BGEN Bell is a frequent contributor to military-oriented publications. A 1957 U.S. Military Academy graduate and Vietnam veteran, he attended the National War College. His work has appeared in Joint Force Quarterly, the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Naval History, and elsewhere.

Articles by Raymond E. Bell Jr.

2 September 1898: As the outnumbered troops of Major General Herbert Kitchener’s Anglo-Egyptian expeditionary force square off against the Mahdi Army on the outskirts of Omdurman, the Nile flotilla of British gunboats—which will prove to be a decisive factor in the battle’s ultimate outcome—can be seen in the upper left.

The Gunboats of Omdurman

By Brigadier General Raymond E. Bell Jr., U.S. Army (Retired)
October 2023
Major General Herbert Kitchener was outnumbered as his force confronted the hard-fighting Mahdist Army in September 1898, but he had an ace up his sleeve: naval gunfire support.