Early  in  1888  Kitchener  obtained  permission  from
the  Sirdar,  Sir  Francis  Grenfell,  to  try  what  he  could
do  against  Handub  with  Friendlies,  Irregulars,  Police,
and  a  few  Mounted  men  that  were  available  ;  Regular
infantry  were  ruled  out,  as  if  the  coup  did  not  come
off  it  was  not  intended  to  avenge  losses  by  an
expedition.
Kitchener's  main  wish  was  to  lay  Osman  Digna  by
the  heels  and  to  liberate  a  number  of  slaves  and
local  Arabs  in  bondage.  His  ''Irregulars"  consisted
of  Jehadia  riflemen,  many  of  whom  had  deserted
from  Osman's  camps  and  were  burning  to  take
vengeance  on  him.  There  were  also  black  ex-soldiers,
and  a  few  Regulars  of  the  Tenth  Sudanese,  who
smuggled  themselves  in  amongst  the  other  ''  scally-
wags," vainly  trusting  to  luck  to  pass  unnoticed
in  the  darkness  of  the  night. ^  Several  of  them,
however,  had  subsequently  to  be  reported  killed  in
action,  and  Kitchener's  wound  perhaps  saved  him
from  the  Sirdar's  severe  strictures.
Before  dawn  on  January  17  the  force  of  450  men
started  along  the  railway  track  for  Handub.  After  a
three  hours'  march,  the  horse  halted  while  the  foot
went  forward  to  attack  the  camp,  which  was  supposed
to  be  close  by,  but  was  actually  three  miles  off.  An
hour  later  Kitchener,  impatient  at  receiving  no  news,
moved  his  mounted  men  on  at  a  fast  trot  to  within

^  "  We  took  out  a  lot  of  blacks  not  in  uniform.  Before  starting  at  1  a.m.
