Ottoman defeats stemmed from leadership factionalism, untrusted advisors, and weak officer training, not timing

Evidence

Viewed in the light of these differences, it is not the least surprising that Sultan Mahmud’s army suffered successive defeat at the hands of Mehmed Ali’s army. On the face of it, it would seem that the main reason behind these humiliating defeats was that, whereas Mehmed Ali started to build his new army and train it along European lines in 1820, the Sultan did this six years later. There are, however, much more important reasons for the contrasting performances of the two armies. First, there was the important factor that the Mansure army of the Sultan lacked a commander of the caliber of Ibrahim Pasha. Second, although the army of the Sultan had been able to secure the services of some European advisors, these were neither authorized nor trusted enough to be given high positions in the army; this at a time when Süleyman Pasha had been able to rise up in the military hierarchy until he became second-in-command after Ibrahim Pasha. Third, the Ottoman army never witnessed anything like the superb working relationship between Mehmed Ali, Ibrahim Pasha and Süleyman Pasha; instead, it was a battle-ground for intrigues and internal fights among various officials. A significant factor in the defeat of the Ottoman army in the battle of Horns, for example, was the fact that the Serasker, Husrev Pasha, was jealous of the authority of Hüseyin Pasha, who was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the army that was to fight Ibrahim Pasha. To curb his influence, Husrev had Mehmed Pasha, one of his protégés, appointed to Hüseyin’s staff as second-in-command although the two men could neither work together nor agree on common tactics. Fourth, by the time of the initiation of hostilities between Mehmed Ali and the Sultan, the Pasha’s new military schools had managed to train officers who were capable of leading his army to successive victories, at a time when the Sultan was still tampering with the remnants of his old system. The officers graduating from Mehmed Ali’s schools might have been discharged earlier than they should have been, and only a few of them ever managed to finish studying the proper curriculum set for the school; yet, by comparison, they were better trained and more loyal than the Sultan’s officers. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1384