The fortified defences of Tel-el-Kebir were very strong. The British were in position before the first streak of dawn, and everything was "all Sir Garnet," as Tommy Atkins has constantly said ever since. There was silence as the soldiers lay waiting for the word to advance, and, when at last it was given in a subdued tone, all arose and marched forward, and their footfalls on the soft sand were almost as noiseless as footfalls on the snow. Of this mysterious nocturnal advance in the silence of a mysterious land, a historian says: "The darkness around and above, with the stars shining down as they had done in the time of Pharaoh and the other dynasties of Egyptian kings lying entombed in the Pyramids ... weird and ghostly was the effect of the dim streaks, looking like shadows of moving clouds, but which were really lines of men stealing over the desert."
The first indication that our approach was discovered came in the form of some scattered shots fired by the enemy's sentries; then came a bugle call from within the enemy's lines. This filled our men with enthusiasm, for it meant that the action would begin in the darkness, which was to our advantage. For a few minutes they marched on stealthily, then the whole line of the enemy's entrenchments, which had been unknown to us, was now clearly revealed by the sudden blaze of rifle fire. The simultaneous flash was so great that it lit up the whole scene. Immediately the British bugles sounded the charge, and our men on the instant sprang forward with loud cheers, then advanced rapidly but steadily on the foe.
The terrible conflict which ensued soon became general, and the infantry, once in close grips with the Egyptians, inflicted severe loss with the bayonet. It was to this astonishing "infantry" that the credit of victory was mainly due; the artillery and cavalry, together with a fine force of marines, were responsible for the infliction of heavy punishment on the foe in the confusion of their retreat.
In this battle the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Light Infantry ("Brownlow's Punjabis") fought with great bravery, and, by their heroic deeds, added "Tel-el-Kebir" to the list of their battle honours.
During the course of the Egyptian campaign two other Indian regiments of cavalry, besides the 13th Bengal Lancers, and two of infantry besides the 20th, fought bravely, and all bear the "honours" of "Egypt 1882" and "Tel-el-Kebir." The 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Sappers and Miners (a native corps) also bear these "honours," in addition to "Suakin 1885" and "Tofrek."
| El-Teb} | 1884 | Hasheen} | 1885 |
| Tamai } | Tofrek } |
Everywhere throughout the Sudan the Mahdi, or False Prophet, had waged a successful rebellion against the authority of the Egyptian Government, which, since the crushing defeat of Arabi Pasha at Tel-el-Kebir, had fallen under Britain's protection. In order to bring this truculent disturber to submission it was necessary to send a British army to the relief of Tokar near Suakin. The Sudan had for a long time been the impenetrable stronghold of the slave trade. "If any part of God's earth was dyed with human blood," said Lord Wolseley, "it was this," and now in addition to this there was the memory of the treachery at El-Obeid, the capital of Kordofan, where Hicks Pasha's army was treacherously led into ambush and ultimately massacred. The Mahdi was not present in this battle, but he came later to see the body of Hicks, who was the last to die, and thrust his spear through the Pasha's body as an example to be followed by all his sheikhs. All this blood—more than the blood of slaves—cried out for vengeance.
As the rebellion spread eastward, Osman the Ugly hastened thither and further inflamed it. This man was a slave trader, whose chief grievance was that he had been ruined by the prohibition of the vile traffic. For a time he had a victorious career, completely annihilating force after force of Egyptian troops. During his investment of Sinkat and Tokar, Baker Pasha was despatched with a force of 3,600 men to the relief of those two towns. But here another terrible slaughter of the Egyptian troops took place in the battle—or rather, the massacre—of El-Teb. An eye witness says of this: "Inside the square the state of affairs was almost indescribable. Cavalry, infantry, mules, camels, falling baggage and dying men were crushed into a struggling, surging mass. The Egyptians were shrieking madly, hardly attempting to run away, but trying to shelter themselves one behind another."