British-Egyptian expeditions (1885–1889) Ethiopian campaigns (1885–1889) Italian campaigns (1890–1894) British-Egyptian reconquest (1896–1899) The Battle of Ferkeh (or Firket) occurred during the Mahdist War in which an army of Mahdists was surprised and routed by Egyptian forces, led by Sir Herbert Kitchener, on 7 June 1896.

[2] Apart from officers with the Egyptian Army, the Maxim battery were the only European troops present and was manned by detachments from the North Staffordshire Regiment and the Connaught Rangers.

[4] In strategic terms, Ferkeh was not a major battle since it was only an outpost of the Mahdist State that had been surprised and overrun.

However, the battle had a significant psychological effect since it was the first substantial victory of the Egyptian Army after it had been reorganised by the British.

Also, the battle showed that the Mahdist forces could be defeated, which boosted the Egyptian Army's morale, and unsettled their opponents at the onset of the reconquest campaign.