Chaillé-Long, Charles, 1842-1917, American soldier, African explorer, and writer, b. Princess Anne, Md. After serving in the Civil War, he was commissioned (1869) in the Egyptian army under Gen. C. G. Gordon. Chaillé-Long explored the Victoria Nile and was awarded a medal by the American Geographical Society. In 1875 he crossed the Congo-Nile divide to the Bahr al Ghazal region. He returned to the United States, graduated from Columbia Law School, and became (1887-89) consul general and secretary to the legation in Korea. His travel narratives in English include The Three Prophets (1884), My Life in Four Continents (1912), and Central Africa: Naked Truths of Naked People (1876). Among his writings in French are Les Sources du Nil (1891), L'Égypte et ses provinces perdues (1892), and La Corée ou Tschösen (1894).

Charles Chaillé-Long (1842-1917) was an American soldier from Maryland, active in East Africa and Egypt.

He fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War, taking part in the battle of Gettysburg. He enlisted as a private, and finished the war with the rank of Captain.

He took a commission as lieutenant-colonel in the Egyptian Army in 1869, arriving in Egypt in 1870. Serving under Charles Gordon in the southern Sudan, he travelled south to present-day Uganda, signing a treaty with Mutesa I of Buganda. In 1874 he was the second western explorer of Lake Victoria, and the first to discover Lake Kyoga. While on his return journey, he was attacked by the forces of Bunyoro. Further missions of exploration were to the Azande in 1875, and the Juba River in Somalia in 1876. He wrote a book on his adventures, in extravagant style.

In 1875 he commanded Egyptian forces in the McKillop expedition, to the Indian Ocean coast. He resigned his commission in 1877, returned to the United States, and attended Columbia Law School. Subsequently he was a diplomat in Korea, and writer.

His 1884 book The Three Prophets took a very negative line on Charles Gordon. His comments were later taken up by revisionist writers, notably Lytton Strachey in Eminent Victorians. Critics have attacked Chaillé-Long for a lack of accuracy as an author.

Works

• Central Africa: Naked Truths of Naked People (1876)
• The Three Prophets (1884)
• Les Sources du Nil (1891)
• L'Égypte et ses provinces perdues (1892)
• La Corée ou Tschösen (1894)
• My Life in Four Continents (1912)

Notes

External links

• Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
• Arlington Cemetery page
• Americans in the Egyptian Army, with photo