Wilson: Chapter XI. Lord Kitchener.

H. W. Wilson
With the Flag to Pretoria: A History of the Boer War, 1899-1900
Harmsworth Brothers, London, 1901.

Lord Kitchener
His chief-of-staff, Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, was in his fiftieth year, but already, as the reconqueror of the Sudan, was by far the most famous and trusted of the younger British generals. His earlier years had passed uneventfully, but with that energy and intense earnestness of purpose which distinguishes the genius from the common-place man, he studied and learnt Arabic, while most of his fellow-officers were amusing themselves. Present at the bombardment of Alexandria, in spite of and not because of orders received, he was employed by Lord Wolseley when that General came to Egypt for the Tel-el-Kebir campaign. Thenceforward, Kitchener belonged to Egypt, and his career is inseparably entwined with Egyptian history. He saw the sad tragedy of the abandonment of the Sudan; he smarted with his countrymen at the bitter shame of the betrayal of Gordon, and took part the expedition which came too late to save the martyred general. His eyes must have fastened upon that prophetic page in Gordon's journals: "I like Baker's description of Kitchener! The man whom I have always placed my hopes upon, Major Kitchener, R.E., who is one of the few very superior British officers, with a cool and good head, and a hard constitution combined with untiring energy.'"

Lord Kitchener in the Sudan.
His experience was wide and various. It was not only in the conduct of war, but also in civil administration that he had made for himself a name. Though he never courted popularity and had no influence of any kind, his sheer ability carried him forward. That unerring judge of men who trained Sir Alfred Milner, Lord Cromer, selected Kitchener as Sirdar in 1892. The new Egyptian commander made of the army under his charge a miracle of efficiency at an insignificant cost. Quietly, methodically, he organised and prepared for the reconquest which, he knew, must come in time, when the conscience of the British nation awoke. He made no mistakes; he took the utmost pains to find out what the enemy was doing, conscious that victory in war largely depends upon perfect information. The Egyptian Intelligence Department was as efficient as the Egyptian Army. And when at last the long-desired hour struck and the British and Egyptian troops marched southward into the desert "to avenge Gordon," everything was ready, everything went like clockwork. Firket, the Atbara, and Omdurman followed in regular and mechanical succession. The man "who had made himself a machine" did his work surpassingly well.

THE GORDON MEMORIAL SERVICE: THE SUPREME MOMENT OF LORD KITCHENER'S CAREER AS SIRDAR, September 4, 1898
The battle of Omdurman and the capture of Khartoum were followed by a ceremony surely as touching as any in history. To the roar of a salute from the gunboat on the Nile, the British and Egyptian flags were run up side by side, and cheers for the Queen were led off by the Sirdar himself. Then, amidst a silence broken only by the guns, "four chaplains," says Mr. G. W. Steevens-" Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist-came slowly forward and ranged themselves, with their backs to the palace, just before the Sirdar. The Presbyterian read the Fifteenth Psalm. The Anglican led the rustling whisper of the Lord's Prayer. Snow-haired Father Brindle, best beloved of priests, laid his helmet at his feet, and read a memorial prayer bareheaded in the sun. Then came forward the pipers and wailed a dirge, and the Sudanese played 'Abide with me.' Perhaps lips did twitch just a little to see the ebony heathens fervently blowing out Gordon's favourite hymn; but the most irresistible incongruity would hardly have made us laugh at this moment. And there were those who said the cold Sirdar himself could hardly speak or see, as General Hunter and the rest stepped out according to their rank and shook his hand. What wonder? He has trodden this road to Khartoum for fourteen years, and he stood at the goal at last."

All that the nation heard about its new general delighted it. The very gossip which was meant to discredit him only increased his reputation. His dislike for triflers and idlers, his aversion from all kinds of favouritism, his determination to insist upon strict discipline, competence, and knowledge in those whom he employed, might estrange from him the darlings of fortune, but were a recommendation to the people of England. He was outwardly cold and stern, like many deep natures, but no general is unpopular with his troops if he always succeeds. With Lord Kitchener the men felt instinctively that every thing would be foreseen, all precautions taken, and nothing overlooked. They knew that everyone would do his duty, or if not that the Sirdar would want to know the reason why.

Lord Kitchener, then, took with him to Africa the prestige of a great name, the reputation of continual success, and the habit of handling large masses of troops. No living English general, not even Lord Roberts, had ever had under him in war so many troops as Lord Kitchener led into the field in 1898, when he marched to Omdurman 8,200 British and 17,600 Egyptian soldiers, with sixty-four field guns and Maxims. Last, but not least, Lord Kitchener had seen little of the mischievous kind of fooling which at Aldershot, under the specious guise of Field Days, served rather to render our generals inexpert and our soldiers careless of the methods of war, than to familiarise them with something approaching the real conditions of battle. His training had been that of actual war, his power of organisation was undoubted, and even his bitterest detractors had to confess that he was a successful leader. But what, perhaps, most recommended him to his country was his seriousness of purpose and his concentration of aim. His very face bore in every line the look of iron resolution, of a spirit which fears nothing and calculates everything. And that, perhaps, was why the swift genius of Mr. Steevens christened him " the machine." For he rose superior to the accidents of fortune and the tragedies of life ; nothing seemed to shake his coolness or weaken his purpose. Here was a general who would never show the not ignoble weakness which wrecks so many would-be leaders-the unwillingness to incur losses, the inward rebellion against sending brave, devoted men to death. Yet that his nature was not without a strain of sentiment was proved by that strange commemoration service, held on the scene of Gordon's death, in sight of the still reeking battlefield of Omdurman, which set the seal upon the purpose of ten long years, and to some extent obliterated the shame felt by his countrymen for the death of that noble man.

The interest which attached to Kitchener's personality was enhanced by the fact that he was something of a riddle to his countrymen, who suspected that under the outer veil of iciness which marked him, as it marked Moltke, lay concealed the warmer qualities of the heart.

Embarkation for South Africa.
On Saturday, December 23, Lord Roberts left London to embark upon the Dunottar Castle. A great popular demonstration marked his departure. An immense crowd, in which were merged and lost members of the Royal Family, Cabinet Ministers, guardsmen, soldiers who had in the already far-off past marched with him to victory, and the great unwashed, were impartially assembled upon the platform of Waterloo. It was noticed that nearly all were in black-a sombre hue typical at once of the nation's sorrow under its defeats and of its sympathy with the general in his personal bereavement. Amidst a thunder of cheering the new Commander-in- Chief stepped into the train, already in motion. The cheers continued till he was lost to view. Thus, with the knowledge that he bore with him the regard and devotion of his race, he went forth to his work.

At Southampton the demonstration was repeated. Meantime Lord Kitchener embarked in the cruiser Isis at Alexandria on the 22nd. The Isis steamed her fastest--eighteen knots--to Malta, where she met the Dido, and that good warship covered the rest of the distance to Gibraltar, where the Dunottar Castle was to be met. The extreme haste gave evidence of the seriousness of the emergency. From Gibraltar the liner headed for the Cape by the usual route, and the time of the voyage was used by the Field-Marshal and his Chief-of-the-Staff to work out their strategic plans for the new campaign that was to change disaster into triumph.

Your feedback, comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Please write to: Lewis P. Orans