the colonel dead, And the regiment blind with dust and smoke. The river of death has brimmed his banks, And England’s far, and Honour a name, But the voice of the schoolboy rallies the ranks, "Play up! play up! and play the game!” "The wreck of a square" is a severe exaggeration, and Newbolt conflated Abu Klea with other events such as the Battle of Tamai; most of the dead were Mahdists. Newbolt's reference to the Gatling is wrong, as the British force at Abu Klea had the American Gardner machine gun. The Royal Artillery unit which took part in the battle still exists today, re-numbered as 176 Battery, and has the honour title "Abu Klea", awarded in 1955 in recognition of the Victoria Cross won by Gunner Smith. See also Khartoum (film) The Four Feathers, a film from 2002, where the battle is portrayed very different from reality and as a disastrous defeat instead of a victory. References Asher, Michael, "Khartoum - The Ultimate Imperial Adventure" Penguin, 2004. Includes a vivid description of the battle from the perspective of both British and Mahdist forces. Craig, Simon, "Breaking the Square: Dervishes vs. Brits at the 1885 Battle of Abu Klea", Military Heritage, volume 3, No. 3 (December 2001), 78-84. (Describes the failed British attempt to rescue major general Charles Gordon and friendly forces at Khartoum from the Dervishes led by the Mahdi.) Churchill, Winston Spencer. The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan, Middlesex: The Echo Library, 2007. 43-48. White-Spunner Snook, Col Mike, "Beyond the Reach of Empire: Wolseley's Failed Campaign to Save Gordon and Khartoum." (London, 2013). . External links The Battle of Abu Klea Full text of the poem, from McGonagall Online. Abu Clea Painting by Karl Kopinski 1885 in Sudan Conflicts in 1885 Battles of the Mahdist War January 1885 events