VIII.

1882–1885. EGYPT. TEL EL KEBIR, 1882. EL TEB, TAMAI, 1884.—NILE EXPEDITION, 1884–85.—MOUNTED INFANTRY.

The 3rd Battalion, under Colonel Ashburnham, had been moved from South Africa to Malta, when the outbreak of hostilities in Egypt caused it to be despatched with the 38th Regiment to Cyprus and Alexandria in July, 1882.

[Sidenote: 1882, EGYPT.]

On the 18th of July, shortly after the bombardment of Alexandria, it landed while the city was still in flames, and formed part of the advanced force under _Major-General Sir Archibald Alison_. A portion of the Battalion took part with the Mounted Infantry, on the 22nd of July, in the first engagement of the campaign at Mallaha Junction, eight miles from Alexandria, and again in the reconnaissance in force on the 5th August near Ramleh.

On August the 18th, upon the arrival of _Sir Garnet Wolseley_, it embarked for Ismailia, and took part in the actions of Tel-el-Mahuta on the 25th, and Kassassin on the 9th of September, when the enemy, about 13,000 strong, was completely defeated.

[Sidenote: Sept. 13th, 1882, TEL-EL-KEBIR.]

The Battalion, temporarily commanded by Major Ogilvy,[50] formed part of the 4th Brigade under Colonel Ashburnham, which had been organised for the night march of the 12th–13th September and the assault of the lines of Tel-el-Kebir at daylight. The Brigade forming the support of the Highland Brigade closed up at the beginning of the battle as day began to dawn, and gave a timely assistance in the assault of the enemy’s lines. The Battalion in two lines pressed eagerly forward with its accustomed dash, and entered the Egyptian works at about the centre of the position, where Major Cramer, second in Command, was wounded, and had his horse shot under him. After an ebb and flow of strenuous bayonet fighting the enemy gave way on all sides, and, suffering great losses, were broken and dispersed in headlong flight. Two days later Cairo was captured, and the war ended, upon which the Battalion formed part of the army of occupation.

[Sidenote: 1884, EL TEB, TAMAI.]

In February, 1884, the Battalion, under Ashburnham, was ordered to Suakim, where it served in a Brigade under that distinguished Rifleman, Major-General Sir Redvers Buller,[51] as part of _General Sir Gerald Graham’s_ force. On the 29th of February it took part in the defeat of the Dervishes at El Teb, and on the 13th of March it was present at the critical battle of Tamai. The troops were in two squares, one under _Sir Gerald Graham_, commanding the force, the other under Buller. _Graham’s_ square was broken, and in the confusion some of its men poured a volley into Buller’s, causing one face to run in. Sir Redvers at once rode outside the square, and, with great coolness, rallied his men. By restoring the formation he undoubtedly staved off a terrible disaster, for, had the square been really broken, nothing could have saved the army. This action ended the Campaign.

[Sidenote: MOUNTED INFANTRY.]

The history of the 3rd Battalion at this period would not be complete without reference to the introduction of Mounted Infantry into the British Army. It may be fairly said that the creation of Mounted Infantry, the establishment of a recognised system for its training, and the development of its tactics, is largely the work of Officers and Riflemen of the 60th, and in a very special degree of the 3rd Battalion.

The value of Mounted Infantry under modern conditions of war was established by the phenomenal success of the relatively small force of Mounted Infantry in Egypt in 1882. This corps, raised and organised by an officer of the 60th,[52] owed much of its success to the officers and men drawn from the 3rd Battalion who had similarly served in the Boer war; its high reputation for individual gallantry and initiative was universally acknowledged, and there was no engagement in the war, from the preliminary skirmishes before Alexandria in July, until the capture, by a _coup de main_, of the citadel of Cairo at mid-night of the 14th–15th September, in which the Mounted Infantry did not take a distinguished share.[53]

[Sidenote: 1884–85, NILE EXPEDITION.]

At Cairo, early in 1884, the inception and scheme of organisation for the Mounted Camel Regiments was also the work of an officer of the 60th Rifles. The Mounted Infantry Camel Regiment in particular which rendered such distinguished service with the Desert Column, under the late _General Sir Herbert Stewart_, was raised and equipped by the same officer, and was largely composed of officers and men of the 60th. Two out of the four companies were commanded by officers of the 60th (Fetherstonhaugh[54] and Berkeley Pigott,[55] both of whom had served with the 3rd Battalion in South Africa), and six out of the sixteen subaltern company officers were also Riflemen.[56]

In June, 1886, a comprehensive scheme for raising and training Mounted Infantry in England was first proposed, before a public audience, by an officer of the 60th, under the powerful wing of _Lord Wolseley_, and in November of the same year Mounted Infantry were raised and trained under Captain Lewis Butler at Shorncliffe from detachments of the 2nd Battalion and other regiments, under the effective supervision of _Colonel Sir Baker Russell_.[57]

When, in 1887, it was subsequently decided to form a regiment of Mounted Infantry for service with the Cavalry Division, composed of detachments from nearly all infantry battalions on home service, the command and organisation was again given to an officer of the 60th, and, out of the eight companies composing the original regiment, the 60th and Rifle Brigade found two, or one-fourth of the whole corps. The Mounted Infantry movement therefore may be said to owe its inception, and in a large measure its success, to the officers of the 60th, and to their riflemen.

The Mounted Infantry system thus begun was largely developed, so that upon the outbreak of the South African war in 1899 there were many thousands of officers and men throughout the infantry of the Army who had been trained as Mounted Infantry. It has been rightly said[58] that the ultimately successful issue of the late campaign was in a great measure due to “the large number of Mounted Infantry officers previously trained, and to the long work of preparation carried on before the war by the Mounted Infantry enthusiasts.” If this is so, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps may lay a fair claim to a goodly share of such an important result.

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Footnote 50:

Afterwards Colonel and C.B.

Footnote 51:

Afterwards General Right Hon. Sir Redvers Buller, _vide_ p. 40 note.

Footnote 52:

Captain Hutton, now Lieut.-General Sir Edward Hutton, K.C.M.G., C.B. Colonel Commandant, 1908. Born December 6th, 1848.

Footnote 53:

_Vide_ “Cool Courage,” an episode of the Egyptian War, 1882—_Regimental Chronicle_, 1908.

Footnote 54:

Now Major-General R. S. R. Fetherstonhaugh, C.B.

Footnote 55:

Afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel Berkeley Pigott, C.B., D.S.O., 21st Lancers.

Footnote 56:

W. Pitcairn Campbell, P. S. Marling, A. Miles, R. L. Bower, and two officers of The Rifle Brigade, namely, W. M. Sherston and Hon. H. Hardinge.

Footnote 57:

Afterwards General Sir Baker Russell, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., etc., a well-known Cavalry General and leader of men. Died November, 1911.

Footnote 58:

“_Times_” _History of the War_, Vol. II, p. 31.