Siege of Khartoum 200 British soldiers to strengthen the defenses of Khartoum. All these proposals were rejected by the Gladstone cabinet, since Britain was still intent on evacuation and refused absolutely to be pressured into military intervention in Sudan. Gordon began to resent the government's policy, and his telegrams to Cairo became more acrimonious. On 8 April he wrote: "I leave you with the indelible disgrace of abandoning the garrisons" and added that such a course would be "the climax of meanness". Knowing that the Mahdists were closing in, Gordon finally ordered the strengthening of the fortifications around Khartoum. The city was protected
Frederick Hammersley (British Army officer) Frederick Hammersley (British Army officer) Major-General Frederick Hammersley, (1858 – 1924) was a senior British Army officer. Hammersley was the son of Major-General Frederick Hammersley (1824-1902) and Sarah Mary Ann (nėe Keating, 1826-1922). He joined the army and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers on 11 September 1876. He first saw service in the Nile Expedition of 1884-85 in the Sudan, was promoted to captain on 2 February 1885, received the brevet rank of major on 15 June 1885, and was confirmed in this rank on 9 September 1897. He fought at the Battle of Khartoum in 1898,