During the reign of Mahammad Ali Pasha, he became head of the School of Staff of War, then in 1848 he was appointed commander of the infantry (bayada), and he was one of the closest Egyptian military leaders to European civilization.

[1] In the year 1853, Selim Fathi Pasha took command of the ground forces sent by Abbas I to aid the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War.

Among his most prominent grandchildren is the military historian Major General Staff of War Hassan Fathi (1921–2008), author of the encyclopedia “Arts of War in the Islamic Conquests, فنون الحرب في الفتوحات الإسلامية.” There is a bust of Lieutenant General Selim Fathi Pasha in the Egyptian National Military Museum located on Citadel Street in Cairo, and a large-sized color portrait.

Lieutenant General Selim Pasha Fathi was killed in the Battle of Eupatoria in the Crimean War on Saturday the 29th of Jumada al-Awwal in the year 1271 AH, corresponding to February 17, 1855, AD.

He was buried on the orders of the Serdar (commander) of the Ottoman Armies, Ikram Omar Pasha, in Yevpatoria near the Juma-Jami Mosque, and he was replaced in command of the Egyptian forces by Ahmad Pasha al-Munkali until September 27, 1855.