Bedouins and sapper regiments proved unreliable as camp guards due to desertion

Evidence

Second, it shows that in spite of years of training, of being subjected to a strict system of surveillance and control and in spite of continuous drills and exercises, the sergeant-major in question did not show signs that all this had had any significant effect on the way he was supposed to think and act – i.e. as a soldier and not as a fellah/civilian. Having come across a fellow villager, it was natural for him to extend him an invitation to stay with him on the camp and he could not see why his commanding officers were so harsh and inhospitable to his visitor. When his friend was arrested he could not see why he was being reprimanded and punished. His body might seem to have been closely controlled, but his heart and mind appeared to still belong to a different world, that of civilian life back in the nostalgically remote lands of Egypt. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1110 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

Related

• Brutal force failed to deter desertion, driving the shift to psychological control (similarity 0.83)
• Years of training failed to transform peasant soldiers’ civilian loyalties. (similarity 0.83)
• Desertion and rebellion fundamentally undermined the performance of Ali’s army (similarity 0.82)
• Failed Albanian training and slave losses forced reliance on conscripted fellahin. (similarity 0.82)
• Egyptian soldiers continually breached camp boundaries meant to isolate them (similarity 0.81)
• Egyptian soldiers obeyed orders because desertion and retreat both meant court martial (similarity 0.81)
• Syria’s prosperity and shared Arabic language drew Mehmed Ali’s soldiers out of their camps. (similarity 0.80)
• Bedouin cavalry at the rear functioned to catch Egyptian deserters (similarity 0.80)
• Desertion was widespread even among the desertion-catching guard regiments (similarity 0.80)
• Battlefield obedience is a poor test of an army’s real discipline (similarity 0.79)
• Coercion-based internment failed to deter Egyptian soldiers from desertion (similarity 0.79)
• Prescribed military camp discipline was constantly negotiated and violated in practice. (similarity 0.79)
• Conscription aimed to drastically reshape the peasant soldier’s body and daily habits (similarity 0.79)
• Albanian troops resisted discipline because they regarded Mehmed Ali as first among equals (similarity 0.78)
• Muhammad Ali’s army trained soldiers to obey orders mechanically without reflection (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Even the guards and elite regiments tasked with catching deserters deserted themselves #corroborates (0.80)
• Camp security borders were constantly crossed despite heavy military guard presence. #expands (0.60)
• Years of training failed to transform peasant soldiers’ civilian loyalties. #qualifies (0.50) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1110