Lost History – How did Gordon of Khartoum die?

The life of Charles George “Chinese” Gordon is a curious case of Victorian heroism and tragedy. A military mastermind and a cantankerous, yet charitable, soul, this zealous champion of the British Empire galvanised a generation of imperial commanders and administrators. As a result, he received a rare degree of public adoration, a rung of esteem traditionally reserved for royalty, and was revered in death almost as a secular saint. 

He met his bloody fate at the hands of the Ansar in Khartoum in 1885, after a failed attempt by the British government to relieve the protracted siege on the ancient city. Cut down atop a staircase in the Governor-General’s palace; his head was allegedly paraded around the city walls to allow followers of his nemesis, Muhammed Ahmad, the self-proclaimed “Mahdi” or “Expected One”, to throw stones at the exhausted visage of Khartoum’s determinedly defiant defender. 

Stories of his death quickly spread across the world, inspiring poems and songs in his honour. But how did Gordon of Khartoum actually die? The official account was compiled by the best sources available to British and Egyptian intelligence at the time. Yet, the narrative that was officially promoted has all the hallmarks of hagiography. So can we find out what really happened to the most famous general of his generation, nearly 150 years after his death? 

A reluctant government sent Gordon under William Gladstone to aid the evacuation of a beleaguered Khartoum. The religious uprising, instigated by the proclamation of Mohammed Ahmed that he was the true “Mahdi” and therefore the rightful leader of the Islamic world, had swept across Africa’s largest nation. 

A British-led Egyptian force commanded by Colonel William Hicks was unexpectedly eviscerated by the Mahdi’s warrior-followers, known as the Ansar. Gordon, who had led Chinese imperial troops against the Taiping rebellion to victory after victory, wielding no more than a cane, was asked by Gladstone to return to the Sudan where he had served as Governor-General years earlier. His mission was to manage the peaceful withdrawal of European and Egyptian people from Khartoum. 

On Gladstone’s insistence, no British army was to help Gordon in his assignment, but as his predicament became more apparent, the British press and public began to apply pressure on Gladstone to send seven thousand troops up the Nile cataracts to save the Empire’s beloved hero from the Mahdist insurgents. A British army arrived two days after the fall of the city. No remains of Gordon were ever found. 

News of the violent end to Gordon’s illustrious life arrested the agitated attention of the world. But, who was to blame, and how did it happen? 

Spymaster Sir Reginald Wingate was regarded as an adroit and efficient amasser of intel in Sudan. He kept good relations with the population and was said to have incomparably good judgment when distinguishing facts from falsehoods and actual realities from biased reckonings. 

The first coherent account of what transpired the night the city fell was from an Egyptian merchant called Ibrahim Bey al-Burdayni. Though Ibrahim did not witness the cutting down of Gordon first-hand, he had heard the story of the general’s killing from the men who had reportedly committed the act. According to Ibrahim, as the Ansar entered Khartoum, Gordon dressed in white and descended some stairs to meet his assailants. But, unfortunately, his servants and guards had already been butchered. 

As Gordon’s attackers rushed up the stairs, the general calmly waited with an air of saintly insouciance. An Ansar named Taha Shahin allegedly shouted ‘O cursed one, your time has come!’ before plunging his spear through the Governor-General’s body. Ibrahim added that Gordon made a slight gesture of scorn as he collapsed. His head was then cut from his body, and his remains were mercilessly mutilated by the Mahdi’s followers.

An Austrian administrator and author of the best-seller Fire and Sword, Rudolph Slatin, had been captured in an earlier siege by the Ansar. He was shown the head of Gordon by his captors and with another Egyptian, who was present at the siege (but didn’t see the dispatching), later corroborated Ibrahim’s account. 

Rumours proliferated that the Mahdi had given express orders that none of his soldiers should harm Gordon. When he was presented with Gordon’s bruised and battered head, the enraged Mahdi is said to have exclaimed; ‘Why have you disobeyed me? Why have you mutilated the corpse? What use is it?’

The running theme of the three major accounts of Gordon’s death is that he did not resist and serenely accepted his doom. Even some latterly accumulated Madhist testimonies claimed that Gordon made no effort to repulse his attackers or defend his person. These renderings of the event illustrate a scene of modern Christian martyrdom. 

Being a devout and yet highly unorthodox Christian, Gordon may well have approached this unsettling scenario with all the tranquillity and assuredness that faith can afford. One Mahdist annal does describe Gordon as discharging his pistol into the threatening throng before unsheathing his sabre and engaging his adversaries. Still, few other tellings of that terrible moment support this version. Given the supposed orders of the Mahdi to not harm Gordon, the Ansar were persistently furtive when asked about the death of the general. 

It is unlikely that we will ever know the entire tale. A recovery of his remains would, of course, provide forensic evidence as to what occurred. Still, his severed head vanished without a trace, and his body was apparently chucked down a nondescript well. 

George W. Joy’s iconic painting of Gordon’s last stand at Khartoum echoes the official story of his death. Mildly troubled by the ascent of the Ansar up the palatial staircase, his pose and gesture resemble that of a Victorian gentleman reacting to the sound of a dropped cup at a stuffy tea party. The true image, martyr-like or not, would no doubt curdle the blood. Mystery still shrouds the motivations and beliefs of Britain’s favourite Victorian general. 

The inconclusive accounts of his death, based on rumour, conjecture and second-hand attestations, further mystifies the most enigmatic man to wear a British military uniform until Lawrence of Arabia some thirty years later. Whatever happened, we know for sure that Gordon’s death was in part caused by the slow advent of aid from home. The sympathy that guilt engendered, made a man into a myth.