Amidst the shifting sands, a country waited, shrouded from the rest of the world under the veil of mystery.  This land of Egypt has held the fascination of people across the globe, especially throughout the Western World.  Until relatively recently, foreigners have known little of its vast history and have been fascinated by its bizarre customs and traditions.  It was this strange land of Egypt that was the host of one particular oddity in history that appears almost a blast from the past, where ancient meets modern and cultures collide.  The event: Napoleon’s renowned Egyptian campaign!  Here, the French would struggle in fierce battle against Mamelukes, Turks, and Brits, all the while suffering the blazing heat of the desert plains and fighting off dreadful disease.  Battle, courage, honor, murder, and intrigue: it’s all here in Egypt, the land of mystery! 
Egypt: The Concept

 

5 March 1798 the Directory[1] approved of the plans for an Egyptian campaign, with Napoleon Bonaparte as the Commander-in-Chief.  In ten weeks time, he put together a force of over 35,000, the majority of which were his soldiers from the recent Italian campaign[2], 13 ships of the line, 4 frigates, and several hundred troop transports under Admiral Brueys.[3]  In addition to the military forces, Napoleon also brings along a printing press, libraries, scientific instruments, and 167 savants.[4]  These things stand out from the forces for one particular reason: this was a military operation.

 

            Napoleon, who himself was a scholar and a member of the Institut, realized the significance of this new campaign, and saw that there was much to be gained through the exploration of Egypt.  Up until this time, Egypt was a mysterious place. People knew of Egypt through things such as biblical tales and books of Alexander the Great’s conquest of the land, and had heard about the pharaohs of old, but that’s about all.  A thorough exploration and detailed account of this strange land would be a major contribution to the world.  This aspect of the campaign emulates Alexander the Great’s own conquest, in which he brought along scribes to record the events.  Perhaps his is part of the reason Napoleon is sometimes referred to as the ‘new Alexander.’

 

            But why Egypt?  There had to be some reason to go to this obscure land.   At this point, a general peace had been established between Revolutionary France and the continental powers.  That is, except for with Great Britain and its ally Portugal.  Britain felt uneasy with its long time rival France, looking down upon their revolution with disdain, and so it actively tried to form a second coalition with European powers to crush this regicidal country.  Taking this into consideration, one would naturally think, “Wait, isn’t Britain just across the channel from France?  Why didn’t the French just launch an invasion of England?”  All that one would need to do is look at a map to realize not only that Egypt isn’t on the way to England, but also it’s in the completely opposite direction!  This doesn’t make any sense!

 

            Ah, but it does!  Naturally, the Directory knew that they had to defeat England, which would stand for nothing short of a complete overhaul of the revolution’s gains and the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne, an invasion was necessary.  To this effect, they appointed Napoleon as commander of the Army of England, a force of about 120,000 men stationed along the English Channel.  He was put in charge of organizing the invasion, and so he immediately went out to inspect his forces.  It didn’t take long to realize that it just wasn’t possible to invade England at that point. 

 

First off, the British were renowned for their control of the seas, and the heaviest concentration of their Royal Navy would be the English Channel.  Secondly, the French navy left a lot to be desired.  They possessed few sailors and even fewer ships that were battle-ready.  Even being joined with the Spanish navy, which was allied to France, they would still find themselves outnumbered.  Not only was the French navy inferior in size, but also in quality.  Besides a few particularly brilliant admirals, the navy was only adequate, compared to the Royal Navy, which thrived on its assortment of highly skilled crewmembers.

 

In February of 1798 Napoleon finally reported that if the idea of a direct invasion of England were going to be attempted, it would take at least another year to prepare; the army was more than sufficient, but short of swimming there they couldn’t hope to cross the channel safely.  Well, the Directory couldn’t just say, “We’ll just give the idea a pass then.”  Something had to be done, and done quickly. 

 

            Since Britain couldn’t be invaded directly, the other option left to the Directory was to ‘sink’ Britain financially.  England depended on its trade, which brought the country vast wealth.  Of all the colonies the British thrived on, few were as important as the ones in India, which pumped out plentiful gold.  If trade in India were to be threatened, it would certainly catch the attention of the British government, and could be used as leverage for peace arrangements.  All the French needed was a springboard to launch their forces from, and there was none more suitable for this aim than Egypt.

 

Besides striking a blow against Britain, the expedition would require more justification.  Egypt wasn’t just up for grabs; it technically belonged to Turkey, under the rule of the sultan, Selim III.  If the French were going to occupy Egypt, they would need to explain it to the Sultan, but under what pretext would they justify such an action?  The perfect pretext already existed: to return control of Egypt back to Turkey.  In the year 1517, the Mamelukes, former slaves of the sultan of Egypt, made an arrangement with the Ottoman Turks that in exchange for recognizing Turkish sovereignty, they would be allowed to govern their own lands.  However, over time the Mamelukes separated themselves further away from the sultan, and became increasingly tyrannical.  The French would liberate the downtrodden Egyptians and return control to the Turks.  In addition, the French were allies of the Turks.  There seemed no reason that the sultan would oppose the campaign.

 

The idea of a French invasion of Egypt was by no means novel, and had been contemplated by many of their leaders for over a hundred years.  Never had the opportunity been presented, or at least recognized, until now.  During the Italian campaign, Napoleon began conceiving a possible invasion of Egypt, and there was no better time to see it to fruition.  He presented his proposal to the Directory, but they paid little attention.  However, there was one influential figure ‘whistling the same tune’ as Napoleon: Talleyrand, France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.  Talleyrand realized the possibilities such an invasion could lead to, and he himself tried to convince the Directory.  Finally, the Directory agreed, and off to Egypt Napoleon would go.  The goals were simple: capture the island of Malta, remove British presence from the Orient, capture Egypt itself, build a canal through the Isthmus of Suez, and keep on good terms with the Sultan.  Along with this, Talleyrand was charged to personally meet with the sultan and explain the situation to him.

 

Voyage to Egypt

 

            Napoleon’s fleet set sail on 19 May 1798 from 5 different ports[5] along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  This was done to help keep the destination of the expedition a secret.  Even most of the soldiers didn’t know exactly where they were going, only having been told that they were going for duty overseas.  This secrecy was of the utmost importance in order to assure a safe voyage.  If the British were to discover the true destination, they certainly would intervene, for they couldn’t afford to let the French threaten their trade in India.  Since the Mediterranean is so much larger than the English Channel, the British would find themselves hard-pressed to find the French if they weren’t searching.  However, should the destination be known, the expedition would be put in jeopardy, for not only was Napoleon’s fleet cumbersome due to all the extra equipment and civilian personnel, but also the Royal navy would be hot on their trail. 

 

            To this effect, the Directory, usually devoid of all usefulness, actually came through.  They kept up the image of an invasion of England, having the forces retain the title of ‘Army of England’ and by making up cover plans for raids on places such as Ireland and Portugal.[6]  This effort worked rather efficiently.  The British government, despite having been warned by one of its ministers of an invasion force for Egypt, remained in doubt of where exactly this force was going.  Still, they could tell from numerous reports that the force was setting sail for the Mediterranean, so orders were sent to Admiral Nelson, who was down near the northwest coast of Portugal, to find and sink the French fleet. 

 

            Nelson set sail at once for the French port of Toulon, and upon nearing on 4 June, he discovered that the French fleet had already left long before.  In fact, by that time four out of five of the French fleets[7] had already rendezvoused and were nearing Malta, over 250 miles away!  Nelson immediately set out for Egypt, hoping to catch the French at sea. 

 

            Meanwhile, the French fleet was anchored off the coast of Malta.  Napoleon was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the last part of the fleet, fearing that the British fleet might be nearing or perhaps even that the Royal Navy had even caught his awaited fleet.  These concerns were soon dismissed, as the fleet under General Desaix arrived on 6 June.  The next part of the plan began to unfurl: the capture of Malta.

 

            Before I continue further, a brief description of Malta is required.  Malta was a colony with its routes back in the Middle Ages.  It was ruled by the Knights of Saint John during the sixteenth century, and made its mark in history by holding out against a Turkish invasion for an entire year.  Since then, this old French colonized island had been in a state of decline.  The knights grew corrupt, the economy began falling apart, and the island started to be used as a spot for slave trading.  In this period, the island was predominantly royalist, and opposed to the revolutionary government.  Back when Napoleon was planning this campaign, he had one of the knights, a sympathizer of the revolution, report on the internal condition of the island.  The evaluation was that the island was ripe for the picking.

             

              The French had hoped to take the island by surprise, but the sounding of alarms in the city quickly dashed that idea.  On 10 June, the forces disembarked on the beaches: a great show of force!  Obviously overwhelmed, the defenders were doomed to fall from the start.  By 12 June, the Grand Master, von Hompesch, capitulated.  Virtually bloodlessly, the city fell.  Much of the treasure that the knights had gathered over the past 500 years was taken by the French and loaded onto their flagship, L’Orient.  Instead of shipping off right away, Napoleon stayed for a week, reorganizing the situation on the island.  First off, the knights were sent back to France and given nice pensions. Next, Napoleon set out instating all sorts of reforms similar to those he had implemented in the Cisalpine Republic.  He personally helped write a new constitution, reorganized the government; completely discarding the old Feudal System; and arranged the island’s defenses.  The inhabitants were given the full rights of French citizens.  Religious tolerance was granted, especially for the Jews.  As might be expected, since the knights of the island were originally descendents from Christian crusaders, religious tolerance hadn’t been on their list of priorities!  Slavery was abolished, and those then-presently enslaved Turks on the island were freed.  The educational system was also reformed.  In just this one week, Napoleon completely revolutionized the island: an amazing feat in any age!

 

            But one week was long enough, and Napoleon couldn’t afford to dally any longer.  So, on 19 June the French fleet set out, leaving General Vaubois behind as military governor with a force of 4,000 men[8].  Admiral Brueys, being rather intelligent, decided that in order to more successfully dodge Nelson that he would ‘hug’ the northern edges of the Mediterranean Sea and then drop down towards Egypt, instead of crossing straight through the center of the Mediterranean to Egypt, which would have been quicker.  This turned out to work out brilliantly, for Nelson’s route was in fact down the center, and the expedition probably would have ended right then and there.  Remember, the expedition relied on avoiding the British fleet.  Napoleon had actually charged the sailors that if they were forced to do battle, they should bring the ships close enough for the soldiers themselves to engage in close combat, which would have been a messy affair for both sides.

 

            Now for Nelson, he hears news on 21 June that the French had left Malta on the 16^th.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Did not the French truly depart on the 19^th?  Yes they did, but Nelson didn’t know this.  He was falsely informed, and so he acted incorrectly.  Thinking that the French had a six-day lead on them (when in actuality it was only three days), he decided it best to head straight for Alexandria, Egypt.  Through the rest of the voyage, the French fleet and Royal Navy nearly crossed paths twice.[9]  When Nelson reaches Alexandria on 28 June, he finds the harbor empty.  ‘Where did all of the French go?’  The French were nowhere to be found!  This isn’t the kind of surprise you want.  As a general rule of warfare, it’s a good idea to know where your enemy is at all times.  The British didn’t stay long, and left on the 29^th to hunt out the French, and then went to Sicily to restock on supplies.

 

            Just three days after Nelson leaves, the French fleet appears on the horizon of Egypt.  Great timing!  Still, Napoleon knew that the Royal Navy might be back at any moment, so he hurried the deployment of his forces.  Beginning in the late hours of 1 July, the troops started disembarking at Marabout, and although there was no British adversary actually there at the moment, they still had to fight off the harsh seas.  If haste weren’t so seemingly required, this effort would have been delayed due to these troublesome waters.  In the landing process, at least twenty men died due to incompetence in its execution.  But now the French were in Egypt, and the real campaign could begin.

 

Getting Down to Business, Egyptian Style

 

            At three o’clock in the morning on 2 July Napoleon ordered his troops currently available[10] to march on to Alexandria, eight miles away.  Around eight o’clock the siege of the city began, and by midday Napoleon was in charge of the city, where his other generals met him up shortly afterwards.  Before heading out again, Napoleon divided the control of the area.  General Kléber, who was wounded in the capturing of the city, was put in charge of Alexandria and was given a garrison of 2,000 men.  General Menou was made governor of Rosetta.  It here that the French forces came across the famous Rosetta stone, found in a wall in the city.

 

            As we all know, when a foreign power invades a backwater land it often oppresses and ill-treats the indigenous peoples.  However, this campaign was an exception.  Yes, the French imposed their rule upon the local people, whether they wanted it or not, but they were not abused.  Napoleon knew that if he were to succeed, it would be of great necessity to keep on good terms with the people.  In a proclamation to his own troops he wrote:

 

‘The people, among whom you are going to live, are Mahometans.  The first article of their faith is this, “There is no other God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet.”  Do not contradict them.  Act with them as you did with the Jews and with the Italians.  Treat their muftis and their Imams with respect, as you did the Rabbis and the Bishops…The Roman Legions protected all religions.  You will find here customs which differ from those of Europe; you must accustom yourselves to them.  The people among whom we are going treat women differently from us; but in every country he who violates them is a monster!  Pillage enriches but a very few men; and it renders these people our enemies, whom it is our interest to have for friends.’[11]

 

To the Egyptians themselves, Napoleon releases a proclamation saying:

‘Inhabitants of Egypt!  When the Beys [Mamelukes] tell you the French are come to destroy your religion, believe them not: it is an absolute falsehood, Answer those deceivers, that they are only come to rescue the rights of the poor from the hands of their tyrants, and that the French adore the Supreme Being and honour the Prophet and his holy Koran.  All men are equal in the eyes of God…Yet are they [the Beys] the only possessors of extensive tracts of land, beautiful female slaves, excellent horses, magnificent palaces! …Our friendship shall be extended to those of the inhabitants of Egypt who shall join us, as also to those who shall remain in their dwellings and observe a strict neutrality…but the dreadful punishment of death awaits those who shall take up arms for the Beys and against us.  For them there shall be no deliverance, nor shall any trace of them remain.’[12]

 

            Napoleon tried hard to appease the peasants, and he did more than just issue fancy bulletins and proclamations.  On the voyage there, he had the Koran translated into French and distributed to his men.[13]  They were told, as said above, to observe and respect the religious practices of the people.  He also specifically forbade raping and pillaging.  Now, that may not seem all that important, since many leaders from other countries did the same, but they for the most part only gave it lip-service.  Napoleon though actually was heavy-handed in this policy, and had it strictly enforced.  Those soldiers found guilty were in fact shot.  The people were told to stop paying the numerous taxes the Mamelukes imposed, and instead pay a single fair tax to the French.  However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, those towns that aided the Mamelukes were to be destroyed.  For the most part, that wasn’t the case.  The Egyptians generally accepted the French, though many of them still initially cheered on the Mamelukes.

 

            Next move for Napoleon: to Cairo, the capital of Egypt.  To keep an element of surprise, he split his force into two parts: the smaller part under General Dugua, Murat, and the remainders of Kléber’s command which was to march to Rosetta and then follow up[14] along the Nile alongside a flotilla carrying the army’s impedimenta under Admiral Pérée;[15] and the main body of the army, some 18,000 men, which went with Napoleon on a much more direct route, straight through the deserts of Beheira to the town of Damanhur, and then to Rahmaniya to meet up with the other force before the final unified march to Cairo.[16]

 

            This is where the old quip ‘quicker isn’t always better’ comes into play.  Yes, the route Napoleon had chosen to take with the main force of his troops was quicker, but he underestimated the difficulties involved.  The men all suffered horribly from parched throats and from the blazing heat, as this took place during the hottest season of the year.  They were ill suited for such climates, being dressed in the uniforms worn during the Italian campaign.  It’s not hard to see that the weather patterns in Egypt differ quite a bit from those in northern Italy.  Water was in short supply, and all the while they were marching on, bands of Mamelukes buzzed around them, killing off anyone foolhardy enough to break rank.  On top of this, scorpions and swarms of black flies beset upon the men.[17] The situation became so bad that on 9 July there was a threat of mutiny, but Napoleon quickly took control.  By 10 July, Napoleon’s forces, upon reaching Rahmaniya, were ecstatic to finally find an abundant source of cool water: the Nile River.  The men drank eagerly, and one might say too eagerly as ‘several died of over-indulgence and many more contracted dysentery from eating too many watermelons which abounded there.’[18]  The army relaxed for three days until the expected fraction from Rosetta rejoined them, at which point they headed out for the Moslem encampment on 13 July.

 

            Of course, the Beys weren’t just sitting back and doing nothing more than sending raiding parties.  Murad and Ibrahim, who held power in the land, raised an army to defend Cairo.  Murad would take 4,000 Mameluke cavalry and 12,000 fellahin [Arabic militia] down the Nile, while Ibrahim would take 100,000 men to Bulaq, right outside of Cairo on the other side of the Nile.[19]  It was the army of Murad that Napoleon was advancing toward.  Napoleon wanted to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible, for the flood season of the Nile was approaching, and he knew that would greatly interfere with his troops’ movements.  He needed control of the Nile, and he needed it now!

 

            Fortunately, his opponent also wanted battle.  On that same day [13 July] the five French vessels of the flotilla met seven larger Mameluke vessels.  The battle was getting so intense there that even the savants onboard lent a hand battling.  Eventually Napoleon was able to bring up artillery fire, which managed to take down the Mameluke flagship.  The very next day, 14 July [which also happened to be the ninth anniversary of Bastille Day], the battle of Chebreis was fought.   The 25,000 French troops, though numerically superior to the 15,000 men under Murad (4,000 of which were Mameluke cavalry), were drastically low on cavalry.  So, Napoleon had his men form squares supported by artillery on the corners.[20]

 

            The Mameluke style of fighting was medieval.  The only tactic they knew was charge, and if that didn’t work, then charge again.  Still, the Mamelukes weren’t amateurs.  Trained from the earliest of age to fight, they were perhaps the fiercest cavalry in the western world.  They also were a sight to behold!  They carried all of their worldly possessions with them: grandiose uniforms, ornate turbans sometimes stitched with jewels, sharpened scimitars, fine horses, and several small firearm and lances.  They were highly disciplined and very brave.

 

            So it began, and the Mamelukes paraded around, flaunting and making shows of themselves right outside the range of the French.  To ease tensions, Napoleon ordered that La Marseillaise[21] be played, in honor of the anniversary of the Bastille Day.  It greatly improved the moral of the men and roused them with patriotism.  The Mamelukes finally charged, but the French held their ground.  As soon as they were in range, the French fired.  The Mamelukes were repelled, but they charged forward again.  Surrounded by fire on all sides, the Mamelukes fell back again.  In the end, the Mamelukes were sent flying towards Cairo, suffering 200 casualties in comparison to only a handful of dead Frenchmen.[22]  Though this skirmish didn’t result in any real military gains, it served to raise the men’s spirits. Despite the attitude among the men, Napoleon wasn’t too pleased.  His enemy’s force was still mostly in tact, and if not destroyed soon, it would only continue to grow in strength.  Again the French pressed onwards to Cairo, and although there were several skirmishes along the way, no major resistance was encountered again until they neared their destination. 

 

            This next part of the expedition is one of the most renowned events of Napoleon’s career: the Battle of the Pyramids.  The French forces, numbering 25,000, were pitted against 21,000 Beys, consisting of 6,000 Mamelukes and 15,000 fellahin.[23]  Murad Bey’s forces stood prepared near the village of Embabeh, while Ibrahim Bey, with around 100,000 men right across the Nile.  In the distance could be spotted the unmistakable outline of the pyramids of Giza, in all of their ancient splendor.  On 21 July, the French forces under Generals Desaix, Reynier, Dugua, Vial, Bon, Rampon, and Marmont, formed once again in square formations, advanced on Embabeh, and ferocious battle broke out.

 

                Murad’s Mamelukes charged the ranks of Desaix and Reynier, but they were repelled by heavy musket and howitzer fire, and forced to veer off to the side, where he charged the garrison Baktil.  Here again he was held off by the French occupants and then repelled by reinforcements sent over by Desaix.  With the majority of the Mameluke cavalry out of the way, Napoleon’s forces were able to fully concentrate on the fortifications of Embabeh.  Although there was a brief moment where the French had come under some heavy fire from hidden cannon in the town, the full weight of the French artillery on land and the guns of their flotilla were brought to bear, and the defenses fell to shambles.  In the final move, Marmont’s men rushed around to the southern tip of the village, cutting off the Bey’s line of retreat.  Trapped, the remaining garrison of 2,000 Mamelukes tried to escape across the Nile, still under fire from the artillery.  The result of their endeavor was over a thousand poor souls drowned and 600 shot dead.

 

 

Battle of the Pyramids, excerpted from Chandler’s Campaigns of Napoleon, 225

            The battle only lasted a few hours, but the results in the end weren’t so meager.  For the less than 300 French casualties (29 killed, 260 wounded), the Beys took some 5,000 casualties (2,000 Mamelukes, 3,000 fellahin).  In the end, Murad Bey and 3,000 cavalry fled into Upper Egypt by way of Giza, while Ibrahim set fire to his flotilla on the Nile, to delay the French crossing of the river, before fleeing into the Sinai Peninsula.[24]  The Mamelukes were soundly defeated, and their medieval style of fighting shown to be inefficient against well-trained and disciplined soldiers using modern tactics.  Most of them had never even been exposed to such heavy bombardments before, knowing only small firearms.  In the aftermath of the battle, some soldiers actually fished for the remains of Mamelukes, who as previously mentioned carried all of their wealth with them, and were often rich catches![25]  After the battle, a messy uprising against the nobles of Cairo occurred, and the peasants turned the city of to Napoleon, who entered on 24 July as the master of the capital of Egypt.

 

          Although the Beys were defeated, they weren’t down for the count.  Even in their retreat they still held considerable influence throughout various towns and could serve to be a perpetual ‘thorn in his side,’ to use the old adage.  To fix this problem, Napoleon sent General Desaix after them, which resulted in a chase into the Sinai Desert and the decisive French victory at Salahieh over Ibrahim Bey on 11 August, bringing in treasures of jewels and gold.[26]

 

Floundering on the Nile and at Home

 

          We last left the French Fleet after the troops were disembarked at the beginning of the campaign in Egypt.  Admiral Brueys had decided to move the fleet to the Port of Alexandria, with his thirteen ships lined up in a row so as to create a wall of fire for the awaited British fleet and make up for the notable lack of sailors by only having to man one side of the ships, and with shore artillery set up to provide additional support.  However, there were several problems with this.  His ships had too much space in between them, leaving enough space for the British ships to navigate through them. They were also anchored far too out to sea (about one and a half miles off of shore) for the shore artillery to offer support.  Not only did it render the artillery useless, but also a good number of the sailors were on land gathering supplies, and when they eventually learn of the ensuing battle, it takes too long for them to sail back to their ships.  Had the ships been anchored closer to shore, these problems would have been non-issues, and shallow waters would have greatly reduced British maneuvering. 

 

            Napoleon himself sent an urgent message to Admiral Brueys in July when he heard of his positioning of the fleet, telling him to either take shelter in the actual port of Alexandria or set sail for Corfu, but unfortunately the messenger was killed on the way, the message never making its way there.  Admiral Brueys justified his position on 21 July: “When General Bonaparte left Alexandria…he gave me the choice either to enter the old of Alexandria, or to go with the fleet to Corfu, after having landed all the goods and provisions of the army.  Since that moment I have received no account whatever from the army, nor its leader.  I have sounded the passes of the old port; but it can only be entered with a north-west wind, and by boats: this has taken up much time, and the – is the only ship that has ye been able to get into the port.  It is quite impossible for me to leave the coast of Egypt before I receive accounts from the army… would it not be a criminal act on my part to deprive him of the only means of retreat he has left at my disposal?  Most probably I shall be attacked to-morrow or the day after… We have sanguine hopes of success… As I could neither enter the old port of Alexandria, nor go away, I have taken up a sort of military position here.”[27]

 

            As the title of this section indicates and historical trivia tells us, the imminent battle ends up a complete disaster.  On the evening of the first of August, Nelson and his fleet of fourteen ships of the line arrived and, upon finding the French fleet there, decided to engage in battle immediately.  Nelson’s fleet weaved circles around the French ships, which were forced to arm both sides of their ships using their numerically deprived sailors.  Out manned and outgunned, the battle only went downhill as time went on.  Early on, Admiral Brueys was killed in the action.  At ten in the evening, the ammunition stores aboard L’Orient, the French flagship and one of the finest ships of the day, ignited and the whole vessel exploded, and down to the bottom of the sea went the treasures taken from Malta.  The shockwave was so violent that it could be felt, according to some claims, over a mile away!  The battle actually stopped for a period of about ten minutes, and in what must be noted as an act of magnanimity on the part of the British, lifeboats were sent out to rescue any surviving French crewman. 

Due to the noted problem of the distance between ships, the French line went on for quite some distance, and in fact four ships to the rear did not take part in the battle initially.  However, when the time came to act, Rear Admiral Pierre-Charles de Villeneuve not only failed to come to the aid of the rest of fleet, but also actually took the four ships and sailed away from the battle.  When the battle ended on 2 August, those four ships were the only ones remaining.  Had Villeneuve taken those ships into battle and encircled the British themselves, perhaps the battle would have turned out differently.  Instead, the Battle of the Nile was a complete disaster for the French.  The French suffered 1,700 dead, 600 wounded, and 3,000 taken prisoners, compared to the British casualties of 218 dead, 677 wounded, and not a single ship lost.[28]

 

The affects of this battle were devastating for the French.  The British were now in control of the Mediterranean Sea, and virtually all the seas.  The French forces in Egypt were now almost completely isolated from France due to the British blockade.  News, orders, supplies, and reinforcements from the homeland would now be rare commodities.  When the crowned heads of Europe receive news of this event, it only serves to hasten the establishment of a second coalition against France.

 

There was yet another more immediate affect of the disaster.  Talleyrand, as was mentioned early on, was charged with the mission of going to the Sultan of Turkey to talk things over.  Napoleon, while in Egypt, had sent several letters to him to inquire whether he had left or not.  His answer would eventually ring clearly as a resounding ‘no.’  Talleyrand had in fact never left to inform the Sultan, and never would.  Whether this inaction was due to laziness or just sheer animosity for his own country, his treason was to have a terrible consequence.  The Sultan, quite understandably, wasn’t smiling after hearing the news of French forces in his country.  When news of the disaster in Aboukir Bay reached him, Turkey declared war on France on 9 September.  Napoleon now not only had the Mamelukes to worry about, but also the Turkish army, which wasn’t so medieval.  Two armies were dispatched, one by sea with the landing destination of Aboukir, and the other by land crossing through Syria. 

 

As horrible as all this was, a much more personal blow was to be administered to Napoleon.  In October he learned of news from Europe about his wife Josephine.  It had been discovered that she was not only involved in a good deal of profiteering to pay off her debts acquired from her spendthrift behavior, but was also having a rather indiscrete and public affair with a young officer, Hippolyte Charles.  Most everybody knew of this except for Napoleon himself.  This news was absolutely devastating to him.  He had always loved his wife so passionately and faithfully, although it is noted that up till this point, she had never really been the same towards him.   He wrote letters of distress to his brother, Joseph, but they were intercepted by the British and in turn published in newspapers in England and France.  Back in his own country he became somewhat of a laughing stock.  Vowing to publicly divorce her whenever he returned to France, he decided to ‘turn the tables’ on her, taking up his own public love affair with a certain Pauline Fourès, the former wife of one of his officers, who had accompanied the army into Egypt, and who became known as his ‘Cleopatra.’   

Revolutionizing Egypt

 

          While most of the men expected that the capital of a country of such antiquity would be filled with riches, Napoleon, who had read a more recent account of the area by Volney, knew better and was prepared for what was found: a poor backward little town as undeveloped and primitive as could be.  It had suffered many years under the oppressive and uncaring leadership of the Mamelukes, and already plundered of anything of value.  Besides for a few grand mosques and Mameluke palaces, the town was comprised mostly of single-story mud houses, and the people poor, many of them beggars.  No then-modern European conveniences, even as simple as a windmill, were to be found.  This is where Napoleon’s corps of savants was to come in handy, to bring the country up-to-date, and to improve the lives of the people. 

 

            Here in Cairo napoleon shortly received a letter from General Kléber.  Lavalette called Napoleon aside from a group of staff officers at breakfast to hand him the letter.  The news greatly disturbed him, but he made no sign of it upon his face, only telling Lavalette to keep the letter’s message undisclosed.  Napoleon then returned to breakfast where he found the men enjoying themselves and their recent spoils.  During the meal, he remarked, “It seems, you like this country: that is very lucky, for we have now no fleet to carry us back to Europe.”[29]  He then explained the situation calmly, and they discussed what needed to be done.  The army would manufacture its own ammunition and supplies. 

 

            Getting back to reform, Napoleon was hard at work fixing the situation, often working 12 hours a day under the blazing sun.  The army was used to help protect caravans going back and forth to Mecca against raiding Mamelukes.  For the first time, the nation was given actual representation. Napoleon assembled a consultative body of 189 leading heads of Egypt, and in each of the provinces a diwan was established, which was a group of nine Egyptians advised by a French civilian, charged with looking over policing, food supplies, and sanitation.[30]

 

            Concerning the physical makeup of the country, many innovations were introduced.  Windmills were created, a mint established to convert the Mameluke gold into French currency, hospitals established for the poor, and quarantines set up to check for the bubonic plague, which was rampant in Egypt.   Postal service was introduced, along with stagecoaches.  Cairo also saw its first street lamps, placed thirty feet apart on the main roads. In addition, the country’s first printed books were produced. More than books, a printing press was used to produce 2 newspapers.[31]

 

            Napoleon made a great effort to appease the religious of the country as well.  For the anniversary of the birthday of Mahomet, Napoleon organized a plethora of celebrations, with parades and festivals that he himself attended and took part in.  A request was sent to the Mosque of El Azhar to obtain a fetwa, or a public declaration in the mosques in support of the people to take an oath of allegiance to this French government.  However, the French would all have to convert to Islam, which would include circumcision and abstinence from wine.  Eventually it was settled that in return for a fetwa, approved by Mecca, saying that the French were allies of Islam (which excluded the requirements of circumcision and abstinence from wine), the French must continue to protect the faith.  And this Napoleon did very well.  Having read a translated version of the Koran, he largely agreed with the ideas presented.  Still, it should be noted that he took the ideal too far, proclaiming at one point that he had converted to Islam, a stunt that neither the French nor the Egyptians believed. 

 

            The Egyptians saw how just Napoleon was.  Although the punishment of the lash was forbidden, discipline was kept high.  After the major uprising on 21 October, headed by religious fanatics and instigated by British and Turkish secret agents and which lasted two days, costing the lives of 250 Frenchman (including senior officers and savant) and 700 rebels,[32] he “finished the affair in oriental style, showing himself to be simultaneously merciful and merciless. He granted quarter to all those who were not captured with weapons in hand. By contrast, he publicly beheaded the instigators as well as all prisoners caught in the act of murder or brigandage. Their bodies were thrown into the Nile and carried towards the sea.”[33]  He was also sure to punish Arabic tribes that preyed on any of the Egyptian towns.  In such short time, the Egyptians went from knowing only repression and apathy under Mameluke rule to partly self-governing under the rule of a just and republican French army under Napoleon.

 

             On 22 August, Napoleon founded the Egyptian Institute, with its own equipment and buildings, modeled after the Institute in Paris.  The noted mathematician and scientist, Gaspard Monge, who was a close friend of Napoleon’s, was set up as president, and Napoleon himself as vice-president.  Every five days the members would meet up, and they worked on a variety of projects.  Some would study Arab music, while others would draw detailed paintings of the areas.  New species of plant and animal life were examined, and through the examination of some mummified species, the zoologist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire gave support to Lamarck’s theory of evolution.  Napoleon himself, along with his friend, General Max Caffarelli of the Engineers, went to study the ancient remains of the Suez Canal.  Eventually Napoleon would entrust engineer Le Père to study the isthmus.  It would be this man’s detailed report that leads to the construction of the Suez Canal that we know today.  By July of the next year [1799], the institute would be presented with the Rosetta Stone, which was immediately recognized for it’s worth, and copies were made, from which Champollion would later decipher hieroglyphics. 

 

All the eventual findings of the Egyptian Institute would later be published in a ten-volume set called ‘Description de l’Egypt’ or ‘Description of Egypt’, printed by order of Napoleon himself.  This was a fabulous contribution to the world of science, and was one of the greatest accomplishments of the expedition. Through all of the French efforts, the Egyptians began to learn of their own history, which they had long forgotten, and they began the process of modernization.  This Egyptian campaign is often considered the starting point for modern Egypt, and it is what creates the science of Egyptology. 

 

Campaigning in Syria: Offensive Defense

 

These reforms were all nice and good, but Napoleon’s enemies weren’t just sitting around counting desert roses.  In December the Turks entered into an alliance with the English, and by January of 1799 the two Turkish armies previously mentioned were arming themselves.  After Napoleon got wind of this, he made up his mind to enter Syria and destroy the first army headed by Djezzar, the Pasha of all Syria who established his rule through pure cruelty, and later defeat the one on sea when it arrived.  He knew that if he let the enemy cross into Egypt, they would massacre outlying towns, sparing no mercy for the women and children; possibly join up with the other army; and perhaps start another horrible uprising such as the one back in October.  As well as the problems the Turkish invasion would bring, it would also benefit Napoleon to have control of Syria.  First, it would give control of key ports along the coast, which if gained could be denied to the British.  More than the ports, Syria had one particular resource that was scarce in Egypt: wood.  Wood was needed for the building and repairing of ports.

 

The campaign was intended to be fast paced, striking like a thunderbolt in Syria, occupying Palestine, and then meeting the other army by sea.  The speed of the mission was critical to its success.  With General Desaix still hunting Murad Bey in Upper Egypt, Napoleon took his force of 13,000 men and Generals Kléber, Bon, Reynier, Lannes, and Murat into Syria through the Sinai Desert, leaving a garrison of 10,000 men to overlook things in Egypt.[34]  Starting to disembark on 24 January 1799, the men faced delays at the hands of both sand and rain.  The desert crossing was arduous and draining, with supplies already running low.

 

First in the towns to be conquered along the way was Gaza, in which through a clever night maneuver, the surrounding fortifications were taken, along with some additional rations to help offset the lack-there-of.  However, the campaign into Syria was to suffer a terrible blow.  Reconnaissance of the area failed to identify just how large of a force was held up in the Fortress of El Arish.  Expecting nothing more than a feeble fort in defense, the French were unpleasantly surprised to find a sizable fort on 9 February, which managed to hold out for eleven days against the bombardment.  In the end, 900 Turks surrendered,[35] which left Napoleon in a sticky situation.  The French were already noticeably low on supplies, and couldn’t afford to sustain this entourage of prisoners for long, if at all.  The decision Napoleon made was to release the prisoners ‘on parole,’ under oath not to engage in fighting against the French for at least one year, and they were to return to Damascus; these were the terms that the Turks agreed to.  This was a traditional method used throughout Europe, invoking a defeated army’s sense of honor to adhere to its word.  However, the Turks had declared a holy war upon the French, and felt no obligation to fulfill their oaths.  This was not a European war, and such concepts of honor held no meaning to these people.  These released prisoners made no slack in refortifying the next town, Jaffa.

 

 

Jaffa, City of Infamy

 

            Next on the list of towns was Jaffa, possessing both much-needed supplies and an important port.  On 3 March Napoleon sent an emissary into the town to offer favorable terms of surrender.  The emissary was taken in and, probably after suffering great torture, his head was raised on a pike on the ramparts.  It must be noted that this was considered a great crime.  In war, an emissary is granted certain rights, and to kill one is a horrible violation of the rules of war.  This settled not at all well with the French.  The siege of the city began, and by 7 March the city was breeched.  Although the city was breeched, the defenders refused to surrender, and by the rules of war their actions condemned them to death, not to be spared.  However, Napoleon had sent Eugene de Beauharnais, his son-in-law and personal aide de camp, to permit the surrender of any women, children, and elderly who wished to do so.  Yet although not empowered to do so, he accepted the surrender of the besieged, despite the fact that their lives were already forfeit.

 

            This sets the stage for what comes to be one of the most controversial actions of Napoleon’s career.  He is now faced with an impossible predicament: what to do with the 4,000 prisoners[36] he’s now stuck with?  Keep them with him?  His men were still desperately short on supplies and doing so would condemn both his army and the prisoners to starvation.  Leave them under garrison in the city?  He had not the men to spare to watch over them.  Send them back to Cairo?  They would starve on the way back through the scorching desert.  Why not parole them again?  This would have been a horrid mistake to make, for the men showed that if they were released again, beyond any doubt they would only hasten to the very next town and serve to augment the enemy’s force, which was already around twice the size of the French force.  The only action left to Napoleon was to have them executed.  No man ever wants to have to make such a decision, and Napoleon was so troubled over this that he actually called a war council of all the top officials, which met for 2 days.

 

            When the council came to a conclusion, the decision was unanimous: the prisoners were to be shot.  This was decided through much deliberation and serious contemplation, but nonetheless on 10 March the order was given and the prisoners were executed. Of all the possible choices, it was believed that this was the least of the evils to be chosen.  However we may all feel independently, one mustn’t interpret this action as a cruel act by an insane man, for it is clear that ways out of this conclusion were earnestly sought for, and if it didn’t have to pass so, it wouldn’t have.  

 

            Two days after infiltrating the city, bubonic plague broke out in the French army.  Some would say that this was divine retribution taking its toll.  However, it was nothing of the sort.  The truth is that the French army, outraged by the barbarity of their opponents who had so brutally murdered and mutilated other French soldiers in the October revolt and decapitated their emissary under the flag of truce just recently, exacted revenge on the local population.  Throughout the night of the breakthrough the men, unable to be kept in check by the officers, raped and pillaged the town, and it wasn’t until morning that order was reestablished.  Regardless of these actions, this was not supported by Napoleon, who had explicitly banned such things, and numerous soldiers were executed, as was the set punishment.  It was from this wild and destructive behavior that some of the men contracted the plague.  Perhaps also the plague was caught by a few of the men earlier, for before they set out for the Syrian campaign, the plague had also broken out in Alexandria, although if so it was not a problem till now.

           

            As the plague continued to spread, the army became greatly demoralized and was delayed in Jaffa for an entire week.  On 11 March, Napoleon would make a move that has been immortalized in a painting by the sensational artist Antoine-Jean Gros.  With all haste the word spread: Napoleon was visiting the Pestiferies of Jaffa.  He personally went among those soldiers so wrenching with pain from the plague, touched them, and even helped to move one of the fallen bodies from the ward.  Both bold and brash, this action had the intended effect, the men being roused with courage by the dangerous and inspiring action of their commander, and so onwards the campaign would go.

 

 

Napoleon in Pesthouse of Jaffa, by Antoine-Jean Gros

 

 

 

 

Reversals at Acre

 

            Before the campaign would come to a close, there was one more city Napoleon wished to capture: Acre.  Out of all the towns in Syria, this was perhaps the most significant for him to possess, for it contained the most important port.[37]  By taking this town, Napoleon could deny it to the British fleet, which would serve as a great boon in controlling Egypt.  On 19 March French forces reached the defenses of the city, an old stronghold dating back to the time of the Crusades.

 

            Here is where the delay earlier in the campaign came back to bite the French.  Had they arrived a week earlier, they would have found the city occupied by a guard of 5,000 Turks led by Djezzar Pasha, and more than likely the city would have fallen quickly.  However, just four days before the French approached, the British had arrived with a force of eight hundred sailors under Commodore Sydney Smith.[38]  Moreover, the day before [18 March] the British off of Mount Carmel captured the French flotilla, and with it half of their siege guns.[39] 

 

Accompanying Sir Smith was the Frenchman Phélippeaux, a fellow cadet of Napoleon’s during his school years and a sworn enemy of his.  It was this man who freed Smith from a French prison after the siege of Toulon, and now he was working to strengthen the defenses of the fortification, arranging the stolen cannon and the city’s own cannon (a total of 250 pieces[40]) in place to fire against his own countrymen.  Yet this man, for all his work, would not live to see the results, dying of sunstroke before the battle.  The city itself was in an easily defended position, on a peninsula sticking out into and protected by the sea on most sides.  Observing this problematic situation, Napoleon sent a peace offering, but Djezzar’s only response was the slaughter of several hundred Christians within the city, adding to his nickname of ‘the butcher.’[41]  With this act there was no turning back, and on 28 March the siege began. 

 

The dearth of siege guns made the breaching of the walls into a daunting task, forcing the French to dig trenches and make perilous charges.  Ladders were first used to climb the walls, but were too short to be of any use.  Four days into the siege, miners attempted to tunnel under the fortification and blow the ‘Damned Tower’ to pieces from beneath, but the damage was nearly infinitesimal.[42]  Several charges were made against the fortification, but they were all repelled.  As Lavalette said, “The Turks are wonderfully good soldiers behind a wall…it was almost impossible for a Frenchman to show himself uncovered without being struck.”[43]   

 

 

A Change of Pace: Mount Tabor[44]

 

Although the Pasha of Syria was held up in this siege, Napoleon had yet another enemy on the move that demanded his attention: Abdullah, Pasha of Damascus.  Murat was sent with 1,000 men to Jacoub, north of Lake Tiberias in Jordan, and Junot with 300 infantry and 100 cavalry to occupy Nazareth.  Murat in his effort overcame the camp of the Pasha’s son and captured a great part of his baggage train, including artillery and riches, on 15 April.  For Junot’s part, he was sent with a force of 300 infantry and 100 cavalry to perform a reconnoitering of Lake Tiberias.  His forces later encountered over 2,000 Turks and engaged them in a pitched battle near Nazareth.  The French, set up in proper battle formation, resisted for a long time, but reinforcements would be needed to proceed.  To this affect, General Kléber was dispatched on 10 April to turn the tide with 1,500 men.[45]  The result was a great victory on the hill of Lubya, where Generals Kléber and Junot defeated the advance guard of 7,000 Turks, almost three times their own size![46] 

 

Nazareth now belonged to the French, but this Pasha was not out for the count just yet.  Quite the contrary!  He still possessed around 25,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry, which were amassing near Mount Tabor.[47]  Although outnumbered more than 17:1, General Kléber took to the offensive and planned a surprise dawn attack for 16 April, sending a message to Napoleon to inform him of his plans.  In a heart wrenching turn of events, the surprise was blown, and men raced to form squares to defend against the onslaught of retaliating cavalry.  As the day drew on, the situation was exceedingly depressing; the men were low on ammunition and in poor sprit.  Suddenly, upon the heights north of the plain around mount Tabor, a salvo of cannon was heard.  Napoleon had arrived! 

 

Having received the message from General Kléber midday on 15 April, Napoleon realized that the assault might well be a complete disaster, so he rounded available men, cannon, and ammunition and marched out the 25 miles to aid the fight; and what an aide he was!  The sight not only of fresh forces but also of their beloved general provided a complete replenishing and revival of spirit.  Seeing the commander-in-chief on the scene, General Kléber immediately switched back onto the offensive and drove the fight unto the enemy.  It wasn’t long until the Turks, now being attacked on both sides, were sent flying away.  Many of them sought to escape across the Jordan River and in the process several thousand drowned, while General Murat killed those who tried to escape to the north by Jacoub. A general pursuit continued into the next day.  In the end, General Kléber reported only 2 men dead, 60 wounded.  What a spectacular day for the French!   The Mamelukes were now effectively removed as opposition and the Army of Damascus was annihilated.  Napoleon spent the evening in the convent of Nazareth, where the elders of the village welcomed him with jubilation.  The next day he would return to the siege of Acre, where he hoped to return before Pasha Djezzar noticed his absence.

 

Abandonment of Acre

 

            The scene at Acre on his return was not much better than when he left it.  Although the second part of the French flotilla, bearing siege guns and ammunitions, had arrived, they had a difficult job moving them into position and even still they didn’t change the tide of battle.  Several more charges into the fortification were made, but they all met with failure.  The plague also continued to work its dark powers of death on the army.  On top of this, a large number of officers were lost in the siege, most notably General Caffarelli, a great commander and personal friend if Napoleon’s.  The growing cost finally told Napoleon that the city wasn’t worth the price, and so after six weeks of intense fighting, the siege would be abandoned and the French would return to Egypt.  The cannon were either spiked or tossed into the sea, the mines set aflame, and the journey back through the Sinai Desert.  It is also of interest to point out that in Napoleon’s possession were observation balloons, a very new introduction to the military branch.  Although he was averse to their usage, if he had indeed used them he would have seen just what the condition of the defenses were in the beginning, and perhaps the battle might have resolved differently. 

 

            It has been said by those opposed to Napoleon that he had his men that were sick with plague poisoned on the return to Egypt.  However, there is no evidence to support this claim.  True, Napoleon mused with the idea of administering a high dose of opium to those with no chance of recovery that were left behind in hospitals along the way, but only as an alternative to the barbaric torture they would receive if caught by the Turks.  In the end, after the idea was rebuked by Desgenettes, commander of the medical corps, and nothing more became of it.

 

            Part of why Napoleon was beloved by his soldiers was for the compassion he had for them, which can be seen clearly at this time.  O this journey, he passed an order that ‘All horses, mules, and camels will be given to the wounded, the sick and the plague stricken who show any signs of life.’[48]  This included all of the officers, and more specifically Napoleon himself.  Those who were not able to come with were left behind in hospitals with contingents of soldiers to guard them from the Turks.  Napoleon even ordered military bands to play outside the hospitals at noon each day and for especially good bread to be given solely to the patients.  Despite the treatment of these men, of whom some did in fact recover, the journey was still absolutely miserable, with low supplies and marching in 54°C temperatures.[49]

 

Napoleon and the Jewish Dream

 

In Syria, history faced one of its greater setbacks. Before he even arrived in Egypt back in 1798, Napoleon had already prepared a proclamation to create a new Jewish state out of Jerusalem, their homeland of old.[50]   Had it not been for the failure at Acre, the Jewish people would have had a land to their own, a safe haven from anti-Semitic prejudice.  Tragically, the defeat prevented further trekking into Syria, and the Jewish state would not be established for another 150 years. 

 

Defeating the Turks One Last Time

           

            It wasn’t long before the French, who returned triumphantly to Cairo in an attempt to hide their recent defeat, received news of the Turkish invasion under Mustapha Pasha at Aboukir on 11 June.  The time had finally come to fight the last portion of the Turkish army opposing him, and he took at immediately, setting out with his forces that very same day.  Fortunately for him, Mustapha had not advanced further than the fort at Aboukir, awaiting action from Murad Bey, who unbeknownst to him was already a non-factor. 

 

            Having marched over 100 miles in a series of thirteen days, Napoleon’s men were in position and battle commenced on 25 June, with 8,000 French against 9,000 Turks mostly of an élite of janissaries.[51]  Napoleon made his cavalry under General Murat his main weapon in this battle, taking advantage of the dearth of cavalry in the Turkish force.  The Pasha would offer battle on the Aboukir Peninsula with his back to the sea; he would pay dearly for this mistake.  French cavalry turned the left and right flanks, in that order.  After a short delay, they administered the deathblow and pushed the entire enemy force back.  In an epic scene, General Murat actually met Mustapha in battle and received a pistol shot to the jaw before slashing the gun out of the Pasha’s hand, along with two fingers.  In the panic, many Turks tried to swim out to the British ships nearby.

 

            By the end of this rather short battle, 5,000 Turks had drowned, 2,000 were killed, and 2,000 were captured.[52]  Describing the ghastly scene, Lavalette wrote, “It was a horrible sight to contemplate nearly ten thousand men of whom nothing was to be seen but their heads covered with turbans, and who were seeking in vain to reach the English fleet anchored at more than half a league from the shore.”[53]  Concluding the battle, the Turks still possessed the fort at Aboukir, but having no water rations inside, it was forced to capitulate four days later.  With this, the French now had a victory to wipe clear away the damper that the siege of Acre had left on their spirits and reputation back in France.  The second Turkish army was soundly defeated at the loss of only 220 Frenchmen dead and 750 wounded.  Apart from the presence of British ships, no immediate threats existed to challenge the French in Egypt. 

 

Closing the Gates on Egypt

 

                  About this time Napoleon met with Sir Sidney Smith, who brought about yet another change of mood.  The English Commodore took this opportunity to acquaint him with the situation in Europe, the first news the French had received for months, through a packet of recent newspapers.  What was contained inside of these letters shocked Napoleon.  He learned that not only had all of his gains from previous campaigns been lost, but also that France itself was on the brink of disaster.  Instead of only fighting the English and Turk, a whole new Second Coalition had been formed, composed of the aforementioned countries along with Naples, Austria, and Russia.  Already in Holland and Switzerland, the enemies were drawing closer to the homeland; all the while the Austrians had retaken northern Italy and dismantled the Cisalpine Republic.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the Directory was bungling up the internal situation so as to have inflation and confusion running rampant.  Something had to be done, and soon!

 

            Napoleon was now stuck in a tricky situation.  He could stay back in Egypt and continue to fight, but he knew he needed more reinforcements that could hardly be expected to arrive.  Since this was a losing proposition, the other option would be to return to France, where he believed (justly) that he could fix the situation, but without express permission from the Directory that would be considered abandoning the army, which could have wound him up in jail and curtailed his career.  It was a difficult decision, and he delayed in Egypt for quite some time, hoping to receive news from the Directory recalling him back to France.  However, the news didn’t come, and Napoleon knew what he had to do.  With his position in Egypt well preserved for the time being, it was of far greater importance to see to the wellbeing of France.  As an interesting side note, the Directory had in fact sent news that Napoleon was allowed to return to France, preferably with the army, but it did not arrive till much later.

 

            He knew quite well that his actions would be interpreted as they so commonly are today; most people are familiar with Napoleon’s abandonment of his troops in Egypt.  However, as mentioned earlier, there was good cause.  The security of one’s own nation must always come first.  More than that, he did not leave his troops in a bad position.  The recent victories would stem enemy activity in the area for a time, and Napoleon while in France could try to gain more troops and supplies for the continuation of the campaign back in Egypt.  It would be in the best interest of France to have Napoleon back, and so abandoning his army it would be.

 

With two frigates, Muiron and Carrère, Napoleon was prepared to return to France.  He took with him only a small group of his staff, including Generals Berthier, Lannes, Murat, and Gantheaume, scientists Monge and Berthollet, aide-de-camp Eugène Beauharnais, Duroc, Merlin, and his private secretary Lavalette.  Napoleon sent word to General Kléber to meet him near Alexandria, where he planned to personally hand him instructions to take command of Egypt in his stead.  However, General Kléber was late, and a messenger was given the necessary papers to hand over to him.  On the evening of 22 August 1799, Napoleon set sail back to France and successful made it through the blockade the British had established.  The fortune of the French in Egypt would leave with Napoleon.  General Kléber would achieve a good amount of success until 14 June 1800 when a Muslim fanatic assassinates him.  Under his successor General Menou, the situation turned completely around, leading to his capitulation on 2 September 1801, after which the French army was repatriated, and Egypt came under English occupation.  When Napoleon eventually arrives back in France, he is welcomed as a national hero, and the next great chapter of his story begins.

Bibliography

 

Chandler, David G. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1966.

 

Cronin, Vincent. Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimate Biography. New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1972.

 

Count Lavalette. Memoirs of Count Lavalette. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1894.

 

Grant, R.G.  Battle. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2005.

 

Ludwig, Emil. Napoleon. New York: Boni and Liveright, Inc., 1926.

 

Markham, J. David. Napoleon’s Road to Glory: Triumphs, Defeats & Immortality. Havertown, Pennsylvania: Casemate Publishing, 2003.

 

Markham, J. David. Napoleon for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2005.

 

Markham, Felix. Napoleon. New York: New American Library, 1963.

 

Stendhal. A Life of Napoleon. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Books Inc., 1956.

 

François de Chateaubriand. Mémoires d’outre-tombe. Online. 2 February 2007. <http://www.tonykline.btinternet.co.uk/ChateaubriandMemoirsBookXIX.htm#_Toc134073842>

 

General Michel Franceschi. Bonaparte In Egypt. Online. 27 January 2007. <http://www.napoleonicsociety.com/english/bonapegypta.htm>

 

Malta. Online. 9 February 2007. <http://www.napoleonguide.com/malta.htm>

 

Markham, J. David. Podcast With Historian J. David Markham. Online. 20 November 2006. < http://www.daheshmuseum.org/education/podcasts/markham_podcast.mp3>

 

Napoleon I of France. Online. 27 January 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte>

 

Reilly, Cameron and Markham, J. David. The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #7- The Egyptian Campaign. Online. 27 January 2007. <http://napoleon.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_napoleon_20060628_007.mp3>

 

Weider, Ben. Napoleon and the Jews. Online. 15 April 2007. <http://www.napoleon-series.org/ins/scholarship98/c_jews98.html#a>