The battle proved to be the turning point in the reconquest of Sudan by the British and Egyptian coalition.

[3][4] By 1898, the combined British and Egyptian army was heading south, advancing up the Nile into Sudan.

The Sudanese Mahdist leader, the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad ordered the Emir Mahmud Ahmad and his 10,000 strong army of western Sudan northward towards the junction of the Nile and the River Atbara to engage the British and Egyptian army led by Herbert Kitchener.

[6] After a brief artillery bombardment of the Mahdist camp, the combined British and Egyptian brigades attacked.

After 45 minutes, the battle was over as Osman Digna led a few thousand warriors on a retreat to the south, while most of the remainder were killed or captured, including Mahmud who was captured by loyal Sudanese troops of the Egyptian Brigade.