Autograph letter signed by Lord Herbert Kitchener Sudan dated 1896

KITCHENER, Lord Herbert (1850-1916). Autograph letter signed to Lieutenant William Staveley Gordon concerning the Dongola Expedition and the Nile gunboats. Dongola, 24 September 1896.
 
Single sheet folded to form four pages, written on all four sides and signed. Old horizontal and vertical mailing folds, otherwise very good, with bold dark ink throughout.
 
Written from Dongola immediately following the successful conclusion of the Dongola Expedition, this important campaign letter sees Kitchener personally credit William Staveley Gordon with the success of one of the defining British military operations in the Sudan. Addressing Gordon, a Royal Engineers officer and nephew of General Charles Gordon of Khartoum, Kitchener writes: "A great measure of the success of this expedition has been due to you and I wish to let you know how highly I appreciate the work you have done."
 
The letter was written on 24 September 1896, one day after the occupation of Dongola and only days after the Battle of Hafir, where Anglo-Egyptian gunboats forced the Mahdist river defences and secured the final advance south. Kitchener discusses the performance of the newly constructed gunboat Zafir, noting that she reached the force "only 2 hours before the final advance", before providing a detailed assessment of her capabilities. Although critical of her speed against the current, coal consumption and draught, he concludes that "the design and arrangement of the steamer is very nearly perfect" and that, had she arrived on schedule, "she would be a splendid boat." He leaves Gordon to deal with the remaining practical difficulties before adding the telling observation that "The troops are pretty ragged & boots worn out, as you may imagine."
 
Kitchener's acknowledgement that "a great measure of the success of this expedition" was due to Gordon represents an exceptionally generous private tribute and demonstrates the importance of Gordon's work in enabling the advance upon Dongola. William Staveley Gordon (1859-1934) served with the Royal Engineers in Egypt and the Sudan and became one of Kitchener's principal officers responsible for the Nile flotilla. As the nephew of General Charles Gordon, killed at Khartoum in 1885, his role in the reconquest carried an additional symbolic significance, the campaign being widely viewed in Britain as the recovery of the Sudan following the Mahdist victories of the previous decade.