Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign
Syrian Adventure
by George F. Nafziger USA
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Napoleon was not one to sit idly by while his enemies advanced against him. His response was to advance with his army into Palestine to forestall the army under Djezzar Pasha, seize the fortress of Acre, defeat the Damascus army, and them return to Egypt where he would destroy the Turkish Army of Rhodes as it landed in Egypt. No help was possible from France, which was under assault from the Second Coalition. Napoleon had a cart blanche from the Directory, but he had to make do with what was at his disposal. He organised what new formations he could from Jewish and Christian minorities in Egypt and reorganised his army. On December 23, 1799, the first moves occurred as General Legrange was ordered to reconnoitre the Sinai and build a base at Katia. Napoleon organised 9,932 infantry in four weak divisions, 800 cavalry and 1,755 artillery and engineers, plus 400 Guides and 80 men of the Dromedary Corps into his new army of conquest. The true beginning of the campaign came on February 6, 1799, when General Reynier advanced out of Katia with the rest of the army following in his foot steps. Difficulties were immediately encountered at El Arish, when Reynier found himself confronted by a masonry fort defended by 600 Mamelukes and 1,700 Albanian infantry. The siege lasted from the 9th to the 19th, costing Napoleon eleven invaluable and irreplaceable days. Gaza fell on February 25th. On March 4th Napoleon was before Jaffa, which fell three days later. In an act of unusual and inexcusable barbarity, Napoleon ordered the execution of the 1,400 prisoners taken as a result of this siege. On March 15 Napoleon's plans took a terrible setback. HMS Tigre and HMS Theseus arrived at Acre with Commodore Sir William Sidney Smith and a French emigre engineering officer named Phillippeaux. Between the two of these men, Acre was hastily brought into a condition to resist Napoleon's pending assault. The significance of the loss of time at El Arish now became apparent. On March 15 Napoleon could have marched into Acre, but when he arrived on March 18 it was strong enough to resist him. Misfortune Napoleon's misfortunes continued to mount, when on March 18, the ships carrying half of his siege guns were captured by the British off Mount Carmel. These guns were then taken by the British to Acre where they were mounted on the walls and used to defend it from the French. The garrison of Acre had 5,000 men and more than 250 guns mounted in its various fortifications. Being unable to assault them in their newly reinforced positions, Napoleon was unwilling to undertake the lengthy process of a siege, with saps, mines and storming columns carrying ladders, but now had no choice. In the first attempt at an assault on the walls, the French attackers found their ladders were too short to mount the walls. They withdrew with heavy losses. Four days later a French mine exploded under a tower on the walls, but the tower was little damaged and the subsequent assault also failed. Meanwhile the Army of Damascus was forming in Galilee with 7,000 Turkish soldiers. Napoleon learned of this and sent a cavalry force to reconnoitre them. The French cavalry beat a larger force, but withdrew from the region because they were terribly outnumbered. Kleber was then ordered out with 1,500 men to assist the cavalry. It encountered and routed 6,000 Turks near Canaan. Murat was sent to the region around Lake Tiberias with two battalions, where he executed a successful assault against a larger Turkish force. In another sweep, Kleber and 2,000 men encountered the Pasha of Damascus, with around 25,000 cavalry and 10,000 foot, near Mount Tabor. Trapped, Kleber moved to the attack and a desperate battle ensued. Only as their ammunition began to run low did the surrounded squares of Frenchmen see Napoleon's forces rolling over the hills to their assistance. Hearing the battle, Napoleon had led a column 25 miles, arriving in time to disperse the Turks and save Kleber. The French had major supply problems as they stood before Acre. Not only was food short, but so too was ammunition for their heavier guns. In order to supplement their supply of round shot Napoleon ordered a bounty be paid to each soldier who brought in a cannon ball. Targets The immediate result of this was groups of French soldiers would gather on the beach when English warships came by. By offering the British a large target worthy of a shot or two, they would coax the British into firing their guns. Once the salvo was discharged, the soldiers would scramble wildly after the balls in order to collect the bounty. Bored soldiers have always done strange things to amuse themselves and supplement their finances. This war was no different. Despite the various military successes against the Turkish field forces, the siege of Acre was a failure, and on May 17 Napoleon withdrew his forces to Egypt. After returning to Cairo, Napoleon found the upper Nile once again in revolt. These futile efforts were put down, but the arrival of 60 Turkish transports and a British squadron at Aboukir Bay meant something else. The Turks landed 15,000 men and quickly established a beachhead. Napoleon moved his army up and on July 25 the Turks were defeated at the Battle of Aboukir. The French cavalry proved its metal on that day and was decisive in the victory. That threat defeated, Napoleon returned to Cairo. However, the overall situation was beyond recovery and Napoleon realised his dreams were lost. In addition, the situation in Europe was coming to a political head. On August 22 Napoleon quietly boarded a frigate with some selected officers and returned to France. General Kleber was left to command what remained of the Army of Egypt. Death at the hand of an assassin awaited Kleber in Cairo, while destiny and empire awaited Napoleon at Marengo. The Armee de l'Orient was to remain in Egypt and face new enemies and battles. The British landed in March 1800. There were numerous engagements and one siege. The English eventually obliged the French to negotiate, a treaty was signed, and on September 14, 1800, the first French troops embarked British vessels assigned to transport them back to France. AftermathThe Egyptian campaign was a military disaster for the French that cost them one fleet and had an army cut off for nearly three years engaging an enemy, the Ottoman Empire, that would not have otherwise gotten into the wars. It had distracted a small British land force away from Europe, but the disastrous 1799 British invasion of Holland was over by the time troops were sent to Egypt, so they were available and not otherwise engaged. It was Napoleon's first real taste of British naval power and his first meeting with Nelson. The next, Trafalgar, was still several years away. The only gain to France from the campaign was a limited distraction to the English that forced them to deploy forces into a region where they were not otherwise required. The bottom line still tilts strongly towards a major British victory and a terrible French disaster. The loss of the French fleet at Aboukir removed many major vessels from French service that might have made some contribution at Trafalgar. As for Napoleon, he returned to France the hero of the Orient. He had escaped before his army was defeated and had only added to his impressive string of victories. The only gains for the French were the results of the scientific expeditions that explored and catalogued much of the flora and fauna of Egypt and that explored the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians. As a trophy from the campaign, the French took an obelisk Egypt and erected it in Place de la Concorde, in central Paris over the site of the Revolutionary guillotine. It can still be seen today amidst the swirl of traffic. However, the world did make one major gain from this campaign. While digging trenches at Rosetta a large black stone, about eighteen inches wide, was dug up. The stone contained part of an inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek and a third language. This is the famous Rosetta Stone. It was the key to the eventual translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics and made a major contribution to man's knowledge. Lest one assume that only the French looted as they marched across the world, it should be noted that the Rosetta Stone was seized by the British as part of the negotiations that brought the French army back to France. It can be seen today in the British Museum, in London, amidst hundreds of other "liberated" works art from the ancient world. Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign: Invasion
Recommended Source DocumentsAder, Expedition d'Egypte et de Syrie, Paris, 1826.
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