How Egypt and Mexico Reprted the Tourist Killings

The recent incident in which Egyptian police and security forces mistakenly attacked a party of Mexican tourists and their Egyptian guides, killing 12, drew sharp protest from Mexico. MadaMasr has an interesting comparison of the very different media coverage the incident received in the two countries' respective media outlets: "Timeline: How Egypt and Mexico communicated the Tourist killings."

You may draw your own conclusions.

For Cinco de Mayo, Remember the Egyptian Troops in Maximilian's Mexico

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday more widely celebrated in the United States as an excuse to drink Mexican beer, than it is in Mexico, where it's mostly confined to the state of Puebla. (I can't partake this year as I'm having surgery later this week and must avoid alcohol.)

It commemorates a Mexican victory over the French in 1862. The French, however, came back stronger and eventually installed the Emperor Maximilian. And that gives me an excuse to bring up once again the little-known subject of my 2012 post: "A Sudanese-Egyptian Battalion in Maximilian's Mexico." 

I repeat the original post here:
The caption on the illustration of military uniforms above, left, though it may be difficult to read, says "Egyptian Battalion in Mexico 1863-1867." This has to be one of the more curious expeditions in the history of European colonialism.

The strange French adventure in Mexico during the American Civil War, in which Louis Napoleon installed a Hapsburg Prince, Maximilian, as Emperor of Mexico, is a strange interlude, one that ended badly for Maximilian (in the firing squad sense of "badly"). Benito Juarez and Mexican Revolutionaries on the one hand, and the United States on the other (which, once the Civil War ended, decided to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and get rid of a European Emperor in Mexico) spelled the end of the strange adventure. But if a Hapsburg Emperor of Mexico installed by a Bonaparte wasn't strange enough, part of Maximilian's Army was a battalion of Egyptian troops (mostly Sudanese enlisted men with Egyptian officers), the bright idea of someone who thought Sudanese troops would be more easily acclimated to the Mexican heat than Frenchmen.

Said Pasha, Wali of Egypt 1854-1863

The Egyptian Wali Said Pasha agreed to provide an "Auxiliary Battalion" of 447 men in four companies. They sailed from Alexandria on January 9, 1863, aboard the troopship Seine. Said Pasha died nine days later, succeeded as Wali by his nephew Ismail. (The title Khedive, though in popular use, was not officially recognized by the Ottoman Sultan until 1867.)

Arrival in Veracruz

The expedition suffered severely from disease en route: a typhus outbreak aboard ship, a yellow fever outbreak after arrival in Veracruz, that killed the commanding officer, and other bouts with dysentery and pulmonary diseases. The force did see action against the Juaristas, and their French commander is said to have remarked that they fought like lions. The French used some Algerian troops as translators.

The Egyptian Battalion Arrives in Paris

In 1867, the 326 survivors of the Egyptian battalion sailed from Mexico after the fall of Maximilian. Louis Napoleon reviewed them in Paris before their return to Egypt.  Accounts of the Egyptian battalion here and here; a contemporary New York Times report here.

For Cinco de Mayo, a Reminder of the Egyptian Battalion in Maximilian's Mexico

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday more widely celebrated in the United States as an excuse to drink Mexican beer, than it is in Mexico, where it's mostly confined to the state of Puebla. It commemorates a Mexican victory over the French in 1862. The French, however, came back stronger and eventually installed the Emperor Maximilian. And that gives me an excuse to bring up once again the little-known subject of my 2012 post: "A Sudanese-Egyptian Battalion in Maximilian's Mexico."

The Egyptian Battalion Arrives in Paris

The French under Napoleon III had the bright idea that since Mexico is hot and Sudan is hot, Egyptian-officered Sudanese would be ideal there, so they asked Said Pasha, Wali of Egypt, to provide them. France used Algerian troops as translators.

The story is more fully told in my previous post; typhus and yellow fever depleted their numbers, but they reportedly fought well, and were repatriated after Maximilian's fall.

Photos from the Egyptian Expedition to Maximilian's Mexico

Last fall I posted about a little-known Egyptian military adventure in the New World, "A Sudanese-Egyptian Battalion in Maximilian's Mexico," when Egypt was persuaded to provide a battalion of mostly Sudanese troops to support France's ill-fated efforts to make a Hapsburg the Emperor of Mexico. The illustrations I managed to dredge up were mostly old woodcuts and such. Now, however, a nostalgia site on Facebook has come up with a gallery of photos. The caption reads "Egyptian-Sudanese Battalion [katiba] in Mexico, 1863." I can't verify anything beyond that.

A Sudanese-Egyptian Battalion in Maximilian's Mexico

The caption on the illustration of military uniforms above, left, though it may be difficult to read, says "Egyptian Battalion in Mexico 1863-1867." This has to be one of the more curious expeditions in the history of European colonialism.

The strange French adventure in Mexico during the American Civil War, in which Louis Napoleon installed a Hapsburg Prince, Maximilian, as Emperor of Mexico, is a strange interlude, one that ended badly for Maximilian (in the firing squad sense of "badly"). Benito Juarez and Mexican Revolutionaries on the one hand, and the United States on the other (which, once the Civil War ended, decided to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and get rid of a European Emperor in Mexico) spelled the end of the strange adventure. But if a Hapsburg Emperor of Mexico installed by a Bonaparte wasn't strange enough, part of Maximilian's Army was a battalion of Egyptian troops (mostly Sudanese enlisted men with Egyptian officers), the bright idea of someone who thought Sudanese troops would be more easily acclimated to the Mexican heat than Frenchmen.

Said Pasha, Wali of Egypt 1854-1863

The Egyptian Wali Said Pasha agreed to provide an "Auxiliary Battalion" of 447 men in four companies. They sailed from Alexandria on January 9, 1863, aboard the troopship Seine. Said Pasha died nine days later, succeeded as Wali by his nephew Ismail. (The title Khedive, though in popular use, was not officially recognized by the Ottoman Sultan until 1867.)

Arrival in Veracruz

The expedition suffered severely from disease en route: a typhus outbreak aboard ship, a yellow fever outbreak after arrival in Veracruz, that killed the commanding officer, and other bouts with dysentery and pulmonary diseases. The force did see action against the Juaristas, and their French commander is said to have remarked that they fought like lions. The French used some Algerian troops as translators.

The Egyptian Battalion Arrives in Paris

In 1867, the 326 survivors of the Egyptian battalion sailed from Mexico after the fall of Maximilian. Louis Napoleon reviewed them in Paris before their return to Egypt.  Accounts of the Egyptian battalion here and here; a contemporary New York Times report here.