General Charles Gordon (1833-1885) was a fêted British military leader, owing to his ill-fated defence of Khartoum against the army of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi, which took place in the city in March 1884. Gordon had been sent to Khartoum by the British government to organise the evacuation of the defending Egyptian forces. The Egytian forces eventually broke into the city, killing Gordon on 26th January 1885. The British relief force arrived two days later. The British public reacted to Gordon's death by blaming the government for incompetence and acclaiming 'Gordon of Khartoum' a martyred warrior-saint.

The Mahdi's army was finally defeated by an Anglo-Egyptian army, led by Lord Kitchener, at the Battle of Omdurman on 2nd September 1898. Two days later (Sunday, 4 September 1898) a memorial service was held at 10am on the banks of the Nile in front of the ruined Government House, in which Gordon's body made his last stand. The windows had been bricked up to stop rebel fire. On two flagstaffs on the wall facing the river the British and Egyptian flags were hoisted while the British National Anthem was played. The service was conducted by four chaplains attached to the British infantry: Presbyterian, Church of England, Wesleyan and Roman Catholic. Kitchener stands with his staff while the prayers are being read. Behind him stand the Headquarters staff and generals of divisions: on his left are representative detachments of the Egyptian army (the Egyptian flag is visible); on his right stand detachments of General Gatacre's division and a small corps of officers from the Royal Engineers, Gordon's own regiment.

On 5 September 1898 Queen Victoria sent a telegram to Kitchener saying 'Have heard with deepest interest of the hoisting of the flags & the Memorial Service where poor Gordon met his cruel fate'. After long discussions with Kitchener, Woodville was later commissioned by the Queen to paint the occasion.