British Army during the Victorian Era dependency, the Sudan. There were some bloody battles near the Red Sea port of Suakin as the British tried to redeem earlier Egyptian defeats. General Charles George Gordon was originally sent to superintend a withdrawal but chose instead to defend Khartoum against the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmed. After a prolonged siege, the Egyptian defenders of Khartoum were overwhelmed and Gordon was killed. A British relief expedition by camel across the deserts of northern Sudan arrived two days too late. Several years later, having rebuilt an Egyptian army (including British and many Sudanese troops) and constructed railways and fleets of Nile steamboats
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,