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MILITARY OPERATIONS OF
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MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1882-1885 In See also:February 1879 a slight outbreak of discharged See also:officers and soldiers occurred at See also:Cairo, which led to the despatch of See also:British and See also:French See also:ships to See also:Alexandria. On the 26th of See also:June of that See also:year See also:Ismail See also:Pasha was removed from See also:Egypt, and Tewfik assumed the khediviate, becoming practically the protege of the two western See also:powers. On the 1st of February 1881 a more serious disturbance arose at Cairo from the See also:attempt to try three colonels, Ahmed Arabi, All Fehmy, and Abd-el-Al, who had been arrested as the ringleaders of the military party. The prisoners were re-leased by force, and proceeded to dictate terms to the See also:khedive. Again British and French warships were despatched to Alexandria, and were quickly withdrawn, their presence having produced no apparent impression. It soon became clear that the khedive was powerless, and that the military party, headed by Arabi, threatened to dominate the See also:country. The " dual See also:note," communicated to the khedive on the 6th of See also:January 1881, contained an intimation that See also:Great See also:Britain and See also:France were pre-pared to afford material support if necessary; but the fall of See also:Gambetta's See also:ministry produced a reaction, and both governments proceeded to minimize the meaning of their See also:language. The khedive was practically compelled to See also:form a See also:government in which Arabi was See also:minister of See also:war and Mahmud Sami premier, and Arabi took steps to extend his See also:influence throughout his See also:army. The situation now became critically serious: for the third See also:time ships were sent to Alexandria, and on the 25th of May 1882 the consuls-See also:general of the two powers made a strong See also:representation to Mahmud Sami which produced the resignation of the See also:Egyptian ministry, and a demand, to which the khedive yielded, by the military party for the reinstatement of Arabi. The attitude of the troops in Alexandria now became threatening; and on the 29th the British residents pointed out that they were " absolutely 'defenceless." This warning was amply justified by the massacres of the 11th of June, during which more than one See also:hundred persons, including an officer and two See also:seamen, were killed in the streets of See also:Bombard- Alexandria, almost under the guns of the ships in ment of See also:harbour. It was becoming clear that definite See also:action A/exan- would have to be taken, and on the 15th the channel d a. See also:squadron was ordered to See also:Malta. By the end of June twenty-six warships, representing the navies of Great Britain, France, See also:Germany, See also:Italy, See also:Austria, See also:Russia, the See also:United States, See also:Spain, See also:Greece and See also:Turkey, See also:lay off the See also:port of Alexandria, and large See also:numbers of refugees were embarked. The See also:order received by See also:Admiral See also:Sir See also:Beauchamp See also:Seymour (afterwards See also:Lord See also:Alcester) on the 3rd of See also:July was as follows: Prevent any attempt to See also:bar channel into port. If See also:work is resumed on earthworks, or fresh guns mounted, inform military See also:commander that you have orders to prevent it; and if not immediately discontinued, destroy earthworks and silence batteries if they open See also:fire, having given sufficient See also:notice to See also:population, See also:shipping and See also:foreign men-of-war." On the 9th the admiral received a See also:report that working parties had been seen in Fort Silsileh " parbuckling two smooth-See also:bore guns—apparently 32-pounders—towards their respective carriages and slides, which were facing in the direction of the harbour." Fort Silsileh was an old work at the extreme See also:east of the defences of Alexandria, and its guns do not See also:bear on the harbour. On the loth an See also:ultimatum was sent to Toulba Pasha, the military commandant, intimating that the See also:bombardment would commence at sunrise on the following See also:morning unless " the batteries on the See also:isthmus of See also:Ras-el-See also:Tin and the See also:southern See also:shore of the harbour of Alexandria " were previously surrendered " for the purpose of disarming." The See also:fleet prepared for action, and the See also:bearer of the reply, signed by the See also:president of the See also:council, and offering to dismount three guns in the batteries named, only succeeded in finding the See also:flagship See also:late at See also:night. This proposal was rejected, and at 7 A.M. on the I1th of July the " Alexandra " opened fire and the action became general. The attacking force was disposed in three See also:groups: (I) the "Alexandra," " See also:Sultan " and " Superb," outside the See also:reef, to engage the Ras-el-Tin and the earthworks under weigh; (2) the " Monarch," " Invincible " and " See also:Penelope," inside the harbour, to engage the Meks batteries; and (3) the "Inflexible " and " Temeraire," to take up assigned stations outside the reef and to co-operate,with the inshore squadron. The gunboats " See also:Beacon," " See also:Bittern," " See also:Condor," " Cygnet " and " See also:Decoy " were to keep out of fire at first and seek opportunities of engaging the Meks batteries. Meks fort was silenced by about 12.45 P.M., and a party from the " Invincible " landed and disabled the guns. As the fire delivered under weigh was not effective, the offshore squadron anchored at about 10.30 A.M., and succeeded in silencing Fort Ras-el-Tin at about 12.30 P.M., and Fort See also:Adda, by the See also:explosion of the See also:main See also:magazine, at 1.35 P.M. The " In-flexible " weighed soon after 8 A.M. and engaged Ras-el-Tin, afterwards attacking Forts Pharos and Adda. The " Condor," followed by the " Beacon," " Bittern " and " Decoy," engaged Fort See also:Marabout soon after 8 A.M. till II A.M., when the gunboats were recalled. After the See also:works were silenced, the ships moved in closer, with a view to dismount the Egyptian guns. The bombardment ceased at 5 P.M.; but a few rounds were fired by the " Inflexible " and " Temeraire " on the morning of the 12th at the right See also:battery in Ras-el-Tin lines. The bombardment of the forts of Alexandria is interesting as a See also:gauge of the effect to be expected from the fire of ships under specially favourable conditions. The Egyptians at different times during the See also:day brought into action about 33 R.M.L. guns (7-in. to Io-in.), 3 R.B.L. guns (40 prs.), and 120 S.B. guns (6.5-in. and Io-in.), with a few mortars. These guns were disposed over a See also:coast-See also:line of about to See also:sea See also:miles, and were in many cases indifferently mounted. The Egyptian gunners had been little trained, and many of them had never once practised with rifled See also:ordnance. Of seventy-five hits on the hulls of the ships only five can with certainty be ascribed to projectiles from rifled guns, and See also:thirty were unquestionably due to the old smoothbores, which were not provided with See also:sights. The See also:total loss inflicted was 6 killed and 27 wounded. The British ships engaged fired 1741 heavy projectiles (7-in_ to 16-in.) and 1457 See also:light (7-prs. to 64-prs.), together with 33,493 See also:machine-See also:gun and See also:rifle bullets. The result was comparatively small. About 8 rifled guns and 19 smoothbores were dismounted or disabled and 4 and I temporarily put out of action respectively. A considerable portion of this injury was inflicted, after the works had been silenced, by the deliberate fire of the ships. As many as twenty-eight rifled guns and 14o smoothbores would have opened fire on the following day. The Egyptians made quite as See also:good a stand as could be expected, but were driven from their guns, which they were unable to use with adequate effect; and the bombardment of Alexandria confirms previous experience that the fire of ships cannot really compete with that of well-mounted and well-handled guns on shore. In the afternoon of the 12th, fires, which were the work of incendiaries, began to break out in the best quarters of Alexandria; and the See also:town was See also:left to See also:murder and pillage till the following day, when a party of bluejackets and See also:marines was landed at about 3 P.M. Military intervention being now imperatively demanded, a See also:vote of See also:credit for 2,300,000 was passed in the British See also:House of See also:Commons on the 27th of July. Five days later the French government failed to secure a similar vote, and Great Britain was left to See also:deal with the Egyptian question alone. An expeditionary force detailed from See also:home stations and from Malta was organized in two divisions, with a See also:cavalry See also:division, See also:corps troops, and a See also:siege See also:train, numbering in all about 25,000 men. An See also:Indian contingent numbering about 7000 combatants, See also:complete in all arms and with its own transport, was prepared for despatch to See also:Suez. General Sir See also:Garnet See also:Wolseley was appointed commander-in- See also:chief, with See also:Lieutenant - General Sir J. See also:Adye as chief of the See also:staff. The See also:plan of operations contemplated the seizure of See also:Ismailia as the See also:base for an advance on Cairo, Alexandria and its suburbs to be held defensively, and the Egyptian forces in the See also:neighbour- See also:hood to be occupied by demonstrations. The expeditionary force having rendezvoused at Alexandria, means were taken by See also:Rear-Admiral See also:Hoskins and Sir W. See also:Hewett for the seizure 'of the Suez See also:canal. Under orders from the former, See also:Captain See also:Fairfax, R.N., occupied Port Said on the night of 19th See also:August, and Commander See also:Edwards, R.N., proceeded down the canal, taking See also:possession of the gares and dredgers, while Captain See also:Fitzroy, R.N., occupied Ismailia after slight opposition. Before nightfall on the loth of August the canal was wholly in British hands. Meanwhile, leaving Sir E. See also:Hamley in command at Alexandria, Sir G. Wolseley with the bulk of the expeditionary force arrived at Port Said on the loth of August, a See also:naval demonstration having been made at Abukir with a view to deceive the enemy as to the See also:object of the great See also:movement in progress. The advance from Ismailia now began. On the 21st See also:Major-General See also:Graham moved from Ismailia with about 800 men and a small naval force, occupying Nefiche, the junction with the Suez line, at 1.30 A.M. without opposition. On the 22nd he made a recon- naissance towards Suez, and on the 23rd another to El-Magfar, 4 M. from Nefiche. It now appeared that the enemy had dammed the sweet-See also:water canal and blocked the railway at Tell-el-Mahuta, where entrenchments had been thrown up and resistance seemed to be contemplated. At 4 A.M. on the 24th Sir Garnet Wolseley advanced with 3 squadrons of cavalry, 2 guns, and about See also:i000 See also:infantry, placed under the orders of Lieutenant-General See also:Willis. The enemy showed in force, estimated at 7000 with 12 guns, and a somewhat desultory action ensued. Reinforcements from Ismailia were ordered up, and the British cavalry, operating on the right, helped to check the enemy's attack, which showed little vigour. At night the troops, now reinforced by the See also:Guards See also:Brigade, an infantry See also:battalion, 2 cavalry regiments and to guns, bivouacked on the ground. See also:Early on the morning of the 25th the advance was continued to Tell-el-Mahuta, which the enemy evacuated, while the mounted troops and See also:horse See also:artillery pressed on to Mahsama, capturing the Egyptian See also:camp, with 7 guns and large quantities of See also:ammunition and supplies. On the same evening Major-General Graham, with about 1200 marines (artillery and light infantry), reached Mahsama, and on the following day he occupied See also:Kassassin without opposition. The advance guard had now outrun its communications and was actually See also:short of See also:food, while a considerable force was distributed at intervals along the line Ismailia-Kassassin. The situatioh on the 27th tempted attack by an enterprising enemy, and Major-General Graham's force, consisting of a squadron of the 19th Hussars, the See also:York and See also:Lancaster See also:Regiment, the See also:duke of See also:Cornwall's Light Infantry, the Marine Artillery Battalion and two R.H.A. guns, short of ammunition, was in danger of being overwhelmed by vastly See also:superior numbers from Tell-el-Kebir. On the 28th Major-General Graham's troops were attacked, and after repulsing the enemy, made a general advance about 6.45 P.M. The cavalry, summoned by See also:heliograph from Mahsama, co-operated, and in a moonlight See also:charge inflicted considerable loss. The British casualties amounted to 14 killed and 83 wounded. During the See also:lull which followed the first action of Kassassin, strenuous efforts were made to bring up supplies and troops and to open up railway communication to the front. On the 9th of See also:September the Egyptians again attacked Kassassin, but were completely repulsed by g A.M., with a loss of 4 guns, and were pursued to within extreme range of the guns of Tell-el- Kebir. The British casualties were 3 killed and 78 wounded. The three following days were occupied in concentrating troops at Kassassin for the attack on Tell-el-Kebir, held by about 38,000 men with 6o guns. The Egyptian defences consisted of a See also:long line of See also:trench (21 m.) approximately at right Teu-ei• angles to the railway and the sweet-water canal. At Kebir. 11 P.M. on the 12th of September the advance of
about 15,000 men commenced; the 1st division, under Lieutenant-General Willis, was on the right, and the 2nd division, under Lieutenant-General Hamley, was on the left. Seven batteries of artillery, under Brigadier-General Goodenough, were placed in the centre. The cavalry, under Major-General See also:Drury See also:Lowe, was on the right flank, and the Indian contingent, under Major-General See also:Macpherson, starting one See also:hour later, was ordered to move See also:south of the sweet-water canal. The night was moonless, and the distance to be covered about 64 m: The ground was perfectly open, slightly undulating, and generally See also:firm See also:gravel. The conditions for a night See also: An immediate pursuit was ordered, and the Indian contingent, under Major-General Macpherson, reached See also:Zagazig, while the cavalry, under Major-General Drury Lowe, occupied Belbeis and pushed on to Cairo, 65 m. from Tell-el-Kebir, next day. On the evening of the 14th the io,000 troops occupying Abbasia See also:barracks, and 5000 in the citadel of Cairo, surrendered. On the 15th General Sir Garnet Wolseley, with the brigade of Guards under H.R.H. the duke of See also:Connaught, entered the See also:city. The prompt following up of the victory at Tell-el-Kebir saved Cairo from the See also:fate of Alexandria and brought the See also:rebellion to an end. The Egyptian troops at Kafr Dauar, Abukir and See also:Rosetta surrendered without opposition, and those at See also:Damietta followed on the 23rd of September, after being threatened with attack. On the 25th the khedive entered Cairo, where a See also:review of the British troops was held on the 3oth. The expeditionary force was now broken up, leaving about io,000 men, under Major-General Sir A. See also:Alison, to maintain the authority of the khedive. In twenty-five days, from the landing at Ismailia to the occupation of Cairo, the rebellion was completely suppressed, and the operations were thus signally successful. The authority of the khedive and the See also:maintenance of See also:law and order now depended absolutely on the British forces left in occupation. Lord Dufferin, who had been sent to The See also:Sudan Cairo to draw up a project of constitutional reforms, question. advocated the re-See also:establishment of a native army, not to exceed 5000 to 6000 men, with a proportion of British officers, for purely See also:defence purposes within the See also:Delta; and on the 13th of See also:December 1882 Sir See also:Evelyn See also:Wood left See also:England to undertake the organization of this force, with the See also:title of See also:sirdar. Lord Dufferin further advised the formation of a See also:gendarmerie, which " should be in a great measure a mounted force and empowered with a semi-military See also:character " (despatch of January 1st, 1883). The strength of this military See also:police force was fixed at 4400 men with 2562 horses, and See also:Baker Pasha (General See also:Valentine Baker) was entrusted with its formation, with the title of inspector-general. In a despatch of the 6th of February 1883 Lord Dufferin dealt British expedition under Sir Garnet Wolseley. with the Sudan, and stated that Egypt " could hardly be expected to acquiesce " in a policy of withdrawal from her Southern territories. At the same time he pointed out that, "Unhappily, Egyptian See also:administration in the Sudan had been almost uniformly unfortunate. The success of the See also:present See also:mandi in raising the tribes and extending his influence over great tracts of country was a sufficient See also:proof of the government's inability either to reconcile the inhabitants to its See also:rule or to maintain order. The consequences had been most disastrous. Within the last year and a See also:half the Egyptians had lost something like 9000 men, while it was estimated that 40,000 of their opponents had perished." Moreover, to restore tranquillity in the Sudan, " the first step necessary was the construction of a railway from See also:Suakin to See also:Berber, or what, perhaps, would be more advisable, to See also:Shendi, on the See also:Nile. The completion of this enterprise would at once See also:change all the elements of the problem." The immense responsibilities involved were most imperfectly understood by the British government. Egyptian See also:sovereignty in the Sudan See also:dates from 1820, when Mehemet See also:Ali sent a large force into the country, and ultimately established his authority over See also:Sennar and See also:Kordofan. In 1865 Suakin and See also:Massawa were assigned to Egyptian rule by the sultan, and in 187o Sir See also:Samuel Baker proceeded up the Nile to the See also:conquest of the See also:Equatorial provinces, of which General See also:Gordon was appointed See also:governor-general in 1874. In the same year See also:Darfur and See also:Harrar were annexed, and in 1877 Gordon became governor-general of the Sudan, where, with the valuable assistance of Gessi Pasha, he laboured to destroy the slave See also:trade and to establish just government. In August 1879 he returned to Cairo, and was succeeded by Raouf Pasha. See also:Misrule and oppression in every form now again prevailed throughout the Sudan, while the slave traders, exasperated by Gordon's stern See also:measures, were ready to revolt. The authority of Egypt was represented by scattered garrisons of armed men, badly officered, undisciplined and largely demoralized. In such conditions a See also:leader only was required to ensure widespread and dangerous rebellion. A leader appeared in the See also:person of Mahommed Ahmed, See also:born in 1848, who had taken up his See also:abode on Abba See also:Island, and, acquiring great reputation for sanctity, had actively fomented insurrection. In August 1881 a small force sent by Raouf Pasha to See also:arrest Mahommed Ahmed was destroyed, and the latter, proclaiming himself the mandi, stood forth as the See also:champion of revolt. Thus, at the time when the Egyptian army was broken up at Tell-el-Kebir, the Sudan was already in flames. On the 7th of June 1882, 6000 men under Yusef Pasha, advancing from See also:Fashoda, were nearly annihilated by the mandists. Payara and Birket in Kordofan quickly See also:fell, and a few days before the See also:battle of Tell-el-Kebir was fought, the mandi, with a large force, was besieging El Obeid. That town was captured, after an obstinate defence, on the 17th of January 1883, by which time almost the whole of the Sudan south of See also:Khartum was in open rebellion, except the See also:Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Equatorial provinces, where for a time Lupton See also:Bey and Emin Pasha were able to hold their own. Abd-el-Kader, who had succeeded Raouf, telegraphed to Cairo for 10,000 additional troops, and pointed out that if they were not sent at once four times this number would be required to re-establish the authority of the government in the Sudan. After gaining some small successes, Abd-el-Kader was superseded by Suliman Niagi on the loth of February 1883, and on the 26th of March See also:Ala-eddin Pasha was appointed governor-general. Meanwhile 500o men, who had served in the Egyptian army, were collected and forcibly despatched to Khartum via Suakin. In March
1883 See also:Colonel See also: Baring forcibly argued against British intervention in the affairs of the Sudan, and on the 13th of December Lord Granville telegraphed that " Her Majesty's government recommend the ministers of khedive to come to an early decision to abandon all territory south of See also:Assuan, or, at least, of See also:Wadi Halfa." On the 4th of January 1884 Sir E. Baring was directed to insist upon the policy of evacuation, and on the 18th General Gordon left See also:London to assist in its See also:execution. The year 1883 brought a great See also:accession of See also:power to the mandi, who had captured about 20,000 rifles, 19 guns and large stores of ammunition. On the Red Sea littoral See also:Osman Digna, a slave dealer of Suakin, appointed See also:amir of the Defeat of Eastern Sudan, raised the See also:local tribes and invested Banker. Sinkat and Tokar. On the 16th of See also:October and the 4th of November Egyptian reinforcements intended for the former See also:place were destroyed, and on the 2nd of December a force of 700 men was annihilated near Tamanieb. On the 23rd of December General Valentine Baker, followed by about 2500 men, gendarmerie, blacks, Sudanese and See also:Turks, with To British officers, arrived at Suakin to prepare for the See also:relief of Sinkat and Tokar. The khedive appears to have been aware of the risks to be incurred, and in a private See also:letter he informed the general that " I rely upon your prudence and ability not to engage the enemy except under the most favourable circumstances." The tragedy of Kashgil was repeated on the 4th of February 1884, when General Baker's heterogeneous force, on the march from Trinkitat to Tokar, was routed at El Teb by an inferior See also:body of tribesmen. Of 3715 men, 2375, with 11 European officers, were killed. Suakin was now in danger, and on the 6th of February British bluejackets and marines were landed for the defence of the town. Two expeditions in the Sudan led by British officers having thus ended in disaster, and General Gordon with Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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