Thanks to a painting by George William Joy, The Death of General Gordon, is one of the iconic images of Victorian Imperialism, but did it really happen that way?
The Fall of Khartoum 1885
In early 1885, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum was completely surrounded by a force of tens of thousands. These attackers, called Dervishes, were the followers of an Islamic religious leader called the Mahdi. Inside the city wall, a starving group of around 1,000 Egyptian soldiers were led by a British Army officer named General Charles Gordon. Gordon was trying desperately to hold out until a British relief force arrived. It was not to be. On January 28, 1885, the Dervishes attacked the city and quickly overwhelmed the defences, slaughtering the defenders without mercy. Among the dead, was General Charles Gordon.
Some years later, the artist George William Joy painted a scene entitled The Death of General Gordon. It has the General dressed in full uniform, a revolver in his hand, standing at the top of a staircase, while a group of spear-wielding Dervishes crawl up the stairs towards him. The image is based on the account of a man named Bordeini Bey who probably wasn't even there. According to Bey, Gordon never fired a shot, but stared contemptuously as one Dervish drove him through with a spear.
Orfali's Story
A more likely story was told by Gordon's Aid-de-Camp, a man named Orfali. In Orfali's version, Gordon went out in a blaze of glory, with pistol in one hand and sword in the other. Together, Gordon and Orfali were involved in a running fight through Gordon's headquarters. Gordon emptied his revolver several times, killing half a dozen of his enemies, while being stabbed multiple times and shot. Gordon was still barely clinging to life when Orfali was knocked unconscious. When Orfali regained consciousness several hours later, he awoke next to Gordon's headless corpse.
There are several other versions of the story, but none have the fame or credibility of Bordeini Bey's or Orfali's. It is almost certain now that the truth will never be known. Also unknown is the fate of Gordon's body, though it is likely that it was dumped into the Nile with many of the other corpses of Khartoum's defenders. Charles Gordon's head was presented as a trophy to the Mahdi.
In all fairness, the death of General Gordon should have been a footnote in British history, but the image of his death, real or imagined, echoed in the consciousness of the British people. Although it would take some time to organize, Britain would have their revenge for the death of General Gordon.
Sources:
Asher, Michael. Khartoum: The Ultimate Imperial Adventure. Penguin. London. 2005.
Featherstone, Donald. Khartoum 1885: General Gordon's Last Stand. Osprey. Oxford. 1993
