GORDON

Gordon was summoned to the war office on 15th January 1884 by Lord Wolseley to discuss sending him to Khartoum. The next morning (16th) he left for Brussels, en route for the Congo but he was immediately summoned back as the king of the Belgians, for whom he had been going to the Congo gave him permission to go to Egypt instead. On the 18th Gordon saw the British cabinet, and the same evening left with Colonel Stewart for the Soudan.Gordon's mission was to effect the withdrawal of the garrisons and to evacuate the Soudan. At Cairo his functions were considerably extended. He was appointed, with the consent of the British government, governor-general of the Soudan, and was instructed, not only to effect the evacuation of the country, but to take steps to leave behind an organised independent government.