19th Century
Egyptian Army

1821-1826: Egypt, Sudan, Greece, Hejaz

List AR21N

by Mark Bevis

1. Army Muhammad Ali 1821-1822

4000 Albanian Sekhan infantry in battalions of 400 men
400 Bazinger Negro light infantry: rifle, sword.
4 Maghrebi Sekhan infantry battalions@ 400 men (Moroccan, Tunis, Algerians)
3+ Turkish Sekhan Infantry Battalions@ 400 men, muskets, sword
2+ Greek Evzone Sekhan Infantry Battalions@ 400 men, musket, sword
100 bodyguard Mamelukes
5000 Shaigara cavalry & camelry (Nubian Sudanese irregulars, javelin, shield, sword)
2 Kurdish Djelli Ortas@ 400 men (padded barding, steel breastplate, tall conical fur hats, carbine, spear, pistols, knives)
2000 Howaitat (Arab) cavalry and camelry (spear, sword, some musket)
5000 Bedouin cavalry and camelry (some in chainmail) (muskets or spears, swords)
2000 Bedouin infantry (irregular foot with spears, clubs, swords, some muskets)
5 foot batteries@ 5x 6pdr or 12pdr guns, 1x howitzer
few mortar batteries
6 Nile gunboats
800 Nile transports, can carry at least 2000 infantry
18+x 100-150 ton warships on the Red Sea.
War factories producing 4 cannon and 1425 muskets per month.

2. Muhammad Ali 1823-1826

3000 Albanian Sekhan infantry in battalions of 400 men
3 Maghrebi Sekhan infantry battalions@ 500 men (Moroccan, Tunis, Algerians)
7460 Shaigara, Bedouin and Howaitat cavalry & camelry (mostly Shaigara)
2 Kurdish Djelli Ortas@ 300 men (padded barding, steel breastplate, tall conical fur hats, carbine, spear, pistols, knives)
1000 Bedouin cavalry and camelry (some in chainmail) (muskets or spears, swords)
3000 Bedouin infantry (irregular foot with spears, clubs, swords, some muskets)
5+ foot batteries@ 5x 6pdr or 12pdr guns, 1x 7pdr howitzer
few mortar batteries
1 Fortification, Transport, Road Building and Mining Regiment (1824+)
Regular Sapper Corps (1824+)

3. Egyptian Nizam Jadid Army 1821-1826

Reformed after the failure of Sudanese people to adopt to previous Nizam units, the following were raised using Caucasian and Nubian slaves:

October 1820:

    1 Nizam Cavalry Training Unit: 230 Mamelukes, 190 regular light cavalry, spear, sword, pistols
    1 Nizam Training Infantry Battalion: Bttn HQ: 10 men, 9 Companies@ 56 men

By 1821:

    1st, 2nd Nizam Infantry Regiments@ 5 Battalions@ Bttn HQ: 10 men, 9 Companies@ 56 men, 4 platoons

By December 1821:

    1st, 2nd, 3rd Nizam Infantry Regiments@
    4 Battalions@ Bttn HQ: 16 men, 20 musicians (some kettledrums on camels)
    6 Fusilier Companies@ 96 men, musket, bayonet
    1 Grenadier Company: 96 men, sabres, musket, bayonet
    1 Voltiguer Company: 96 men, sabres, musket, bayonet
    1 Depot Battalion: 800 men organised as above

Most of the black troops died due to disease, although the 1st Regiment was in the Sudan on garrison duties, and the 2nd Regiment was deployed in the Hejaz.

From 1823 Muhammad Ali turned to recruiting Egyptian fellaheen for his Nizam units.

    Nizam Jadid Infantry 1823-1825:
      1 Negro Infantry Regiment: 4 Battalions@ 8 Companies, 750 men
      5 Infantry Regiments@ 4 Battalions, 1 Depot Bttn@ 800 men (organised as Dec1821)
      The 2nd Regiment remained in the Hejaz.

Nizam forces by 1826:

    9 Infantry Regiments
    2 Cavalry Regiments@ 700-800 men in 4 Squadrons@ 4 Troops

4. Egyptian Expedtion to Greece, 1824

In 1824 the Ottoman Turks asked Ali for help in their attempts to quell the Greek revolt:

CinC: Ibrahim Pasha

    3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Nizam Regiments@
      4 Battalions@ Bttn HQ: 16 men, 20 musicians (some kettledrums on camels)
      6 Fusilier Companies@ 96 men, musket, bayonet
      1 Grenadier Company: 96 men, sabres, musket, bayonet
      1 Voltiguer Company: 96 men, sabres, musket, bayonet

    1 Nizam regular cavalry Regiment: 700 men in 4 Squadrons
    4 Sapper Companies@ 200 men
    4 artillery batteries@ 6 guns

5. Notes

    a) Nizam infantry can form regular column-line-square formations.
    b) Mamelukes, Djellis and Sekhans can form close order lines and columns, all other troops are loose order irregulars.
    c) Field artillery is of French pattern, and includes 7pdr howitzers.


Back to MicroMark 19th Century Egypt List of TO&Es
Back to MicroMark 19th Century National List of TO&Es
Back to MicroMark Period List of TO&Es
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1997-2003 by Mark Bevis and MicroMark.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com