Siege of Khartoum currency to the post of Governor-general in January 1884 and arrived at Khartoum on 18 February 1884, less than one month prior to the siege. Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, self-proclaimed Mahdi, engaged in an 18-year Mahdist War (1881–99) against the British Empire (Khedivate of Egypt), the Ethiopian Empire, the Congo Free State, and the Kingdom of Italy. In a series of telegrams in early March, 1884, Gordon informed the British government that the Mahdi were closing the roads, cutting off supplies and severing telegraph communications. As the fighting drew closer to the city walls, and the blockade tightened, the siege
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,