The Nile expedition
It was the winter of 1884-85, and for almost 400 Canadians it was a winter like no other. Instead of the sub-zero temperatures of their country, they faced the heat of the Sudan in far off sub Saharan Africa. The men were attached to British General Sir Garnet Wolseley’s Nile expedition. Their job was to help save Major-General Charles Gordon who was besieged at the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, sited on the Nile south of Cairo, Egypt.
For that journey, a great number of voyageurs were hired to aid with the transportation of Wolseley’s force. The tricky part of the expedition began on the shores of Lake Superior. It finished 13 weeks later at Fort Garry. The men travelled in boats, and along the way they encountered chains of raging rivers. Major-General Gordon, sent to evacuate Egyptian soldiers and officials, only removed a few hundred to security before being besieged at Khartoum in March 1884. Wolseley was sent to rescue to him. Wolseley’s army had to move up the Nile and around its cataracts, through unwelcoming desert.
The contingent sailed from Montreal on Sept. 14, 1884, clear for Alexandria in far away Egypt. The contingent arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, on Oct. 7, 1884. Preceding to its arrival, the contingent recorded its first loss. From Alexandria, the forces journeyed south up the Nile to Wadi Halfa. On Oct. 26, the Canadians joined Wolseley. After Wadi Halfa, the real rough work began. It was gruelling labour 13 to 14 hours a day. But with the entrance of the Canadians, the pace picked up. The first obstacle, the second cataract on the journey south was overcome within 10 days of the voyageurs’ appearance by a mixture of rowing, sailing and towing.
As the expedition gradually worked its way upriver through November. When strong currents were encountered, the men either bulled through or pulled, slowing down the pace. In mid-November, still hundreds of kilometres from Khartoum, a letter from Gordon stated he could hold out for only another 40 days.
Working under the boiling sun, the men did their greatest, knowing the Empire’s status, as well as people’s lives, depended on their hard work. But it was all too painfully slow. To hurry things up, the voyageurs were separated into small groups and put at the roughest spots, where they got to know the character of that certain part of the Nile. By the end of December, more voyageurs had died. Meanwhile, Wolseley sent a big force across the desert, in a shortcut avoiding an immense bend in the Nile.
Some of the Canadians were still struggling on the Nile. As Wolseley’s desert column set out, the remaining voyageurs continued to work the boats, encountering one of the roughest stretches of water. The complicated expedition, had failed. The Nile Voyageurs decided collectively to return and, on March 13, left for Alexandria. When they sailed for England on April 17 they were lead by Kennedy. Many men died on the expedition from disease and exhaustion.