Scottish soldiers at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt, 13 September 1882

Scottish soldiers at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt, 13 September 1882. Watercolour painting of Scots Highlanders fighting in the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Troops of the Highland Brigade led the assault on the Egyptian fortifications. The Egyptian army had occupied a strategic postion between Alexandria, the Suez Canal and Cairo. The British army under the command of Major General Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913) launched a successful dawn attack on the postion on 13 September 1882, effectively ending the war. The painting is from an album entitled 'Algiers Egypt &c 1882-3' which belonged to Brigadier General Herbert Conyers Surtees (1858-1933), antiquarian and MP for Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. It is a curious mixture of photographs of North African tourist subjects and views of Egyptian battlefields. ©SSPL/National Media Museum