With no fleet to protect the city, British battleships easily bombarded the city, forcing many civilians to migrate. Uraby, the Egyptian army commander, was not allowed to have troopers exceeding 800 men strong. Defeated in Alexandria, he decided to fight the British on ground he gathered the 2,200 men at Kafr-el-sheikh and constructed strong base which he held against a force of 2,600 British who were trying to advance on Cairo from the north. The battle took place between an Egyptian army, headed by Ahmed ‘Urabi, and British forces headed by Sir Archibald Alison. As a result, the British abandoned any hope they may have had of reaching Cairo from the north, and shifted their base of operations to Ismailia instead. The British forces retreating to their main base at Alexandria. The British then transported a large force of Ismailia where 13,000 of them engaged 16,000 Egyptians. They met Uraby at El-Tal El-Kebier which was weakly prepared comparing with the defence lines at Kafr- El- Shiekh to withstand heavy artillery, so the fort was taken and Uraby was exiled to India.
