the Súdán, and in the events connected with General Gordon's mission in 1884.

John Donald Hamill Stewart was born on the 15th October

VOL. CLXI.-NO. DCCCCLXXVII.

1845, and was not quite thirtynine when he was treacherously murdered in the house of Fakri Wad Etman at Hebba. He was an Ulsterman; and one of the most distinguished of living Ulstermen thus wrote of him :

Amongst the many noble and fine soldiers I have known, I have met scarcely any one for whom I conceived a greater respect and admiration. His charming manners, his high sense of duty, his unselfishness, and his great ability, impressed every one who came into contact with him."

Stewart passed first out of Sandhurst in June 1865, and was gazetted ensign in the 12th Regiment. In the following month he was transferred to the 11th Hussars, in which regiment he obtained his lieutenant-colonelcy on the 1st July 1881. The earlier years of his service were passed in India, and here he de

Ꮓ

veloped that love of travel and faculty of observation which were marked characteristics of his brief life. He travelled widely in India, Java, Sumatra, China, and Japan; and, when the regiment was ordered home, he returned by China, Siberia, and Russia. On this occasion he crossed the great Gobi desert with a single Russian attendant. A wide reader, a good linguist, gifted with an iron constitution, insensible to fatigue, careless of creature comforts, and blessed with one of those happy dispositions which make the best of everything, Stewart was ideal explorer. He loved beautiful scenery and the excitement of constant change; but his great interest was in the people, their history, their manners and customs, their system of government, and their military capacity. In these earlier journeys he obtained a knowledge of oriental life and character which was afterwards of the greatest service to him.

an

During the winter of 1878-79, Stewart, with only a native servant, travelled through some of the troubled districts of Asia Minor, and on his return to Constantinople was asked to give some account of his journey to the Embassy. His report showed such keen insight into the causes that had led to the wretched condition of the country, and such warm sympathy with the sufferings of the peasantry, Moslem and Christian, that it at once attracted attention. As a result he was offered and accepted a military vice-consulship in Anatolia, and was appointed to Konia. Here his upright character and strong common-sense soon won the respect and esteem of the Turkish officials, from the Governor-General downwards. He never interfered needlessly, but when a genuine case of injustice was brought to his notice he was

ever ready to press for redress, and generally met with success. His warm sympathy with distress was known far and wide, and, when famine was almost at the door, many a poor peasant had reason to bless the unostentatious charity of the British consul.

Whilst temporarily acting as consul at Aleppo, Stewart made a remarkable journey in the desert between the Euphrates and Tigris. The Arabs, at the time, were in a state of ferment, and it was desirable to ascertain what was going on from other than Turkish sources. Stewart, with a single attendant, left Aleppo as if for a morning's ride; but, at a village in the neighbourhood, he exchanged his horses for camels, and travelled rapidly, by Palmyra, to the Euphrates. Crossing the river and passing through a district where the Sultan's writ does not run, he visited the supreme sheikh of the Shammar Arabs, and eventually emerged from the desert at Mosul. His journey, which was one of great hardship, with a fair share of adventure, was a complete sucsess, and added to his previous high reputation.

In the summer of 1882 Stewart was sent to the little known country of the Dersim Kurds; and no communication had been received from him when Alexandria was bombarded and occupied.

It was a time of great excitement, caused by the sedulous circulation of false rumours of British defeats, and some anxiety was felt for his safety. So persistent were the rumours that when Stewart reached Kharpút, travel-stained by his rough life in the Kurdish mountains, a report ran through the bazár that the British troops had been driven from Egypt and that one of the fugitives had just made his appearance. At Kharpút he re

ceived orders to proceed to Egypt, and, starting at once for Alexandretta, he reached Alexandria a few days before the battle of Tell el-Kebir. For his services in Anatolia he received a well-earned C.M.G.

At Alexandria, and afterwards at Cairo, Stewart was specially employed under Sir E. Malet, then British Agent. Early in October, however, the condition of the Súdán was giving rise to anxiety and alarm. The whole country appeared to be in a state bordering upon anarchy. Telegrams of the most conflicting character were being received, and every day it became more desirable to obtain accurate information on the state of affairs, and the progress of the Mahdi. Stewart was sent to Khartúm to report on the situation; and Lord Dufferin, no mean judge, publicly expressed his opinion of Stewart's work in the following terms :

"It was a matter of astonishment to me--and I am glad to say I have recorded my opinions on the subject in an official despatch-to observe the capacity, the industry, and the ability with which, under the most unpropitious circumstances, that noble officer performed the task given to him. He sent home a series of despatches unrivalled for lucidity, and the mass of complicated information which they contained, and above all for that spirit of humanity which they breathed."

It is, however, from his private letters that we get the clearest impression of the general state of disorder. On the 28th November he reached Sawákin, having made the voyage with over 1000 men on their way to the Súdán. Their value he considered to be doubtful,

66 as some of their officers had been heard to ask whether the Mahdi was not gifted with supernatural

power, and whether he was not able to turn all their powder into water."

On the 8th December he is at Berber visiting the prisons, where he found men who, though tried and found innocent, had been waiting more than a year for an order of release from Cairo. In the Finance Office thirty clerks were entering and re-entering every item of expenditure over and over again in forty books; and "to add to the confusion of the office, the children from the neighbouring school are allowed free access in order that they may learn arithmetic by watching the clerks."

On the 16th December he reached Khartúm, and was well received by the Governor-General, Abd elKader, of whom he writes in terms of high praise. On the 20th we find him urging the Governor to try, and shoot for cowardice and disobedience of orders, a major who, when in command of a battalion, had refused to attack a small party of Arabs. The sequel is amusing. Before the court-martial could assemble, the Khedive telegraphed his "thanks to the battalion for its admirable conduct," and asked for "the names of the officers and N.C.O.'s." One of the officers, on this occasion, fell or was pushed into the Nile.

"The result of his bath was that

he became deaf and dumb. He was put in the hospital here [Khartúm], and a very severe blister placed on the back of his neck. This was most effectual, and in a few hours he began to lisp. The surgeon then said,

If you cannot speak and hear perfectly well to-morrow, I shall have to run a hot needle up your ear.' The man was perfectly well the next day. Needless to say he was shamming the whole time."

Well might Stewart say: "The only chance of success is to adopt stern measures, and show the officers that it is more dangerous to retreat than to advance."

Stewart was constantly urging the Governor to concentrate his troops, and try to raise the courage of his men, by obtaining some success in the open; and then to attempt the relief of Bara and Obeid. But Abd el-Kader had no officer in whom he could trust. The brigadiers sent to him were worthless; the officers were ignorant; and quite one-third of the men arriving from Egypt had never handled a rifle. Early in January 1883, however, serious reports came in from the districts round Sennár, and Abd el-Kader, at Stewart's instigation, deterdetermined to take the field in person. He was rewarded by gaining two substantial successes over the Mahdists.

Stewart's letters contain many allusions to the evils of the civil administration, the venality and incompetence of the officials, the robbery and oppression of the Bashi Bazúks, and the constant interference from Cairo, due chiefly to intrigues in the Khedive's harem. His conclusion was that the Egyptians were morally and physically unfit to govern the country. "I assure you," he writes, "I sometimes think I am dreaming; everything seems turned upside down." On the 8th March, four days after the arrival of General Hicks and his staff, he left Khartúm, and travelling by Sennár, Gedarif, Kassala, and Massowa, reached Cairo on the 30th April 1883. His mission had been successful, and when Bara and Obeid surrendered to the Mahdi in January, his presence in Khartúm had averted a panic.

After a brief period of leave in England, Stewart joined his regi

ment at Leeds; and was soon afterwards offered the command of a regiment in India, which he declined. In December, whilst in Spain with one of his sisters, he heard of the destruction of Hicks' army by the Mahdi, and wrote at once that Khartúm ought to be held at all costs. He proposed the despatch of a force from India to relieve Khartúm and hold the country on the right bank of the White Nile.

On the 12th of December Stewart, having returned to England, was consulted by Government. He tried to impress upon Ministers the true significance of the Mahdi's victory. He pointed out that the Mahdi, from his claims and position, must push on; that it was hopeless to attempt to stop him with Egyptian troops; and that his unchecked advance would probably lead to risings in Egypt and Arabia. The expediency of employing Zobeir in the Súdán was apparently discussed, but Stewart considered that it would be very imprudent to employ him. He held that Zobeir was a shrewd, able man, and that, if sent to the Súdán, "he would probably play his own game." The impression produced upon Stewart by his interviews with Ministers was that matters would "be allowed to slide, at any rate for the present." He was, therefore, not surprised to hear early in January that Government, having decided to abandon the Súdán, had ordered the evacuation of Khartúm.

About the middle of January 1884 Stewart is again in London preparing a report for Government on the best way of evacuating Khartúm. On the 16th January he writes: "The more one looks at this Khartúm relief or retreat the more difficult it seems. I feel sure that without some for

ward movement on the part of a relieving force, a retreat from Khartúm will practically mean the dissolution of the retiring force." He held strongly that "without fighting - men it was hopeless to expect to do anything," and advocated the despatch of a force from India to Kassala to secure the Khartúm-KassalaMassowa road, and overawe the Eastern Súdán.

On the 17th, Stewart felt so certain that nothing would be done that he accepted a delicate mission from Government which was expected to last about two months. "Ministers," he writes, appear to stand shivering on the brink, afraid to take the responsibility of ordering the retreat of the garrison for fear they should be massacred on the homeward march, and on the other hand afraid to take measures to hold the Eastern Súdán."

The next day was to see a complete change in the situation. General Gordon reached London in the morning, and afterwards had an interview with Ministers. "I was asked," he writes, "if I would go to Súdán to carry out evacuation of Súdán which Govern

ment had decided upon. I said, Yes, if Government were decided on it; so it was settled, and I left that night." One of his first acts was to apply for Stewart's services. At 3.30 P.M. Stewart was

sum

moned to the War Office and introduced to Gordon. He was then told that Government wished him to accompany that officer to the Súdán, and that they were to start by the Indian mail at 8 P.M. that night. The two men had never met before. "I had never seen Stewart," Gordon writes from Port Said, "but asked for him,

for his reports seemed so good, and I am truly glad to have such a splendid fellow."

Before leaving Stewart received written instructions to accompany Gordon. His position, which has been often misunderstood, was that of staff-officer to a British general ordered to Egypt on Imperial service. One who saw him at this time writes: "I shall never forget his simple, frank, soldierlike, dutiful acceptance of the orders given him. I have a strong personal feeling of admiration for a man who did his duty without exalted (if I may so term them) feelings." Stewart, throughout his brief career, attached the greatest importance to implicit obedience to orders. When he received an order he considered it his duty to carry it out to the best of his ability, without question and without regard to personal risk. Knowing the state of the Súdán, he was doubtful of success; but, having once received his orders from Government, he devoted his whole energies to the work, and served his chief, often under trying circumstances, with a loyalty beyond all praise.

On the evening of the 18th, with kindly good wishes from the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Wolseley, who were at Charing Cross to bid them what proved to be a last farewell, Gordon and Stewart started on their perilous mission. The two men who were thus speeding to their fate were in some respects much alike, in others widely different. Both were animated by the highest sense of honour and duty; both were fearless in the face of danger, and had the same contempt of death; both disliked carrying arms; both had the kindliest feelings towards na