© CGB
© CGB
Token - La perfide Albion - Fachoda
1898 year| Copper | 10.07 g | 29 mm |
| Location | France |
|---|---|
| Period | Third Republic (1870-1940) |
| Type | Medals › Commemorative medals |
| Year | 1898 |
| Composition | Copper |
| Weight | 10.07 g |
| Diameter | 29 mm |
| Thickness | 2 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Technique | Milled |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Updated | 2024-11-12 |
| Numista | N#155315 |
|---|---|
| Rarity index | 95% |
Reverse
Inscription on a long and floating ribbon.
Lettering:
MDCCCLXXXXVIII
MARCHAND
JUILLET
SOUVIENS-TOI
NOVEMBRE
FACHODA.
Edge
Plain
Comment
The Battle of Fachoda took place on August 25, 1898 in Sudan, during the Mahdist War. It pitted a small French garrison under Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand against several thousand Dervish warriors, and ended with the defeat of the latter.The battle :
On July 10, 1898, Captain Marchand, commanding a small French military mission, moved into the deserted post of Fachoda on the Nile, 650 kilometers south of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, then in the hands of the Mahdists. The Mahdists, informed of the French presence, decided to put an end to it and sent a strong expedition of 2 or 3,000 fighters aboard two gunboats, the Safieh and the Tewfikieh, and seven barges, towed by the gunboats.
On August 25, the Sudanese ships arrived in sight of Fachoda. Their artillery opened fire, but was out of range. The French garrison, comprising 9 officers and non-commissioned officers (Captain Albert Baratier, Captain Charles Mangin, Adjudant De Prat, Sergeant Bernard, etc.) and 120 Senegalese riflemen, was solidly entrenched behind the post's fortifications, which had been considerably reinforced. When the ships arrived in front of Fachoda, they were greeted by precise and deadly salvo fire (14,000 rounds of Lebel rifle ammunition killed 500 Dervishes, preventing the Dervishes from disembarking). The Safieh broke down just in front of the post, and the barges it was towing remained motionless alongside it, providing such perfect targets that Captain Charles Mangin described the French fire as a "military execution". The second steamer comes to the rescue of the first and manages to clear her. The ships retreated back to Khartoum, pursued for four kilometers along the shore by Mangin and a section of riflemen to deter any attempt to land.
