Colonel Stewart

Colonel John Donald Hamill Stewart was Gordon's second in command. A 1,000 soldiers under one of Stewart's command took part in the Battle of Abu Klea. Although the British won the battle, officers of Gordon's command were killed, seriously weakening its operational capacity.Wounded during the siege, Stewart led an attempt to break the blockade aboard the Steamer Abbas in September 1884, along with the British consul Frank Power (who was also the correspondent from The Times), the French consul Francois Herbin, and other residents of Khartoum. The attempt failed when the Abbas ran aground somewhere between Abu Hamad and Meroe. All passengers and crew were killed in an ambush.