As quickly as Gladstone began to solve one problem another arrived in the Sudan. In 1881, an obscure tribesman and religious zealot named Muhammad Ahmad, proclaimed himself the Mahdi, who initiated a Jihad against the Egyptian military occupation. After 50,000 Mahdist tribesmen annihilated a 10,000 strong Egyptian army under the command of a reluctant British mercenary, general William Hicks Pasha, the Cabinet fully understood the serious nature of their involvement in Egypt. This resulted in the dispatch of General Charles George Gordon to oversee the evacuation of Khartoum. After supporting a policy of "rescue and retire" Lawson quickly withdrew his support he could find no relationship between what Gladstone described as "a small service to humanity," and the killing of thousands of Arabs. After the death of Gordon, Lawson applauded Gladstone's decision to evacuate the Sudan.