The following troops were engaged at Tel-el-Kebir: One batt. Grenadiers, Coldstreams, and Scots Fusilier Guards; 18th, 42nd, 46th, 60th, 72nd, 74th, 75th, 79th, 84th, and 87th; detachments of the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards; 4th and 7th Dragoon Guards; 19th Hussars; a batt. of Marines; Marine Artillery, and a brigade of Seamen. The following Indian troops were also engaged: 7th Bengal and 20th Punjab Infantry; 29th Beloochees; 2nd, 6th, and 13th Bengal Cavalry.
Egyptian Medal, 1882.—The medal is a simple one, 1⅖ in. in diameter, depending from a suspender like that on the Ashantee medal; the ribbon is 1¼ in. wide alternately blue and white, three blue stripes and two white. On the obverse is the same Queen's head as on the Ashantee medal, but the reverse has a well-modelled Sphinx, with EGYPT in block letters above and 1882 in the exergue, while bars were given for the two engagements, ALEXANDRIA 11TH JULY and TEL-EL-KEBIR. They are wide and square, and set rather far apart, as in the Afghan medal of 1878-80. The names are engraved on the edge in slanting Roman capitals; in a few instances the naming is done in upright capitals.
The Khedive's Star.—Prince Twefik gave to all who took part in the campaign a bronze star of five points bearing on the obverse in the centre a front view of the Sphinx, behind which are three pyramids in the distance encircled by a band bearing the inscription EGYPT 1882, and below in Arabic characters "The Khedive of Egypt" and the year of the Hegira "1299." On the reverse within a raised border is the Khedive's monogram T.M. (Twefik Muhammad), surmounted by a crown with crescent and star above. The star is suspended from a laureated bar bearing a crescent and star by means of a dark-blue ribbon 1½ in. wide.
Against the Dervishes.—Quite a different type of enemy were the followers of the Mahdi, who after practically exterminating the Egyptian army of 7,000 men led by Hicks Pasha, and under the generalship of the slave-trader, Osman Digna, had made short work of Baker Pasha's 5,000 Egyptians at El-Teb on February 1st, 1884, met at the same place on the 29th, and fought the force of 4,000 men which Major-General Graham had got together. The battle, which was of a determined character (see also page [321]), the brunt falling on the "Black Watch," the 65th, and Naval Brigade, resulted in the defeat of the Arabs with a loss of 2,000 killed; 22 British officers and 167 men were killed or wounded. For this battle those who already possessed the Egyptian medal received the bar inscribed EL-TEB.
The following troops were engaged at El-Teb: "Black Watch"; Gordon Highlanders; Irish Rifles; King's Royal Rifle Corps; 1st Batt. York and Lancaster Regiment; 100 Royal Engineers; 126 artillerymen; 328 men of 10th Hussars; 410 of 19th Hussars; 125 Mounted Infantry; Marine Light Infantry and Marine Artillery, and a Naval Brigade of 162 men.
Tamaai.—Fourteen days later the British force again met the Mahdi's hosts, and at Tamaai routed the Arabs with a loss of over 3,000. It was at this battle that a few Arabs first got into the British square. The "Black Watch," whose quick movement on being ordered to charge, left a gap between themselves and the York and Lancaster Regiment, losing Major Aitken, 8 sergeants, and 50 men killed, 3 officers and 26 men wounded. The British losses were 5 officers and 104 men killed, and 8 officers and 120 men wounded or missing. (See also Naval Section, page [322].)
The following troops were engaged at Tamaai: "Black Watch"; Gordon Highlanders; Royal Irish Fusiliers; York and Lancaster Regiment; King's Royal Rifle Corps; Artillery; 26th Company Royal Engineers; a squadron of the 10th and 19th Hussars; Royal Marines and a Naval Brigade.
A bar for TAMAAI was given for this battle, and to those who took part in that of El-Teb also a bar bearing the words EL-TEB—TAMAAI. The battle of Suakin on March 27th brought the first Soudan War to a close. Those who landed at Suakin or Trinkitat between February 19th and March 26th, and had taken part in the 1882 campaign, were granted the bar for SUAKIN 1884. It was further approved that a bar be issued to all those who were actually present at either or both of the actions on February 29th and March 13th; this bar to be inscribed EL-TEB—TAMAAI for those who were in both actions, and EL-TEB or TAMAAI for those who were in one or the other, but not both.
To Relieve Gordon.—The Mahdi, however, was not conquered; he had merely run away to fight another day. The defence of Khartoum for ten months by General Gordon, and the belated and unsuccessful attempts to relieve him, are matters of history which will not be easily forgotten; but for our purpose they recall the gallant Britisher who refused to yield, and the splendid efforts which were made by the officers and men who went up the Nile in 1884-5. They started from Cairo in September under Lord Wolseley, and reached Dongola early in November, when the gallant Sir Herbert Stewart started off with his little army of 1,600 men to reach Khartoum, by first marching 170 miles and then travelling 100 miles by steamer.
Abu Klea.—It was during this march that the battle of Abu Klea—"where the rifles jammed and the shoddy bayonets twisted like tin"—was fought on January 17th, 1885, and the survivors of the little band of about 1,200 who took part received the bar ABU KLEA. Here the genial giant Colonel Fred Burnaby was thrown from his horse in riding outside the square to assist some skirmishers, and killed as he lay on the ground, and here Lord Charles Beresford had many hair-breadth escapes from death (see page [325]), while the Arabs achieved the remarkable feat of breaking a British square and getting inside, killing the wounded and a number of camels ere they were themselves dispatched. This, one of the most strenuous of the battles in the Sudan, resulted in a loss to the enemy of over 2,000, and to the British of 9 officers killed and 9 wounded (2 dying of their wounds), 65 non-coms. and men killed, and 85 wounded; but the enemy were still active, and as Sir Herbert Stewart marched on he found his way to the Nile barred by them, so a zareba was formed at Abu Kru, and here he was mortally wounded. The enemy were driven off; the harassed troops pressed on, reached the Nile, and heard that Khartoum had fallen! Their pluck, perseverance, and privations were in vain. In the fight between Abu Klea and the river 1 officer and 22 men were killed, and 8 officers and 90 men wounded; this was called the battle of Gubat, but no bar was given for it.