TEL-EL-KEBIR. September 13th, 1882.

Sir Archibald Alison commanded the troops at Alexandria, and kept the Egyptians at bay till the arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley from England, on August 15th., who at once changed the base of operations from Alexandria to the Suez Canal. Leaving a division of troops under Sir E. Wood to protect the town, on August 19th. the fleet and army sailed for Port Said,^[216] and proceeded up the Suez Canal to Ismailia, 608which place was occupied without resistance, and the army disembarked. Owing to the difficulties of transport there was considerable delay before the troops were able to advance, and in the meantime Arabi had collected a large army at a strongly fortified position at Tel-el-Kebir. On August 28th. a most determined attack was made on the British advanced force at Kassassin; consisting of under two thousand men, including the Marine Artillery, commanded by General Graham, by about ten thousand of the enemy, with twelve guns; but after a day’s hard fighting, the cavalry, under General Drury Lowe, charged the Egyptians in the rear, and routed them with loss. By September 11th., the whole expeditionary force, including the Indian contingent,^[217] commanded by General Sir H. Macpherson, was assembled at Kassassin, and the next day General Wolseley having carefully reconnoitered the enemy’s position, explained to his officers his plan of attack. This was, to move with his whole force at nightfall, and marching eight miles through the desert, to attack the Egyptian entrenchments with the bayonet at daybreak.

The enemy’s position was defended by sixty guns, and a disciplined force of about twenty thousand men, besides several thousand irregular troops. The British army consisted of eleven thousand infantry, two thousand cavalry, and forty-two guns, including the Indian contingent. In the evening the camp was struck, and the troops moved out, piled their arms, and lay down on the sand till one o’clock in the morning, when they silently fell into rank and advanced. Marching across the desert, guided by the light of the stars, with occasional halts; as day began to break the dim outlines of the entrenchments of Tel-el-Kebir became visible. On the extreme right were the Cavalry and mounted Infantry, with two batteries of Horse Artillery; next was General Graham’s Brigade, with the Guards in support; in the centre was massed the Artillery, forty-two guns, and on the left the Highland Brigade, supported by the 46th., 3rd. Battalion 60th. 609Rifles, and a Battalion of Royal Marine Artillery; on the line of railway was the Naval Brigade, with a forty-pounder on a truck, and on the other side of the canal the 72nd. and the Indian troops. So silent was the advance of the assailants in the early dawn that they were not perceived by the enemy till they were within three hundred yards of the works. Then suddenly a terrific fire flashed along the line of sand-heaps, and a storm of bullets swept over the heads of the advancing troops. Not a shot was fired in reply, but a wild cheer broke from the Highlanders as they dashed at the enemy’s trenches. The first line of entrenchments was carried, but from a second line the enemy opened a heavy fire. For a few minutes the Highlanders replied, and then, making another rush, a hand to hand contest followed, till some of the force penetrated between the redoubts and opened a flank fire on the Egyptians, who soon broke and fled. Graham’s brigade was vigorously opposed on the other flank. The enemy here were not taken by surprise, and for a while held their ground stubbornly. The 18th. Royal Irish were sent to turn their left, and with a yell they went straight at the works, and carried them at the bayonet’s point. The 18th. were followed by the 84th. and 87th., but the Egyptians, though outflanked, clung to an inner line of trenches, and at every angle and redoubt, rallied and sustained the fight. But they fell in scores before the bayonet charges, the inner entrenchments were won, the Highlanders were in the midst of their camp, and the enemy, losing heart, fled in confusion, pursued by the cavalry.

Within an hour from the commencement of the attack the Egyptian army was in complete rout. The whole of their guns (sixty-six) and military stores, several trains of ammunition, and other matériel, fell into the hands of the victors. The British pressed on in pursuit. Zagazig was occupied in the afternoon, and the next day, General Drury Lowe, with fifteen hundred Cavalry and a battery of Horse Artillery, entered and took possession of Cairo, containing twenty-seven thousand fanatics and its citadel garrisoned by ten thousand men. At ten o’clock the same night, Arabi surrendered himself to General Lowe, and on September 15th., Sir Garnet Wolseley, with a portion of his infantry, entered the city,^[218] and telegraphed to London—“The war is over, send no more troops to Egypt.” The British loss in this battle was nine officers and forty-eight non-commissioned officers and men killed^[219]; twenty-seven officers, and three hundred and fifty-three non-commissioned officers and men wounded; and twenty-two men missing; total of casualties, four hundred and fifty-nine. The loss of the enemy, exclusive of prisoners, was over two thousand killed and wounded.

The regiments which shared in this decisive victory were detachments of 1st. and 2nd. Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards; 4th. and 7th. Dragoon Guards, and 19th. Hussars; a battalion each of Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Guards; the 18th., 42nd., 46th., 60th., 72nd., 74th., 75th., 79th., 84th., and 87th. Also a Naval Brigade of about two hundred men; a battalion of Marine Artillery and Light Infantry, and the Indian Contingent.

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