“The glorious unity of the Empire”: the Orange men who answered the call to fight Australia’s first foreign war

The scenes on the streets of Sydney were unlike anything that had ever been seen before in the colonies. Thousands had begun congregating in the early hours of the morning and by noon the main thoroughfare leading to Circular Quay was a sea of excited people, cheering with enthusiasm. Handkerchiefs, flags and banners waved from every available window and even rooftops as people scrambled to get a good view of the procession of men along the street below.

For the first time Australians were going to war. And among them were a handful of volunteers from Orange.

It was on a Tuesday afternoon, March 3, 1885, that the 758 men of the NSW Contingent set sail from Sydney for Egypt to join British troops in Sudan. For several years prior, the British-backed Egyptian government had been fighting a local uprising led by the Muslim cleric Muhammad Ahmad, known to his followers as the Mahdi (spiritual leader). Following a disastrous attempt by Egyptian forces to quell the rebellion, General Charles Gordon was sent to oversee the safe withdrawal of troops from the region. An international celebrity and figure of heroic proportions in Britain, Gen Gordon instead disregarded his orders and sought to defeat the Mahdist forces. But he soon found his army besieged in the city of Khartoum and Gordon was killed, despite orders given by the Mahdi that he should live.

News of Gordon’s death was met with shock all around the Empire. Within a matter of days, Acting NSW Premier William Bede Dalley (who formerly was the parliamentary representative for Carcoar) offered to send a detachment of troops, which was accepted and greeted with enthusiasm by many in the colony.

This was not only the first time an Australian colonial government had sent troops to fight in a foreign war, but also the first time a self-governing British colony had raised and dispatched such a force.

Speaking at a dinner in Orange, just days after this announcement, Mr Dalley said the people had shown to the world “the glorious unity of the Empire” describing it as the dawn of a new historical epoch for Australia. This speech was greeted with cheers, repeated calls of “hear, hear” and sustained applause by the Orange crowd.

But not everybody shared the same enthusiasm for a foreign war. Sir Henry Parkes strongly disapproved and believed it to be unconstitutional. The Bulletin magazine was full of ridicule for the Sudan contingent, and in its February 28, 1885, issue appeared a poem titled ‘El Mahdi to the Australian Troops.’

And fair Australia, freest of the free,

Is up in arms against the freeman's fight;

And with her mother joined to crush the right --

Has left her threatened treasures o'er the sea,

Has left her land of liberty and law

To flesh her maiden sword in this unholy war.

The “El Madhi” who penned these lines was none other than Orange’s famous literary son, Andrew Barton Paterson, and this was the first time his verse had been printed in the magazine. It was the following year that his now-famous nom de plume “The Banjo” appeared in The Bulletin pages.

Those who volunteered to go to the Sudan were of varied backgrounds and nationalities although a large number of them had previously served in British forces.

Arriving in the Red Sea port of Suakin in late March, the Australian volunteers were attached to a brigade of British regulars and saw little fighting over the next weeks. The few deaths recorded were due to disease, not gunfire.

By May, the campaign was abandoned and the volunteer contingent returned home, sailing into Sydney Harbour on June 19.

The Orange volunteers were greeted at the railway station by the mayor and alderman and an enthusiastic crowd of about 1500 people. The men were given a public banquet and presented with an illuminated address, one that hangs today in the Orange RSL sub-branch museum in the Memorial Hall in Anson Street.

To mark the anniversary of the return of the Orange volunteers, there will be a small service in the Memorial Hall on Friday, June 23 at 11am.

The Orange Volunteers of the NSW Contingent:

Vernon Branwhite

Jason W. Chalmers

Julian Gardiner

Alfred Murray

John Oates

George Rauchle

Joseph Brennan

John Conybeer

James McKinn

William Murray