Note 223 — Chapter XXVIII · THE NEW DEPARTURE.
Reading edition
Gordon’s diaries show that even on the 28th of November, 1884, when his men held Omdurman and the North Fort, Wilson could not have passed the junction of the Blue and White Nile without a strong land force to co-operate with his steamers. On the 28th of January, 1885, however, these positions were in the Mahdi’s hands, and Wilson had no land force.