The Battle of Abu Klea (1885) - Mahdist War - Gordon Relief Expedition... clip from Khartoum (1966)

The battle was short, lasting barely fifteen minutes from start to finish. Casualties for the British were nine officers and 65 other ranks killed and over a hundred wounded. The Mahdists lost 1,100 dead during the fifteen minutes of fighting, made all the worse by only 5,000 of the Dervish force being engaged.

Among the Dervish dead was Musa wad Helu, one of the Mahdist chiefs. British national hero Colonel F. G. Burnaby of the Royal Horse Guards was killed by a spear to the throat.

Frank Rhodes (brother of Cecil) distinguished himself when several horses were shot under him during the engagement, earning him a Distinguished Service Order. Gunner Alfred Smith fought bravely to save his officer, Lieutenant Guthrie, and was awarded a VC. Another action happened two days later at Abu Kru (the Battle of El Gubat) and the advance rescue force leader Major General Sir Herbert Stewart was mortally wounded by Remington rifle fire by the Mahdists that night. He knew it was a mortal wound, and he transferred command to a inexperienced leader, Brigadier General Sir Charles Wilson (the column's intelligence officer). Wilson was slow to organize his forces, and in tarrying another day, it was he who was the cause of that advance detachment's delay.

A report in The Times newspaper says that Burnaby "fell while reforming a broken British square" (this being one of only two recorded cases of a British square breaking in the 19th century).

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