Khartoum (film) strong, if eccentric, religious beliefs and following his own judgement, regardless of his orders. Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, the British foreign secretary (Michael Hordern), knowing this, tells Gladstone that by sending Gordon to Khartoum, the British government can ignore all public pressure to send an army there, and absolve themselves of any responsibility over the area if Gordon ignores his orders. Gladstone is mildly shocked at the suggestion, but as it is popular with the public and Queen Victoria, he adopts it for the sake of expediency. Gordon is told that his mission, to evacuate troops and civilians, is
Siege of Khartoum Siege of Khartoum The Battle of Khartoum, Siege of Khartoum or Fall of Khartoum was the conquest of Egyptian-held Khartoum by the Mahdist forces led by Muhammad Ahmad. Egypt had held the city for some time prior, but the siege that the Mahdists engineered and carried out from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885 was enough to wrest control away from the Egyptian administration. After a ten-month siege, when the Mahdists finally broke into the city, the entire garrison of Egyptian soldiers was killed along with 4,000 Sudanese civilians. Since the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, the British military presence had