At 5:00 AM on December 30th the Anglo-Egyptian force marched out of its camp. All men were issued with 80 rounds of ammunition. The British infantry wore their red coats, leaving greatcoats and blankets in the camp. The First Brigade plus the 1st Company Egyptian Camel Corps marched off first with the mounted troops following and keeping in touch. The British Camel Corps followed the mounted troops maintaining contact with them and the 2nd Brigade behind them. The Lotus had its steam up and was manned by a rifle detatchment from the West Kents and a Gardner gun manned by the IXth Sudanese. The 1st Brigade marched three miles south-east into the desert, hidden by the hills, until they were able to take up a position on the ridges opposite Ginnis. The cavalry was spread out in vedettes on their left. The 2nd Brigade, minus six companies of the Cameron Highlanders and two companies of the Sudanese, took up a position overlooking Kosha village, while the Egyptian cavalry occupied vedettes in the rear. The Cameron Highlanders and the IXth Sudanese formed up in front of Kosha fort. The battle began at 6:10 AM after the 2nd Brigade mounted a crest 1,200 yards from Kosha village with the Yorkshire Regiment in half battalions on either side of the Royal Artillery and the Gardner guns and the 1st Egyptians in the rear. The battery opened fire on the village, taking the Mahdists by surprise. They replied with a "sharp but ill-directed fire , which was in turn answered by the Yorkshires. After fifteen minutes of bombardment the Camerons and the IXth began their advance along the river, while the Lotus steamed alongside them slightly in front. The Camerons met the order to advance with great relief after one month pent-up in the fort. They headed directly for the village while the IXth stormed the black rock. The Lotus trained its Gardner gun and rifles on groups of Mahdists driven from hut to hut. The IXth cleared the black rock after stiff hand-to-hand fighting and captured one brass gun. When the Camerons joined the IXth on the other side of the rock they met them with a loud cheer. By 6:50 AM Kosha village had been cleared. The Lotus reported a Mahdist farce advancing from Ginnis. She was ordered to continue steaming slightly ahead of the Camerons, bringing fire to bear an both banks. The Camerons and Sudanese continued their advance through the palm groves and cultivation towards Ginnis, and were joined by the rest of the brigade. When the Mahdists in the camp behind Ginnis found that the 1st Brigade had taken a position in the ridges to the south-east they began an attack of their own screened by riflemen. The riflemen lined the crests and opened fire for about forty minutes, but this was described as "heavy but ill-directed" (Cairint). Some spearmen were able to advance unseen along a khor and attack the Egyptian Camel Corps while it was dismounted, forcing it back. But the attack was broken by fire from the DLI and the Camel Corps' own right flank troops. The 1st Brigade now swung to the left, fighting for each crest as it continued to advance towards the camp at Ginnis. It occupied the camp as the Camerons and IXth Sudanese cleared the houses of Ginnis village. The British cavalry and Mounted infantry had formed on the left of the 1st Brigade and pursued the Mahdists through the Atab Defile. This was weakly held, and the Mahdists were dispersed by a bayonet charge of the Mounted Infantry. The cavalry then watched the Mahdist retreat "sullenly", an adjective used when natives withdrew slowly and in good order. When the commander of the cavalry was later taken to task for not pursuing the Mahdists more vigorously, he replied, rather testily, that he hadn't an independent command and didn't feel he could make such an initiative. (Cairint). With the Mahdist camp and both villages now in Anglo-Egyptian hands it was found that a small band of Mahdists were still occupying a house in Kosha village. They were finally dislodged by a screw gun and the 1st Egyptians. The battle was over by 10:00 AM. The Battle of Ginnis Prelude 1895 The Battle: December 30, 1895 The Aftermath of Battle The British Army Uniform Plate Jumbo Map Back to Table of Contents -- Savage and Soldier Sudan Special Issue Back to Savage and Soldier List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Milton Soong. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com