nearly 50,000 dead on the field of battle, and although
Khaled was second in command, historians believe that
it was he who directed the attack that had culminated in
the horrific Byzantine slaughter at the Battle of Yarmuk.
Khaled was given the governorship of the new province
of Syria, but he died in 642 and was laid to rest in the
city of Emesa (now Homs) in Syria. His tomb, still in
existence, is a noted site for Muslims to visit.
Historian James Bloom notes: “[K]nown as ‘Chale-
dos’ in the Byzantine chronicles, Khalid was an out-
standing general, widely regarded as the preeminent war
leader of the early Muslim conquests.” Nevertheless,
Khaled remains largely unknown amongst historians
and military scholars.
References: Bloom, James J., “Khalid Ibn al-Walid,” in
Brassey’s Encyclopedia of Military History and Biography,
edited by Franklin D. Margiotta (Washington, D.C.:
Brassey’s, 1994), 563–565; Shaban, Muhammad abd al-
Hayy Muhammad, Islamic History: A New Interpretation,
2 vols. (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press,
1971); Bruce, George, “Yarmuk,” in Collins Dictionary
of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers,
1995), 272.
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, first earl
Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome (1850–
1916) British general
Horatio Herbert Kitchener was born at Ballylongford
(also spelled Bally Longford), near the town of Listowel,
in County Kerry, Ireland, on 24 June 1850, the son of
Lieutenant Colonel Horatio Herbert Kitchener. He en-
tered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1868
(some sources report 1867) and was commissioned
a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1871.
While visiting his parents in France, he attached himself
to the army of the Loire during the Franco-Prussian War
(1870–71) and was injured in action.
In 1874, Kitchener was detached to the Palestine
Exploration Fund for survey work in what is now Israel
and in Cyprus. In 1883, he was promoted to the rank of
captain and seconded to the Egyptian army, beginning
a career Africa that made him a major military figure.
After taking part in General Wolseley’s relief of Khar-
toum (1885), he was named as governor-general of East-
ern Sudan in 1886. Three years later, he commanded
a force of cavalry to defeat the dervishes at Gamaizieh
(1888) and Toski (3 August 1889). In 1888, he was pro-
moted to brevet colonel, and he received the award of
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1889 for
his services at Toski.
In 1892, Kitchener succeeded Sir Francis Grenfell
as the sirdar, or commander in chief, of the Egyptian
army, which was controlled by the British. After reform-
ing and reorganizing this force, he undertook a major
military campaign against the Mahdi, the Arabic title
(“He who is divinely guided”) of Muhammad Ahmad,
the Muslim religious leader who led the forces against the
British in Sudan. Muhammad had declared himself the
Mahdi in 1881, and his initial fight to expel British forces
climaxed in the battle of Khartoum (1885) and the death
of General Charles “Chinese” gordon.
The Mahdi died soon after Khartoum was taken,
and he was succeeded by Khalifa Addallah. In 1898,
Kitchener set out for Khalifa’s capital of Omdurman
to avenge Gordon’s death and secure Sudan for En-
gland. The two forces met at Omdurman on 2 Sep-
tember 1898, the British some 23,000 strong, against
some 50,000 Mahdists (also called dervishes). Historian
George Bruce writes:The Dervishes attacked the British zareba [a
campsite or village protected by an enclosure of
thorn bushes or stakes], and were repulsed with
heavy loss[es]. Kitchener then advanced to drive
the enemy before him into Omdurman and
capture the place. In the course of the opera-
tion, however, the Egyptian Brigade on the Brit-
ish right, under General [Sir Hector Archibald]
Macdonald [1852–1903], became isolated and
was attacked in front by the center of the Dervish
army, while his flank and rear were threatened by
the Dervish left, which had not previously been
engaged. The position was crucial, but through
the extreme steadiness of the Sudanese, who
changed front under fire, the attack was repulsed.
The 21st Lancers, among whom was Winston
Churchill, made the last full-scale cavalry charge
of modern warfare. The British and Egyptian
losses were 500 killed and wounded; the Der-
vishes lost about 15,000.Omdurman was the turning point for British forces
in North Africa as the power of the Mahdists and their
Islamic allies was destroyed. Kitchener was then facedkitcheneR, hoRAtio heRbeRt