 was reached, and the leading square
crossed it, with a cheer, to occupy Osman Digna’s camp, and disperse
such of the enemy as were still there. Thirteen officers and 208 men
had been killed and wounded on the attacking side.

Little was done after this for a while. The force returned to Suakin,
and afterwards occupied and burned the village of Tamaneb with little
opposition. Then the bulk of the troops were withdrawn, leaving the 3rd
King’s Royal Rifles and a battalion of Royal Marines to garrison Suakin.

The Nile expedition for the relief of Gordon had now begun, and it
was still, for a while, designed to take Berber and advance thence
on Khartum. To communicate with the coast at Suakin from Berber was
evidently advisable, but the district was almost waterless, and a
railway was of primary importance. Furthermore, the destruction of
Osman Digna’s power there was essential to its construction, let alone
that to attack him would effect a useful diversion, and weaken the
Dervish strength which might otherwise collect in the Nile Valley.

A second expedition was hence despatched to Suakin under Sir G. Graham.
It consisted of a Guards Brigade (3rd Grenadiers, 1st Coldstream, and
2nd Scots), and a second brigade of the 2nd East Surrey, 1st Shropshire
Light Infantry, 1st Berkshire, and Royal Marines, with two squadrons
5th Lancers, two of the 20th Hussars, some mounted infantry, Royal
Engineers, and three batteries of artillery. In addition, there was a
strong Indian Contingent and a volunteer force from New South Wales.

The enemy was known to be at Tamai, to the south-west, and at Hasheen
to the west of the town, and by the latter the railway, which was to
be made by English contractors, was to run. The first move, therefore,
was the defeat of the force at Hasheen, and for this purpose the whole
force, with the exception of the Shropshire Light Infantry, marched
and formed in one square, of which the front face was held by the
Marines and Berkshire Regiment (the Surrey was detached to cover a
working party on