As will be seen from a perusal of the following list of casualties, the brunt of the fighting at Tel-el-Kebir fell on the Highland Brigade, which suffered more heavily here than it did at the historic Battle of the Alma.
Casualties at Tel-el-Kebir, September 12, 1882.
| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| Grenadier Gds. | - | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Coldstream Gds. | - | 1 | - | 7 |
| Scots Guards | - | - | - | 4 |
| 2nd Batt. Royal Irish | 1 | 2 | 1 | 17 |
| 46th Corn. L.I. | - | 1 | - | 5 |
| 42nd Royal Highlanders | 1 | 6 | 7 | 37 |
| 3rd Batt. K. Roy. Rifles | - | - | - | 20 |
| 84th York and Lancaster | - | - | - | 12 |
| 72nd Seaforth Highlanders | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| 74th Highland L.I. | 3 | 5 | 14 | 52 |
| 75th Gordon Highlanders | 1 | 1 | 5 | 29 |
| 79th Cameron Highlanders | - | 3 | 13 | 45 |
| 87th Roy. Irish Fusiliers | - | - | 2 | 34 |
| —— | ||||
| 2nd Gardner's Horse | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| 6th K.E.O. Cavalry | - | - | - | - |
| 13th Watson's Horse | - | - | - | 2 |
| 7th Rajputs | - | - | - | 1 |
| 20th Brownlow's Punjabis | - | - | - | - |
Following the precedent of the Crimean War, when British officers and soldiers were authorized to receive and to wear decorations and medals bestowed by our allies, the Queen sanctioned the acceptance of a very generous bestowal of orders of the Osmanieh and Medjidieh, whilst every officer and man received a bronze star commemorative of the campaign at the hands of the Khedive.
Turkish Decorations bestowed for the Campaign of 1882.
| Regiments. | Osmanieh. | Medjidieh. | ||
| General officers | 4 | 6 | ||
| Staff officers | 51 | 94 | ||
| 1st Life Guards (one squadron) | 1 | - | ||
| 2nd Life Guards (one squadron) | 1 | 1 | ||
| Roy. Horse Gds. (one squadron) | - | 1 | ||
| 4th Drag. Gds. | - | 3 | ||
| 7th Drag. Gds. | 2 | 1 | ||
| 19th Hussars | 2 | 1 | ||
| Royal Artillery | 3 | 18 | ||
| Roy. Engineers | 1 | 4 | ||
| Grenadier Gds. | 2 | 2 | ||
| Coldstream Gds. | 3 | 1 | ||
| Scots Guards | 3 | 1 | ||
| Royal Irish | 3 | 1 | ||
| 38th South Staffords | 2 | 2 | ||
| 42nd Roy. Highlanders | 3 | 1 | ||
| 46th Cornwall L.I. | 3 | 1 | ||
| 50th West Kent | 3 | 1 | ||
| 60th King's Royal Rifles | 3 | 1 | ||
| 72nd Seaforth Highlanders | 3 | 1 | ||
| 74th High. L.I. | 2 | 2 | ||
| 79th Cameron Highlanders | 3 | 1 | ||
| 84th York and Lancaster | 3 | 1 | ||
| 87th Roy. Irish Fusiliers | 3 | 1 | ||
| —— | ||||
| 2nd Gardner's Horse | 1 | 2 | ||
| 6th K.E.O. Cavalry | 1 | 2 | ||
| 13th Watson's Horse | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2nd Q.O. Sappers and Miners | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7th Rajputs | 1 | 2 | ||
| 20th Brownlow's Punjabis | 1 | 2 | ||
| 129th Baluchis | 1 | 2 | ||
Nile, 1884-85.
This distinction was conferred on the regiments which, under Generals Earle and Sir Herbert Stewart, essayed to save General C. Gordon, R.E., then hemmed in by fanatical Moslems at Khartoum. The regiments entitled to bear the honour are the
19th Hussars.
Royal Irish.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
Royal Sussex.
South Staffordshire.
Royal Highlanders.
Essex.
Royal West Kent.
Gordon Highlanders.
Cameron Highlanders.
Looking back after the event, it is clear that the British Government did not appreciate the responsibilities they had assumed when they left Sir Archibald Alison in command of the army of occupation after the victory of Tel-el-Kebir. Not only was the authority of the Khedive gone in Egypt proper, but it had vanished in the far-off regions of the Soudan, which were now in the hands of a fanatical Moslem false prophet, who styled himself the Mahdi. At one time, in the days of the Khedive Ismail, the Soudan had been administered by General Charles Gordon, of the Royal Engineers. One of the most remarkable men of his generation, General Gordon was the type of the earlier Christian martyrs, and as a Christian martyr he died. At the request of the Khedive, and with the consent of the British Government, General Gordon assumed the Governorship of the Soudan, and set out for his post early in 1884. Into the history of Gordon's gallant defence of Khartoum it is no part of my province to enter. Towards the end of the year he was hard pressed, and, though ordered to abandon the Soudan, he declined to do so. It became necessary to organize a force, not merely to effect his rescue, but also to restore the authority of the Khedive in the Soudan and the Equatorial provinces of Egypt, where only the writ of the Mahdi was allowed to run.