Tel el Kebir, 1882

In 1881 the Egyptian army mutinied from the Khedive of Egypt, and forced him to appoint Said Ahmed Arabi as Minister of War. In March 1882 Arabi was made a Pasha and from this time on acted as a dictator. Impassioned demands of Arabi that the foreigner be driven out of Egypt and massacres of Christians prompted an armed British response, first in the form of a naval bombardment of Alexandria, and then as an expeditionary force under Lieutenant-General Wolseley. Sir Garnet Wolseley's campaign, completed in just four and a half weeks, was an almost 'textbook' operation, carefully planned and executed with masterly competence.