THE ARMIES OF EGYPT AND TUNISIA IN THE CRIMEAN WAR

Abstract

The vassal North African states of the Ottoman Empire (Egypt and Tunisia) were expected to contribute forces to the Sultan in times of emergency. Thus Egypt sent six infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment with 12 batteries of artillery in August 1853 to Istanbul. Tunisia sent four regiments of infantry with two batteries of artillery in July 1854. Thanks to the efforts of European instructors and the presence of the veterans of the campaigns of the 1820–1830s, mobilized by force the Egyptians were considered the best soldiers of the Ottoman Empire, distinguished by courage, energy and discipline. Egyptian and Tunisian troops fought on the Danube, in the Crimea, in the Batum area and along the east Black Sea coast. In April 1855 the third Egyptian division under Menlikli Ahmed Pasha landed near Sevastopol. In the Crimea it took part in the defence of Eupatoria where two Egyptian divisions were already located and successfully defended the town against the Russian attack on 17 February 1855. Tunisian troops defended the Allied redoubts in the battle of Balaklava on 25 October 1854. Many of the Egyptian and Tunisian troops died of diseases due to deprivations and an unaccustomed climate for them.