General Desaix and the
Campaign in Upper Egypt
1798-99
The Battle Of Abnud
March 8th 1799
by Dave Roberts, UK
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On March 8, as Desaix was settling his weary troops at Asyut, Belliard's small force of 1,000 men and a single piece of light artillery ran into 3,000 Meccan infantry and 300 Mamelukes at Abnud, just north of Luxor. Belliard gave the order to form square and the French advanced towards the enemy line, sprawled out across the desert between the French and the village of Abnud. the Arabs gave ground slowly and fell back to the village, barricading themselves into the houses. The battle had been raging for six hours by the time the French reached the village. Belliard ordered a pause in the advance for water, then, with bayonets fixed, the French began the assault on the village. The French took several houses and killed over 200 Meccans before concentrating their attacks on a building belonging to a Mameluke where a large number of Meccans had ensconced themselves. Desperate hand to hand fighting followed and the French lost 60 men in two hours trying to take that one building. Nightfall brought a lull in the fighting, but it was resumed with a vengeance the following morning. The French forced their way into the courtyard and set fire to one of the main buildings, in an attempt to dislodge the Meccans. As the fire spread the Meccans launched themselves against the French, firing their muskets then hacking at them with their sabres. Denon describes the scene, "Black and naked they ran through the flames; they looked like devils out of hell." [6]
As the sun set on the second day, the Meccans still held the house and the courtyard, despite heavy losses. During that night, the survivors broke through a wall to escape, leaving behind those too wounded or ill to run. The French shot many of them as they fled and the following morning entered the house and killed those left behind. The battle over, Belliard's force resumed its march and counter-march, patrolling the Nile between Qena and Aswan.
Throughout March and April, Desaix bombarded Napoleon and General Duga in Cairo with requests for reinforcements, ammunition and provisions. Whether or not these pleas reached napoleon is unknown because as Desaix wrote his desperate requests, Napoleon was besieging Acre and had the survival of his army in Syria foremost in his mind.
Despite all the hardships and deprivations his forces faced, Desaix had nominal control of Upper Egypt. Murad's men were deserting him, his allies had lost the stomach to continue the fight and the Meccans had retired into the desert between the Nile and Kossier to await reinforcements from Arabia. Desaix was under no illusions though, as he wrote to Napoleon, "If you leave this country without troops for just an instant, it will revert immediately to its former masters." [7]
He had to keep a French presence throughout the area, and on several occasions Desaix dispatched a small force to quell unrest, or chase a band of Arabs threatening to destabilise the area. On one such mission, led by Davout, 2,000 fellahin were killed for the loss of only eight French cavalrymen.
On another such mission, 200 French soldiers, under Captain Renaud, were sent by Belliard to reoccupy Aswan. On their way south they ran into a Mameluke force of around 600. The French defeated the Mamelukes once again, through sheer determination and disciplined fire. Hassan Bey and Osman Bey, two of Murad's staunchest allies were fatally wounded in the battle. Napoleon later described this action as "the most beautiful combat of the entire Egyptian campaign"; [8] an interesting description, since Napoleon was campaigning in Syria at the time.
Relations between Desaix and his subordinate, Belliard began to show signs of strain during may 1799. Desaix pressed Belliard to march on Kosseir, the Red Sea port through which thousands of Arab reinforcements had passed. Belliard fully appreciated the importance of Kosseir, after all he was getting first hand experience of these Arab reinforcements and he had received word that a British ship had entered the Red Sea and had shelled Suez.
However, he was suffering from the eye disease ophthalmia for the second time, and his troops were desperately short of supplies and ammunition. Belliard wrote to Desaix and stated that if there was anyone who insisted on the need to take Kossier, it was he; however, he must be given the means to do so. Belliard was clearly as frustrated with Desaix, as Desaix was with Napoleon. On May 11th, he wrote in his diary, "General Desaix believes his orders can be carried out just as fast as he thinks them up." [9] Desaix replied with soothing remarks and all the supplies Belliard had requested.
Belliard left Qena on May 26th and set out for Kossier. His force consisted of 350 infantry mounted on camels ††, 400 camels carrying the supplies which Desaix had finally sent, one gun and 60 Arabs from a friendly tribe. These were not the first French soldiers to be mounted on camels; Desaix mounted three infantry regiments on camels during the Upper Egypt campaign and dromedary troops were used throughout the Egyptian and Syrian campaigns. Belliard's small force crossed 150 miles of mountainous desert terrain in just three days, marching for 14 hours on the 28th alone. On May 29th, the French occupied Kosseir without a fight. Despite its strategic importance in this campaign, Kosseir was a wretched little village, with little to make it in the least bit appealing to the French.
Belliard left Kosseir on June 1st, leaving Donzelot and 2 companies of the 21st Demi-Brigade to garrison the village and fortify its tiny harbour. He returned to Qena on June 4th and continued to patrol up and down the Nile.
By the end of June 1799, the French held the upper hand in the region. With Kosseir in French hands, Murad's supply of Meccan reinforcements from Arabia was halted. Murad and his remaining Mamelukes were hiding in the oases of the Sudan, undefeated but unable to continue the fight. Many local sheikhs had submitted to Desaix and he set up an administrative headquarters in Asyut and began to govern the area he had spent the last year trying to subdue. A Turkish chronicler wrote, "from that moment on, General Desaix devoted himself to the pacification and organisation of Upper Egypt, with an intelligence, an administrative knowledge, a tactfulness, a courage, a zeal, and a magnanimity that were admirable; so that Upper Egypt was better governed than was the Delta". It was remarks like this that led to Desaix be hailed as the 'Sultan El-Adel' - the just ruler.
French troops began settle into garrison life. Small garrison camps appeared along the Nile, and the French soldiers mingled with the villagers, buying food, swapping stories and sharing the occasional banquet with the local sheikhs. For some the monotony of garrison life must have come as a welcome change from the previous 10 months of marching and counter-marching, interspersed with vicious skirmishes against an enemy who never seemed to accept defeat. There was the ever-present threat of a surprise attack, the unrelenting heat of the desert sun, the sickness, and the isolation from their homes in France. Despite all this, the French coped as well as any troops forced to garrison in a hostile environment, they attempted to bring some of their homeland to the new country, whilst mixing its customs with that of the people around them.
The peaceful interlude did not last long. In July 1799, Murad returned to the Faiyum with fresh troops. French columns were immediately dispatched from Cairo and from Asyut. The French finally appeared to have Murad trapped, and it was only a matter of time before he was caught and defeated once more. On July 13th, Murad was at the pyramids and is reported to have held a conversation with his wife, who still lived in his palace in Giza, via coded signals. When Napoleon heard this he at once took personal charge of the forces moving to catch the 'uncatchable'. The following day he was forced to cancel all orders relating to the pursuit of Murad; the Turks had landed at Aboukir. By 12.30pm, Napoleon had issued orders to all his commanders spread throughout Egypt and was already moving north to meet, and ultimately destroy the invading army.
When he received news of the Turkish defeat, Murad once again fled south. Desaix immediately followed and finally caught Murad's forces at their camp near Samhud in early August. Murad himself was almost caught and had to flee, leaving behind his tent, arms and even his slippers. Desaix's troops caught him again near Faiyum and following a short skirmish, word was received from Murad's wife in Giza that her husband wished to negotiate. Murad swore friendship and loyalty to the French and later succeeded Desaix as governor of Upper Egypt, protecting French interests there until his death in 1801.
By mid October 1799, 14 months after Desaix had sailed south from Cairo, Upper Egypt was at last calm. Murad had submitted to French rule, and those Mamelukes who still resisted were cut off in the Nubian deserts, powerless. From Aswan to Cairo, there was finally peace along the Nile. Desaix had conquered an area half as large as France with a force of under 5,000 men, many of them suffering from disease, and all of them suffering from the hardships of the Egyptian desert. He had attempted and achieved the impossible, fulfilling the orders given to him by Napoleon the previous August. Lack of supplies, disease, constant skirmishing and marching had simply brought out the best in him as a commander. As Governor of the province, he showed himself to be fair, honest and efficient, and won the affection of many Arabs as well as his faithful soldiers.
Desaix remained in Egypt when Napoleon hastily returned to France, leaving Kleber in command of the Army of the Orient. He was instrumental in the peace negotiations with the English, and finally left Egypt on March 3rd, 1800 aboard a Ragusan merchantman. His journey home was not without incident though, and in late March, within sight of the French coast he was seized by an English frigate. After being detained in Leghorn, he was released and resumed his journey. Desaix finally reached Toulon on May 5th, having been delayed once more, this time by Tunisian Corsairs. Upon landing, he immediately wrote to Napoleon, now campaigning once again in Italy, and requested active duty. Napoleon replied, "Come and join me as fast as you can, wherever I am." Desaix joined Napoleon on June 10th at Montebello, and four days later died leading his troops to save Napoleon's reputation at the battle of Marengo.
Desaix's campaign in Upper Egypt is small in comparison to many others of Napoleon's commanders, both in its length and numbers of troops involved. However, it was undoubtedly one of the hardest fought and harshest campaigns of the era. Desaix showed himself to be an equal of Napoleon in organisation, motivation and determination. He sought glory in victory, but did not seek the trappings of power, which Napoleon craved for; he was a soldier's general, willing to share the hardships and to spare his men from unnecessary slaughter. Desaix demonstrated the vital role intelligence could play in a campaign like this and inspired soldier and Arab alike with his compassion and leadership.
The Dromedary troops consisted of mounted infantry who travelled in ones or twos, dismounting and forming a square to fight. They could then remount and chase the Arabs when they inevitably retreated. Each camel carried rations and ammunition for about 10 days at a time.
[1] La Jonquiere, III Christopher Herold, J., Bonaparte in Egypt, London, 1963
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