Nile Voyageurs

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The Nile Voyageurs were a group of Canadians sent to the Sudan to assist British forces after the defeat of theSeige of Khartoum. In 1882, to protect its interests in Egypt, the British government of William Gladstone sent General Garnet Wolseley, who had led the Red River expedition against Louis Riel in 1870, to do battle with Col. Arabi, a precursor of Gamel Nasser. Wolseley won a victory at Tel-el-Kebir and Britain’s influence over Egypt became paramount. Meanwhile, Mohammad Ibn el-sayyid Abdullah (Muhammad Ahmad), the Mahdi, emerged from the Sudan to lead a revolt. The Mahdi, led a puritanical form of Islam and he defeated all forces before him, including a British-led army sent out to destroy him.

[edit] The Death of Gordon

Gladstone wisely resolved to withdraw from the Sudan. Unwisely, he chose exactly the wrong man to carry out an evacuation, General Charles “Chinese” Gordon. Gordon was a charismatic, evangelical Christian who had made his name leading the Emperor of China’s troops in the Taiping war of 1864. Gladstone had his doubts about Gordon but the tabloids of the day mounted a campaign to send the “hero Gordon to the Sudan.” In January 1884, Gordon set off – so hastily that he arrived at Charing Cross without any money and General Wolseley had to give him a gold watch to flog; a year and nine days later, Gordon was killed at Khartoum where he had been put under siege for three hundred twenty days.

Having decided to stay in Khartoum rather than follow his orders, Gordon had put the British Cabinet in a problematic dilemma. Finally in August 1884, the Cabinet authorized General Wolseley to mount a rescue mission. The Mahdi meanwhile, had surrounded Khartoum with 30,000 troops. All of the Empire were anxious to see if Wolseley would arrive in time to save Gordon.

[edit] Foramation of the Nile Voyageurs

General Wolseley remembered the Canadian voyageurs of 1870 who had skillfully taken his boats through the white water and portages between Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods. He asked for a contingent of Canadians to help him overcome the cataracts of the Nile. Lord Lansdowne, Governor General of Canada, received permission from Sir John A. MacDonald to form such a unit, and three hundred and eighty-six Canadians volunteered: six militia officers, and an assortment of French and English speaking boatmen, aboriginals, and even some young men from the Prairies who had never been in a boat before. It was Canada’s first contribution to a British overseas war and their first foray into Africa. Sixteen died but the voyageurs did yeoman work. The trip up the Nile was sped up when it was decided that the expedition would break into groups, with several men going ahead to decide the best way to negotiate unnavigatable turns and rivers on the Nile. However, even with the expedition being sped up by this process, Wolseley was two days too late and just in time to see the wake of destruction left by the Mahdi. At the forefront of the damage was the head of Charles Godon on a wooden stake placed in front of the gates of the city. The death of Gordon, a hero in the eyes of the British people, shocked the Empire.

Gordon's death led to calls for retribution. New South Wales sent a contingent to Egypt and other Australian colonies offered the same. Sir Charles Tupper, Canada’s High Commission in London, pleaded for a Canadian contribution. Sir John A. MacDonald, however, would have none of it. He wrote Tupper:

“The Suez Canal is nothing to us…why should we waste money and men in this wretched business.”

Canada had contributed to the original mission but refused a successor campaign. MacDonald put Canada’s interest ahead of Imperial passions. Canada's first international military contribution, sending their "voyageurs," who were actually loggers, is often overlooked.