The Egyptian Army
1880-1900

The Early Years
and Growth of an Army

by Doug Johnson

Colonial wargamers have a hard time assessing the Egyptian army. The defeats of Tel el-Kebir, El-Obeid and El-Teb stand out in their minds as primary examples of Egyptian cowardice and ineptness. Much praise is given to the Sudanese battalions, and this is deserved. Contempt is reserved for the Egyptian battalions of 1881and 1898, but this is inaccurate. The task of an accurate evaluation is not made easier by the Patronizing remarks of British observers who had no real experience with the Egyptian army. However readable the accounts of Steevens, Churchill, Burleigh, etc., only one was a military man, and not one knew Arabic or had ever commanded Egyptians in battle. Their knowledge was at best second-hand.

It is unfortunate then that wargamers have tended to adopt their prejudices. This article hopes to reform the prejudiced opinions which have resulted.

THE EARLY YEARS

The Egyptian army had a checkered career in the 19th Century. Capable of extensive conquests under Muhammad Ali, by the 1880's it was in a sad state, especially so since its defeat by the Ethiopians in the late 1870's. The best Egyptian battalions were kept in Egypt, and those Egyptians sent to the Sudan (especially officers) were often sent for punishment. The best troops seem to have been the Sudanese battalions raised from the Africans of the South. Still, some of the original Egyptian garrisons in the Sudan fought well in the early days of the Mahdiyya, as with Slatin or in the defenses of El-Obeid, Sennar, Sinkat and Kassala. The soldiers sent down with Baker and Hicks were certainly not up to the standard of the Egyptian garrisons already in the Sudan. In fact, they were men who were considered unfit to be enrolled in the new Egyptian army of Sir Evelyn Wood.

Wingate relates an incident on the disarming of theEgyptian army after Tel el-Kebir:

"...later on in the day came a regiment of veterans from the fort of Abukir, who had until now believed that their guns would destroy the English fleet...These old soldiers marched in silence up the long line of railway trucks, halted in silence under the level ranks of the Shropshire and Sussex regiments, and were disarmed. They hurled their rifles into the wagons, tore off their accoutrements and flung them after them, then turned and marched sullenly away without a word. Sir Evelyn Wood was there, and perhaps he Marked these men's demeanour. Whether so or not, he never had the slightest doubt as to what kind of soldiers he was going to make." (Wingate, pp 204-5)

In the early 1880's, the Egyptian army battalion consisted of four Buluks (companies) of approximately 200 men each. The Sudanese garrisons followed this organization while the new army under Wood in Egypt underwent an entirely new organization.

The new Egyptian army was formally raised in 1883. A total of 6,000 men was raised in eight battalions for four years' service in the army, and then four each in the police and the reserves. British officers seconded to the Egyptian any were given a commission of one or two ranks above their own. Egyptian ranks (as well as the drill) were in Turkish. They were: Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief), Farik (Lt.-general), and Lewa (Major-General) which were all called Pasha; Miralai (Colonel), KaiMkan (Lt.-Colonel) both being called Bey; Bimbashi (Major), Yuzbashi (Captain), Mulazim awal (1st Lieutenant) and Mulazim tani (2nd Lieutenant) all of which were called Effendi. Although the first eight battalions were formed into two regiments, the first commanded by British officers under Brigadier Grenfell and the second under native officers under El Lewa Shuhdi Pasha, in fact the practice soon came to be that there were no British officers below the rank of Bimbashi and few Egyptian officers above Yuzbashi.

Throughout the campaigns of 1884 and 1885 few units of the new army were sent to the front. Some served on the frontier, in garrison duty at Suakin, and hauling boats for the Nile Column. Forty men of the Camel corps (at this time consisting of only one company) were with the British at El-Teb and Tammai in 1884, and another detachment with one Camel battery saw action at Kirbekan in 1885. But by and large the Egyptians were kept strictly out of the fight. Plans were even floated to raise a Turkish battalion for the war in the Sudan rather than use the Egyptians. When this fell through, it was decided to raise a battalion of Sudanese veterans from the old Dongala and Berber regiments. This was the IX Battalion and served on garrisons at Suakin and on the frontier (it was conventional to distinguish the Sudanese battalions from the Egyptian by using Roman numerals).

GROWTH OF THE ARMY

By the end of 1885 the Egyptian army totaled nine battalions of infantry (25 British officers, 181 native officers, 4,646 men), eight troops of cavalry (one British officer, 27 native officers, 540 men), four batteries of artillery (one British officer, 18 native officers, 403 men), and three companies of Camel Corps (two British officers, seven native officers, 203 men) (Colville, I, p. 277). Two battalions of infantry, two troops of cavalry, one battery of artillery.and fifty men of the Camel Corps were stationed at Suakin while five battalions of infantry, five troops of cavalry, one camel battery of artillery and the rest of the Camel Corps were stationed between Wadi Halfa and the frontier. (Ibid.)

Both the infantry and the Camel Corps were armed with the Martini-Henry rifle and triangular socket bayonet, weapons they retained into the 20th Century. The cavalry were armed with the Martini-Henry carbine and sabre. It was not until the 1890's that the front ranks of the cavalry were given lances. The artillery used both mules and camels in each battery, alternating the mounts depending on the type of terrain (mules being used for rocky or hilly country and camels for the desert). At this time the artillery was armed with seven pounder mountain guns and small caliber Krupps. Despite the lightness of the guns, the batteries were designated Field Batteries, a term used throughout the rest of the Century.

In 1886 four new battalions were raised. Two, the Xth and XIIIth, were Sudanese. However, later on in the year the 11th and 12th Egyptian battalions were disbanded for reasons of economy. One Sudanese battalion of Valentine Baker's Gendarmerie was used on the frontier and in Suakin as regular infantry in 1886 and 1887, until it finally incorporated into the army on May 1, 1888 as the XIth Sudanese. A XIIth Sudanese battalion was raised the same year, and the Camel Corps was increased to four companies.

Enlistment in the Egyptian battalions was changed in 1888 to six years in the army, five in the police, and four in the reserves. The Sudanese, on the other hand, were enlisted for life and kept until too old to fight.Their treatment when "retired" contrasted unfavorably with their Egyptian counterparts, for very little attention was paid to their fate, aside from occasional donations from individual British officers. It was not until after the reconquest of the Sudan that the government took a more active role in setting up pensions and "retirement" villages.

In 1890 the Sudanese battalions were expanded from four companies of 170 each to six companies of 150 each. The Egyptian battalions remained at four companies. By 1891 there were fourteen battalions of infantry (the last six were Sudanese), five squadrons of cavalry (at 100 men each), six batteries of artillery (113 men each, except the one horse battery which had 137 men), and six companies of Camel Corps (at 152 men each) totaling 12,633 men (Wingate, p. 225). The cavalry were recruited exclusively from the Egyptian peasantry (fellahin) primarily from the Fayoum oasis (Steevens, p. 15). The Camel Corps had originally been all Egyptian, but now included two companies of Sudanese. By 1898 the Egyptian infantry battalions also had six companies each (Pritchard, p. 206).

When the reconquest of the Sudan began in 1896, the army had been increased by four squadrons of cavalry and the 15th and 16th Egyptian battalions had been raised from the reserves. In 1897 the Camel Corps was increased to eight companies (four Egyptian and four Sudanese), the cavalry to ten squadrons, and two more reserve battalions (the 17th and 18th Egyptians) were raised. In 1898 another battalion of infantry was included when the askaris of the Italian garrison at Kassala were redesignated "Kassala Irregulars" after the garrison was handed over to Egypt. The army now totaled 18,000 men.

The field artillery continued to use 6.5cm Krupps up through the Dongala campaign. These were carried on four mules (or camels) but also had a shaft that could be attached to the gun trail for draught (Headlam, p. 243). In 1897 they began to be replaced by Maxim-Nordenfelt 75mm quick-firers which fired a 12 1/2 pdr. shell, or an 18 1/2 pdr. double shell. This was a compact gun that also could be carried on four mules. At Atbara only the 1st and 2nd Field Batteries had Maxim-Nordenfelts, but at Omdurman all four Field Batteries were armed with them, though No.3 battery retained two of its Krupps (Headlam, p. 245). The Horse Battery was armed with an antiquated 7.75cm Krupps (sometimes referred to as a 7pdr.), which lacked brakes, had a slow rate of fire, and often had poor quality shells. Each gun was drawn by a team of eight Syrian horses, and had ammunition wagons accompanying them into battle. Multi-barrelled Gardner and Nordenfelt machine guns were used through 1896. The first Maxim guns manned by Egyptians appeared in 1897; until 1898 all Egyptian machine guns were Maxims, including the famous "galloping maxim" of the cavalry, which was drawn by teams of six horses. Whi le artillery batteries had six guns each, the machine gun batteries had only two.

The Egyptian Army 1880-1900

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