With the Camel Corps Up the Nile

by Edward Gleichen

"'The sand of the desert is sodden redThe Gatling's jammed and the colonel dead'"This is a fascinating memoir of the early career of a prominent British soldier of the late 19th and early 20th century. It is made the more interesting because it concerns the actions of one of those odd types of unit that special and peculiar conditions occasionally create in armed forces-in this case the Guard's Camel Regiment. The author guides the reader through the fascinating and unique business of combining Guardsmen and camels before they together embark on the ill-fated campaign to rescue the beleaguered Gordon in Khartoum. This is a unique book which describes the desert march in vivid detail. What makes it essential is the description of the battle of Abu Klea from the perspective of one who fought within the famous 'broken square.' This, together with riveting battle action at Abu Kru and other engagements makes for a classic account of the 'gentlemen in khaki' at war in the name of the Queen Empress. The text is liberally illustrated by the author. Available in soft cover and hard cover with dust jacket.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Major-General Lord Albert Edward Wilifred Gleichen

Reviews

[Patrick]

First hand account of the British expedition "Up the Nile" to relieve Gordon in Karhtoum 1884/85. Author was a Lt (subaltern) in the Grenadier Guard Camel Corps. Excellent detail of the movement of the army under Wolseley with anecdoates and practical explanation of camels and their use in the deserts of the Sudan. As the Nile flows South to North this expedition started in Alexandria Egypt and followed the Nile as far as Metemanah.

[Nigella Blunt]

When they were told: “Settle down in this town and eat wherever you wish in it, and say: ‘Relieve us!’ Enter the gate walking on your knees. We will forgive you your mistakes; We will give even more to those who act kindly, those among them who did wrong changed the statement into something else than what had been told them; so We sent a plague from Heaven upon them because of how long they had been acting.