Battle of Tofrek

Battle of Tofrek
Part of the Mahdist War

Battle of Tofrek (Charles Edwin Fripp)
Date22 March 1885
Location
Sudan
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom United Kingdom
 India[1]		 Mahdist State
Commanders and leaders
John Carstairs McNeill
Gerald Graham		 Osman Digna
Strength
Between 3,000[2] and 4,000[3] Estimated over 2,000[4]
Casualties and losses
Killed: 4 officers, 66 men;
Wounded 8 officers,128 men.[5]		 Estimated over 1,000 killed[4]

The Battle of Tofrek[Note 1] was fought on 22 March 1885 some 5 miles inland from the port of Suakin on the Red Sea coast of Sudan. A contingent of some 3,000 troops from the British and Indian "Suakin Field Force" led by Major General Sir John Carstairs McNeill (under the overall command of General Gerald Graham) was attacked by a Mahdist force under the leadership of Osman Digna. The Mahdists were heavily defeated, losing some 1,000 of their 2,000 fighters as compared to the loss of 70 British and Indian soldiers plus over 100 casualties.[5]

  1. ^ Ernest Gambier-Parry, Suakin, 1885 : being a sketch of the campaign of this year (1885), (London : K. Paul, Trench & Co.)
  2. ^ Galloway W., The Battle of Tofrek, fought near Suakin, March 22nd 1885, Reprint of 1887 Original Edition, publ. Naval And Military Press Ltd. p.40
  3. ^ Sandes E.W.C., The Indian Sappers and Miners, pub. The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1948, p.300-306
  4. ^ a b Galloway W., The Battle of Tofrek, fought near Suakin, March 22nd 1885, Reprint of 1887 Original Edition, publ. Naval And Military Press Ltd. pp.314, 315, 319, 320, 331, 334
  5. ^ a b Galloway W., The Battle of Tofrek, fought near Suakin, March 22nd 1885, Reprint of 1887 Original Edition, publ. Naval And Military Press Ltd. p.335. [Note: these figures are almost certainly underestimates since they were produced immediately after the battle and would therefore not have included those who died of their injuries and the missing who were later found dead or injured.]


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