January 1, 1970

Here Churchill found himself taking part in a momentous moment in military history. On 2 September 1898 at the Battle of Omdurman, the British routed the Mahdist army. The twenty-three year old Churchill rode in the last major (although not the last) cavalry action in the history of the British army. He was lucky to survive the ill-judged charge which saw some of the heaviest British casualties of the five hour battle, and had to shoot his way out of an ambush by Dervish spearmen.

As always, Churchill was keen to gain wider recognition and, with his talent for writing, he realized he could influence people while also earning some money. He reported on the Sudan campaign for the Morning Post, a London newspaper, and later wrote a surprisingly sympathetic two-volume account of it, in The River War (1899).

He was often critical of higher military and political establishment figures and, while this certainly unsettled and aggravated some, it also ensured he got himself noticed. Kitchener, in particular, was roundly criticized in The River War – for desecrating the grave of the Mahdi – but Kitchener didn’t think much of Churchill either, thinking him brash and pushy.