Bird's eye view of the Battle of El-Teb, 1884

Chromolithograph published by G W Bacon and Co.

On 29 February 1884, during the 1st Sudan War (1884-1885), Major-General Gerald Graham's Anglo-Indian force, advancing in a brigade-sized square, defeated Osman Digna's Mahdists at El Teb.

Despite this victory, and another two weeks later at Tamai, Graham's force was eventually withdrawn, leaving only a small garrison at the Red Sea port of Suakin, and eastern Sudan in Mahdist hands.