2-716-576 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Conquest of the Soudan, 1896-98: The Charge of the 21st Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman, September 2, 1898', (1901). British soldier Major-General Kitchener regained the Sudan for Egypt by his victory at Omdurman near Khartoum. The 21st Lancers, a light cavalry regiment, attacked what they thought were only a few hundred dervishes (Mahdist fighters), but there were 2000 infantry hidden behind them in a dry watercourse. 70 men were killed or wounded, with the loss of 119 horses, the highest casualty figures of any British regiment at the battle. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the 21st who had helped rescue wounded comrades. From "The Illustrated London News Record of the Glorious Reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1901: The Life and Accession of King Edward VII. and the Life of Queen Alexandra". [London, 1901]