Camp was formed at Omdurman and a new force of some 8,000 fighting men collected—mostly recruited from the fellahin of Arabi's disbanded troops, sent in chains from Egypt.

This resulted in the dismissal of Suliman Niazi and the appointment of Hicks as commander-in-chief of an expeditionary force to Kordofan with orders to crush the Mahdi, who in January 1883 had captured El Obeid, the capital of that province.

Hicks, aware of the worthlessness of his force for the purpose contemplated, stated his opinion that it would be best to "wait for Kordofan to settle itself" (telegram of 5 August).

On 5 November the army, misled by possibly treacherous and thirst-stricken guides, was ambushed in dense forest at Kashgil, 30 miles (48 km) south of El Obeid.

[2] According to the story of Hicks's cook, one of the survivors, the general was the last officer to fall, pierced by the spear of the Khalifa Mahommed Sherif.