Battle of Tamai

Battle of Tamai
Part of the Mahdist War, 1881–1899
An incident at the Battle of Tamai, eastern Sudan, 13th March, 1884 by Godfrey Douglas Giles
Date 13 March 1884 Location Tamai, near Suakin, Eastern Sudan Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Mahdist Sudan
Commanders and leaders
Sir Gerald Graham	Osman Digna
Strength
4,500 troops 22 field guns 6 machine-guns	10,000 troops
Casualties and losses
214 killed or wounded	4,000 killed or wounded

The Battle of Tamai (or Tamanieh) took place on 13 March 1884 between a British force under Sir Gerald Graham and a Mahdist Sudanese army led by Osman Digna.

Despite his earlier victory at El Teb, Graham realised that Osman Digna's force was far from broken and that he still enjoyed support among the local population. Accordingly, a second expedition departed from Suakin on 10 March in order to defeat the Mahdists definitively.

The force was composed of the same units that had fought at El Teb: 4,500 men, with 22 guns and 6 machine guns. The Mahdists had roughly 10,000 men, most of them belonging to Osman Digna's Hadendoa tribe (known to British soldiers as "Fuzzy Wuzzies" for their unique hair).^{[citation needed]}