| Regiments. | Officers. | N.C.O.'s. and Men | Horses. |
| Troop of 11th Light Dragoons (now 11th Hussars), C.-in-C.'s escort | 4 | 55 | 61 |
| 12th Light Dragoons | 23 | 527 | 128 |
| 26th Light Dragoons | 19 | 473 | 131 |
—whilst for the artillery there were but sixty-four horses, and this despite the promises of the Turkish Government that all horses necessary for the army should be delivered in Marmorice Bay before the army left for Egypt.
The disembarkation of the army on March 8, 1802, was effected under a heavy fire, there being 31 officers and 642 of all ranks killed and wounded. It was carried out by the Reserve, under Sir John Moore, and the Brigade of Guards with a gallantry that compelled the admiration of the whole army. The point selected had been decided on by the Commander-in-Chief in conjunction with the Admiral. By nightfall the whole of the army, with the exception of the horses, was on shore, and on the morning of the 13th Abercromby commenced his advance on Alexandria. The troops moved in three columns, Moore's brigade being on the right, marching parallel to the sea. The centre division was composed of the brigades of Craddock, Coote, and the Brigade of Guards. It was led by the 90th (Scottish Rifles). The left column consisted of Lord Cavan's brigade, a battalion of Marines, and the three foreign regiments; the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) was in front. In the course of the march the French made a most determined attack, their cavalry charging down on the leading companies of the 90th. This corps and the 92nd, which bore the brunt of the fighting, behaved with the utmost steadiness, thus giving the regiments in rear time to deploy, when the French were driven back on their own position, from which they were driven with loss.
GENERAL SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY.
To face page 124.
Mandora, March 13, 1802.
This battle honour is borne by the Scottish Rifles and the Gordon Highlanders, and was conferred upon these two young regiments in recognition of the gallantry with which they met and repelled the attack of a vastly superior body of French, as related above. The total loss of the army on March 13 amounted to 6 officers and 153 men killed, 66 officers and 1,936 men wounded, the heaviest casualties being those of the two regiments who bear "Mandora" on their colours. The 13th (Somerset Light Infantry), which was in the immediate rear of the 90th, at once moved up to its support, and also suffered very heavily. The 90th (Scottish Rifles) were under the command of their junior Lieutenant-Colonel, afterwards better known as General Viscount Hill, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. He was badly wounded at Mandora, when the command of the regiment devolved on the next senior officer, Major Moncrieff, who a few days subsequently was given the command of the 44th (Essex), on its Colonel being killed. Thence he was moved, at Sir John Moore's request, to the 52nd, in order to train that distinguished corps as a light infantry regiment. Although the 90th at that time had not the designation of light infantry, its founder, Colonel Graham, afterwards Lord Lynedoch had from its earliest days trained it as a light infantry corps, impelled thereto because its predecessor, which had fought so well at the capture of Belleisle, Martinique, and Havana, was at that time (1759-1764) the only light infantry regiment in the British army, and the stout old Scotsman never rested until he had secured the same title for the new 90th.
Casualties of the 90th and 92nd at Mandora.
| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| 90th Scottish Rifles | 1 | 7 | 29 | 242 |
| 92nd Gordon Highlanders | - | 11 | 19 | 110 |