The Marchand Mission was an expedition undertaken by French emissary Jean-Baptiste Marchand

Jean-Baptiste Marchand

Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand was a French military officer and explorer in Africa. Marchand is best known for commanding the French expeditionary force during the Fashoda Incident...

 (1863-1934) and 150 men with designs to counter British expansionism in northeastern Africa.

Starting from Libreville

Libreville

Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.- History :...

 (in present-day Gabon) in 1897, the Marchand expedition spent 14 arduous months crossing largely uncharted regions of north central Africa. They finally reached the fort of Fashoda on the upper Nile on July 10, 1898 and hoisted the French flag. On September 18, a flotilla of British gunboats led by Horatio Kitchener arrived at Fashoda; Kitchener had just defeated Mahdi

Mahdi

In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...

 forces at The Battle of Omdurman

Battle of Omdurman

At the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...

, and was in the process of reconquering the Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

 in the name of the Egyptian Khedive

Khedive

The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...

. The confrontation of the French and British was cordial but both sides insisted on their right to Fashoda.

News of the encounter was relayed to Paris and London and each side accused the other of expansionism and aggression. A stalemate (the Fashoda Incident

Fashoda Incident

The Fashoda Incident was the climax of imperial territorial disputes between Britain and France in Eastern Africa. A French expedition to Fashoda on the White Nile sought to gain control of the Nile River and thereby force Britain out of Egypt. The British held firm as Britain and France were on...

) continued until November 3 when French Foreign Minister Théophile Delcassé

Théophile Delcassé

Théophile Delcassé was a French statesman.-Biography:He was born at Pamiers, in the Ariège département...

, fearing the possibility of war, withdrew Marchand and his troops and ceded the Sudan to the British.