Charles George Gordon served in the Turkish attempt to annex Equatoria, first in 1874–1876 and again in 1877–1879. As governor-general of the Sudan, he inherited the task of consolidating the earlier campaigns of Samuel Baker. His commission required him to build forts, open communications to the south, establish relations and administration among local peoples, and regulate the slave trade.

Gordon’s efforts faced immediate opposition. The Moogie Bari reopened hostilities after an initial tactical submission, fighting for more than a week on both banks of the Nile. In a major battle, the Moogie defeated a detachment of more than forty men, killing all but four, including their leader Linant de Bellefonds. The river prevented the victors from pursuing Gordon’s wider force and possibly destroying it.

The advance into the equatorial kingdoms also failed because Mutesa of Buganda refused to acknowledge Turkish sovereignty and mobilized a powerful army. Gordon’s representative Nur Bey became trapped in Rubaga, while Jieng and Noath forces later besieged the garrison at Bor. By 1885, Bari chief Bego had destroyed that garrison and attacked Lado and Rejaf, marking the practical collapse of the Turkish advance in Equatoria.