Battle Report: 16th November 2001

Egyptian ~vs~ Mahdist

(Dave Lancaster ~vs~ Robert Avery) .

Egyptian
Brigade	Unit	Fig.'s	Org.	Class	Weapons	Pts/Fig	Points
.	CinC	1	.	..	.	100	100
1st	2inC	1				50	50
Brigade	1st Battalion	20	4x5	RegC	blr	10	240
	2nd Battalion	24	4x6	RegC	blr	10	280
	3rd Battalion	24	4x6	RegC	blr	10	280
	Attach'd Cavalry	12	2x6	RegC	s, l, blc	15	200
	Attach'd Artillery	2	2x1	RegC	light blrb FA	89	198
2nd	2inC	1				50	50
Brigade	1st Battalion	24	4x6	RegC	blr	10	280
	2nd Battalion	24	4x6	RegC	blr	10	280
	3rd Battalion	24	4x6	RegC	blr	10	280
	Attach'd Cavalry	12	2x6	RegC	s, l, blc	15	200
	Attach'd Artillery	2	2x1	RegC	light blrb FA	89	198
							2618

.

Mahdist
Brigade	Unit	Fig.'s	Org.	Class	Weapons	Pts/Fig	Points
	CinC	1				100	100
1st	2inC	1				50	50
Tribal	Brown Henandoah	36	1x36	FanA	sw/sp, sh	8	303
Group	White Henandoah	36	1x36	FanB	sw/sp, sh	7	267
2nd	2inC	1				50	50
Tribal	Blue Flag	32	1x32	IrregB	sw/sp, sh, blr	10	335
Group	Green Flag	32	1x32	IrregB	sw/sp, sh, blr	10	335
	Purple Flag	32	1x32	IrregC	sw/sp, sh	4	143
	Red Flag	32	1x32	IrregC	sw/sp, sh	4	143
	Yellow Flag	32	1x32	IrregC	sw/sp, sh	4	143
Horse	1st Unit	10	1x10	IrregA	l, sw, sh, arm., mlr	14	155
	2nd Unit	10	1x10	IrregA	l, sw, sh, arm., mlr	14	155
Artillery	Tribal Guns	3	1x3	IrregC	light blrb FA	107	336
	Ammo Wagon	1				50	50
							2615

.

.	Egyptian	Mahdist
Foot	2800	4640
Horse	480	400
Guns	8	6

Report  

Neither side out-scouted, so set up was simultaneous.

The Egyptians formed a line of infantry across the centre of the battlefield (from right to left, 1st/1st; 1st/3rd; 2nd/3rd), immediately supported on their left flank by the 2nd/1st in column and the 2nd Brigade's artillery.  On their right flank, they had a "horn" of half the cavalry from each brigade and the 1st/2nd in column; on their left flank, they had a "horn" of the other half of the cavalry supported by the 2nd/2nd in column.  The 1st Brigade artillery were way at the back on the right, occupying a small hill.

The Mahdists formed a rough line across their side of the battlefield.  From left to right, they had the two Henandoah units; followed by the Blue, Green and Red Flag units supported by the Yellow and Purple Flag units;  followed by the artillery and then the cavalry.

As battle commenced. both sides advanced forwards quickly, with the Mahdist artillery occupying a small hill on their side of the field, and the two Egyptians flanking "horns" moving forwards at the double.  The 1st Brigade artillery also realised at this point that they were too far away to do any good, so began to extricate themselves from the positions they had occupied on the hill.

The Mahdist line then halted, drums falling silent, obviously not keen to get into the range of the Egyptian breech-loaders, waiting for their opponents to close.

The Egyptian line carried on moving forward, and some effective artillery fire briefly routed the Red Flag tribesmen before the Mahdist CinC rallied them at the edge of the field.  The Purple Flag tribesmen took their place in the Mahdist front line.

At this point, however, the Egyptian right "horn" got a bit overenthusiastic and came just a little too close to the two fanatical Henandoah units.  The 240 Egyptian Lancers charged forward, but changed their mind as 1440 screaming madmen charged at them!  

Unfortunately the retreat of the Lancers shielded the charging fanatics from the sight of the 1st/2nd battalion of Egyptian infantry.  They saw the Henandoah tribesmen too late to form a proper line and were smashed from the field in a crush of mangled fezs!

Half the Henandoah charged after the still retreating cavalry, but the other half had a better target:  the now exposed right flank of the main Egyptian line!  Not pausing for a second, they fell onto the rear of the 1st/1st!

Meanwhile, the first lot of Henandoah had disposed of the Egyptian cavalry:  catching them in a bloody melee as the horsemen tried to form up.  They then found themselves under the guns of the 1st Brigade's artillery, finally down on the field after wrestling their guns down the slopes of their hill.  The fanatics charged again, but just didn't have enough "umph" any more.  The guns canistered them into little pieces!

On the other side of the field, things had progressed slowly but steadily:  the Mahdist guns had been routed by infantry and artillery fire, but not before disposing of the rest of the Egyptian cavalry with a few well-aimed shots, including a hit of "unexpected devastation".  Otherwise, the Egyptian battle-line was now fully deployed and ready to move forward.

However, they never got their chance.  When we last left the centre of the field, the Brown-clad Henandoah unit was about to fall on the rear of the other end of the Egyptian line.  They did, and the 1st/1st broke and ran;  followed by the 1st/3rd; 2nd/3rd; and 2nd/1st.  A horrendous domino effect occurred as the Fanatics rolled up the Egyptian line.

The rest of the Mahdist line now moved forward and the Egyptians were caught on two sides.  It's fair to say that only the 1st Brigade artillery would have escaped the massacre that followed!

Casualties

The Egyptians lost 300 infantry; 80 cavalry; and one battery of artillery:  a total of 460 casualties (although large numbers of them would have been massacred fleeing the field!).

The Mahdists lost 320 Henandoah tribesmen; 180 other tribesmen; 80 horse; and 120 artillerymen:  a total of 700 casualties.

Result

A victory for the Mahdists.

Analysis

This was a battle won by the commander who made least mistakes. 

The Egyptians threw away their superiority in artillery by placing the 1st Brigade's battery where it could do nothing; and then allowed his right "horn" to get too far ahead of his main line, and had bunched its infantry and cavalry components too close together.

Once the Fanatics had got behind the main Egyptian battle-line, the result was a foregone conclusion:  helped by the fact that the Egyptians were sluggish to react to the Henandoah threat, still concentrating on moving forward.