Nearly 200 years ago, Captain Joseph-Marie Moiret set down his memories of Napoleon's Egyptian adventure, hoping to secure publication for them in his native land of France. The Memoirs were, it seems, considered too 'politically sensitive' for public consumption, and in fact did not become available in France until the 1980s, whereupon Rosemary Brindle, a resident of the Isle of Man, discovered the text and sought to translate it. Now appearing in English for the first time, Memoirs of Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition, 1798-1801 invites a whole new audience to witness the unravelling of this vital stage in French imperial history, and, indeed, in Napoleon's career. Bonaparte's mission to capture the resources of the ancient world fired the imagination of both the French Government (who were also buoyed by the imminent removal of the dangerously popular Commander-in-Chief), and the many intellectuals of the Egyptian Institute who accompanied the Army of Egypt on its perilous journey across the Mediterranean. Joseph-Marie Moiret, of the 'Invincible' 75th Demi-Brigade, was one of the young officers who pledged faith to the Expedition and remained true to its cause long after Bonaparte had deserted Egypt to pursue ambitions closer to home. Having taken part in the dramatic capture of El Arich in early 1799, which heralded the beginning of the Syrian Campaign, Moiret is confined to hospital suffering from bullet wounds. He describes the dangers of their location, the frustration of hearing of struggles in which he cannot take part, and his determination to re-join his brigade, in spite of injury. "The operation on my foot to remove the bullet and the resulting pain made it impossible for me to leave when my brigade moved off on 3rd Ventose, as part of General Kleber's advance guard. Thus, I was compelled to remain in the field hospital, established at El Arich, in a barren countryside, empty of everything, sixty miles from Cairo and fifty from Gaza. Our only supplies had to come from Katieh, and this resource soon dried up as provisions in Katieh were depleted day by day. So here we were, once more prey to hunger, once more condemned to eat camel flesh which was again in continual requisition. It would certainly have been the turn of my own animal if the arrival of a convoy had not saved it. Despite our sufferings and the dreadful boredom which consumed us, we still enjoyed a measure of peace, but, at midnight on 10th Ventose, we were woken by a general alarm. An alert at this hour! An omen of new problems, an unexpected attack ... Yes, the Bedouins has forced their way into tents occupied by the sick near the fortress walls and had seized all the arms they could find. The opposition they met had prevented them from doing more, but after this the remainder of the sick were carried into the fort itself, where they could be protected from the barbarous attacks of these raiders. We had thought that these plundering bandits operated only in Egypt; we were mistaken. Several events proved to us that Syria shared this dangerous honour. Every convoy was attacked on its way to us. Even the baggage train of the Commander-in-Chief and the army treasury were attacked a few miles from Gaza, but without success. The news of the taking of Jaffa reached us at El Arich on 24th Ventose. [Jaffa] is a little town in Syria which had been fortified and defended by seven thousand men. As they had forced us to attack it and had murdered the person sent to parley with them, they were all shot with the exception of two hundred Egyptians who were taken to Cairo. The goal of the expedition into Syria was the capture of St Jean-d'Acre, a vital position for the domination of Egypt. The victories we had won so far were wonderful ones, but no guarantee of ultimate success. St Jean-d'Acre, residence of the Pasha, was bigger, better fortified and consequently better guarded than any of the towns which we had previously overcome. It was a safe gamble that this place would put up a long resistance and that we should lose many men there. The future would tell whether our fears and apprehensions were well founded or not. As for me, weak from my diet of biscuits, camel meat and a little rice, and longing to take part in the dangers and glories of my comrades in arms, I made up my mind to leave the desert of El Arich. My eyes, which had grown weary looking at nothing but heaps of burning sand, were soon refreshed by the sight of fields rich in Ceres' bounty, green hillsides sprinkled with poppies and a thousand perfumed flowers. My companions on this journey shared my feelings and my great happiness. We camped and slept in a barley field where our horses and camels grazed and enjoyed a good feed. There all through the night, we heard the Bedouins mimicking the cry of a fox, which was their agreed way of communicating, either to gather together or to give warning of an attack. Our numbers discouraged them, no doubt, for they made no attempt on us and we slept in peace." Rosemary Brindle, who translated and edited the Memoirs, introduces Moiret's fascinating narrative with an historical overview of the aims and pitfalls of this wildly ambitious campaign, and also provides a series of short biographies on the key players involved. MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON'S EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION, 1798-1801 will be available in February, priced £17.95. It will appear in hardback (240 x 169mm), containing 192 pages of text and 16 of plates, plus 3 maps. ISBN: 1-85367-449-4. Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal Ltd Park House 1 Russell Gardens London NW11 9NN Tel: 020 8458 6314 Fax: 020 8905 5245 E-mail: LionelLeventhal@compuserve.com Web site: www.greenhillbooks.com Available in the United States in February, price $34.95, and will be distributed by Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (e-mail: sales@stackpolebooks.com). Back to 1st Quarter 2001 List of News Items Back to Master List of News Items Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com