Why the British general refused to fight with Russia: "The Last Knight" Charles Gordon, who freed the harem's concubine

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Charles Gordon devoted thirty years of his life to the craft of war. The Crimean War, the Taiping revolt in China and the uprising in Sudan - the general was a triumphant everywhere. But, as you know, you cannot enter the same river twice. Gordon decided to return to Sudan and this was his fatal mistake.

Military, no choice

Charles Gordon was a hereditary military man. Four generations of the Gordons faithfully served the British crown, so he, in fact, had no choice. Charles was born in London in 1883, but his childhood was spent outside Britain. The fact is that my father often changed his place of service and always moved to a new one with his whole family.

Thanks to the influence of his older sister Augustine, Charles became involved in religion. It was faith that helped him survive the terrible drama that happened when Gordon was only ten years old - his brother and beloved sister Emily died due to illness. When Charles grew up, his father assigned him to military service. But with this craft he developed, let's say, a strained relationship. Gordon, thanks to the influence of his father, was a reasonable, fair and, of course, proud man. These character traits really got in the way, since Charles refused to follow the stupid (in his opinion) orders of the commanders, often entered into verbal skirmishes with them and constantly challenged their point of view. And although his studies took two years longer than his fellow students, Charles managed to establish himself as a talented military man. He especially succeeded in topographic maps of the area and all kinds of fortifications. This predetermined his further path. Gordon became a Royal Engineer or, as they were also called at the time - "Sapper".

As soon as the Crimean War began, Gordon tried to get his transfer to the front. But it didn't work out. As a full lieutenant, he was involved in fortifying strategic installations in Wales. And although he liked the job, his thoughts were on a blazing peninsula. However, in Wales, Charles finally linked his life with religion. Christian values were so important to him that the military did not start a family, because he believed that these two concepts were not compatible. There was one more reason. Charles often jokingly called himself "the walking dead" who will sooner or later lay down his head on the battlefield.

In 1855, Gordon's dream came true. He arrived at Balaklava. And right off the bat - into the quarry. The young soldier took part in the siege of Sevastopol, several times went to storm the city. Later he recalled that he was sure of his imminent death. But this did not happen. Gordon, being under a hail of bullets, made maps, where he put important strategic objects. During one of these sorties, he was still seriously wounded, but after a little medical treatment, Charles returned to work. In total, Gordon spent more than a month making maps under enemy fire. With this, he greatly impressed his superiors. And in the summer of 1856 he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor of France.

As soon as the war ended, Gordon was included in a special international commission that went to Bessarabia to establish new borders between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. From there he went to Armenia, where he continued his painstaking work, which was completed only at the very end of 1858.

Charles met the following year with the rank of captain. And soon he went to a new war - the Anglo-French. That confrontation took place not in Europe, but in distant China. The two powers were never able to peacefully distribute their spheres of influence; they had to turn to arms for help. Gordon was involved in the construction of fortifications and the compilation of topographic maps. But then another important event took place in the country - the Taiping rebellion, who decided that the time was right to overthrow the Qing dynasty. This is how the peasant war began. In it, Gordon also had to take the most direct part. And he fought on the side of government troops. Charles, who took command of one of the armies, inflicted several sensitive defeats on the Taiping, and also managed to capture the strategically important city of Suzhou.

When the rebellion was suppressed, the Manchus (the Qing dynasty was precisely the Manchu) tried to thank the Englishman. But he refused the fabulous fee. It's hard to say why he did it. Gordon himself wrote in his diary that the main reward for him was not wealth, but the saved lives of civilians. Charles also refused the gifts of the emperor. The Englishman knew that by this act he would insult the ruler, but did not change his mind. The emperor was greatly offended, and Gordon left China, without earning, in fact, nothing but the reputation of a daring, reliable, but completely uncontrollable commander.

The Taiping uprising attracted the attention of the press all over the world. Naturally, journalists could not help but appreciate the important role of the Englishman in that conflict. British journalists in their articles admiringly called him Gordon of China.

A short respite and back into battle

After China, Charles returned to Britain. He supervised the construction of the Thames fort in case of a surprise attack by the French. And although Gordon considered his work stupid and pointless, this did not prevent him from enjoying a calm and measured life. After finishing work, he was personally thanked by the Duke of Cambridge. But Charles, as usual, reacted to this, let's say, in a peculiar way. Gordon said that his work was nonsense, he could, the fort would have been built anyway, and in general, the place was not chosen well. The Duke, after hearing what he had heard, could only silently leave.

During the construction of Fort Gordon, all his free time, as well as finances, he gave to the so-called "schools for the poor" - "Ragget school". Charles had a chance to visit several of these "houses of knowledge" and he was discouraged by what he saw. Children, who already came from dysfunctional families, studied in terrible conditions, and the educational process itself raised many questions. Gordon started teaching himself, invested almost all his fortune in schools and found several sponsors. At the same time, he tried to help homeless children - he fed them, looked for work, and introduced them to religion. At the same time, he provided financial assistance only through friends, because he was afraid of publicity.

But in 1871, Gordon left Britain. It's time to get back to the craft of war. First, he went to the Romanian village of Galati on the Danube. Charles was required to establish shipping there. He devoted his free time to travel. So, together with his colleague Hessi, Charles visited Bulgaria, which at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire. According to legend, the British learned that shortly before their appearance, the servants of the Ottoman Pasha stole a girl from one village for a harem. Gordon and Hessi, using their status, managed to meet with the ruler and persuade him to release the concubine.

The following year, Gordon was promoted to colonel. During a business trip to Istanbul, he met with the Prime Minister of Egypt Ismail Ragib Pasha. He had already heard a lot about moving the Englishman in China, so he suggested that he go into the service of Ispail Pasha - the Ottoman Khedive. The Ottoman proposal interested him. Charles received the go-ahead from the British government and in 1874 moved to Egypt. The locals were amazed at the Englishman's modesty. They were impressed by his modest, unusual for them, requests.

Gordon received clear instructions from the Khedive - the Englishman was required to annex the territory of the Upper Nile to Egypt. And at the beginning of 1874, Charles began, let's say, to work. The theater of military operations was deployed on the territory of Sudan. By order of Gordon, subordinates erected defenses, and also waged an uncompromising war with the slave traders. For this, the locals raised the Englishman almost to the rank of a living god, who came to the rescue after hearing their prayers.

Charles then became governor of the province of Equatoria. Here the war against the slave trade continued, and almost all the local tribes sided with him. Using his authority, Gordon also conducted missionary work. And he did it brilliantly. Savages massively adopted Christianity, and this took place completely peacefully.

In addition, Gordon carried out numerous reforms in the army, and also banned widespread public flogging and torture. Ideally, Charles wanted to completely change the entire way of life in Ottoman Egypt, but of course he could not do this. The local authorities were afraid of everything European and progressive, trying to adhere to the time-tested course - oppression of the common people. Realizing that it is possible to fight "windmills" until the end of his life, in 1879 Gordon left Egypt and returned to China. True, expectations and reality did not coincide. Charles came for one job, and he was informed about the appointment to the post of commander-in-chief of the Chinese army, which was to start a war against the Russian Empire. Gordon refused, cursing that the idea was stupid, with no chance of success.

From China, Gordon moved to India, where he took up the post of military secretary to the local governor-general. And in 1882, Gordon stood at the head of the colonial troops located in Calland. But since it was boring for an Englishman to teach soldiers the tricks of the art of war, he soon found himself in Palestine. It was here that the British authorities contacted him at the very beginning of 1884. From them, Charles learned that a Mahdist uprising was raging in Sudan. The situation is extremely difficult, the rebels laid siege to Khartoum, in fact, Gordon was instructed to save the city and its inhabitants. Charles immediately agreed.

Defeat is the path to immortality

Returning to Sudan, Charles was unpleasantly surprised - all his painstaking work came to naught. The slave trade flourished, torture and flogging again became an integral part of the life of the local population. Christianity was also sent to the backyard. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that there was no uprising. But Gordon had to fight on the side of the government. His main opponent was Muhammad Ahmad, the leader of the uprising. He was supported by numerous tribes of Sudan, who could no longer tolerate the tyranny of the Turkish-Egyptian authorities. By the way, the uprising got the name "Mahdist" for the reason that Ahmad took the name "Mahdi".

Mahdi quickly managed to take control of almost all of Sudan. Britain, which patronized Egypt, began to reproach the local authorities for inaction. In response, the Egyptian Pasha raised taxes on British ships passing through the Suez Canal several times. The "Three Lions" wiped themselves off after spitting and brought troops into Egypt, turning it into their protectorate. The rebels, of course, were only happy with this development of events. They strengthened their power and began to prepare for the continuation of the war. But … the British forbade the Egyptians to fight. In foggy Albion, they decided to look at an independent Sudan. It remained to solve the last task - to save the Egyptians from Khartoum. It was then that they remembered Gordon.

Charles reached Khartoum in early 1884. First, he tried to resolve the conflict peacefully. He asked the Mahdi to release all Egyptians from Khartoum, promising in return for official recognition of his authority. True, Gordon was not going to give Khartoum to the rebels. This became the stumbling block. Mahdi was eager to get this city. Since there was no choice, Gordon began operational preparation of the city for defense. This venture was initially doomed to failure, since the superiority of forces was colossal. But Charles didn't want to back down. In addition, he hoped for help from the British army. She really moved towards the city, only she moved very slowly. In addition, along the way, the British encountered rebels. In a bloody battle, they won, but lost almost half of the army. But Gordon knew none of this.

At the end of January 1885, Mahdi and his army launched an assault on Khartoum. Before the start, the leader of the rebels suggested that Gordon leave the city, they say, not your war, but the Briton gave a negative answer. Khartoum was, of course, captured. And Charles Gordon died in that battle. The British army approached the city too late. She came up … and left back, because there was no point in fighting anymore.

Gordon's death stunned British society. In the press he was called "the last knight" and "national hero". Another curious thing: Mahdi himself did not enjoy his triumph for long. The rebel leader died suddenly in June 1885 of typhus.

And in continuation of the theme, a story about which foreigners have become a key figure in the history of Russia.