The following press release was sent to MagWeb. --RL With a number of bicentenaries over the coming months we provide a calendar of some of the key events in 1799 from the new book NAPOLEON IN THE HOLY LAND by Nathan Schur. 6 February Napoleon's army advances on Palestine 14 February The battle of El-Arish 20 February El-Arish falls to the French 24 February The battle of Gaza 2 March French troops move to within three miles of Jerusalem 3-7 March The siege of Jaffa 8-10 March The massacre of the prisoners at Jaffa (3,000 prisoners of war executed) 11 March Napoleon visits victims of the plague at Jaffa 15 March The battle of Kakoon 17 March French troops reach Haifa 18 March Six French ships defeated off Cape Carmel 19 March-21 May The siege of Acre 28 March The first French assault on Acre is defeated 31 March General Junot occupies Nazareth; General Murat captures Safet 1 April General Murat reaches the River Jordan 3 April General Vial captures Tyre 8 April The battle of Lubya (Napoleon called this the battle of Nazareth) 15 April The battle of The Bridge of Jacob's Daughters 16 April General Murat ocupies Tiberias; the battle of Mount Tabor 17 April Napleon visits Nazareth 7 May Turkish troops arrive to support the garrison of Acre 8-10 May French assaults on Acre fail 21 May The French retreat from Acre 30 May The French reach Gaza 14 June The French re-enter Cairo 23 August Napoleon leaves Egypt 9 November Napoleon establishes the Consulate and takes control of France To quote from this fascinating study of Napoleon's 1799 campaign in Palestine: "At about 10.00 in the morning (8 April) the Turks launched their main attack. A dragoon officer describes it as follows: 'The Turkish cavalry attacked us at a gallop, shouting horribly. Their sabres glittered in the sun, their flowing coats revealed their gold bordered dress; their horses jumped full of fury and seemed to share the rage of their riders. On our side profound silence reigned ... Junot gave the order to open fire. The thunder of the fusillade drowned out the shouting and the clatter of the arms. Through the dense smoke which surrounded us I saw the hideous riders with their dark faces, who shouted like demons; however Major Duvivier had already lifted his sabre and we met the furious Turkish onslaught with firm foot and our blades commenced their terrible work. A richly dressed Mameluke fired his pistol at my head, wounding me lightly: but I had the consolation of stretching him out dead at my feet. At that moment I saw Major Prevot fighting on the ground against two Turks, his horse having been killed under him by a shot, but he had disengaged himself in time, and with astonishing calm was countering the blows aimed at him by his adversaries. The brave Pignard came running to his aid and transfixed the body of one of his enemies with his sabre, while Prevot killed the other with a back handed blow ... A captain of the 3rd Dragoons fell mortally wounded and some of the men of his company had great difficulty in recovering his body. Somewhat farther away an NCO of the same regiment attacked a Mameluke who held a battle banner made out of a long horse tail; both horsemen struggling body against body their mounts participating furiously, until the whole group rolled on the ground. However, the Turk, hindered by his flowing robes, could not get up in time and the blade of the NCO pierced his chest, and he died full of rage as he saw his banner in the hands of his enemy. After this the attacks beame less pressing.' The fire of the French infantry line became more effective and the Turks withdrew a bit, leaving the French isolated in an area strewn with corpses. Junot reorganized his men, and the Turks renewed their assault, but this time less resolutely. They looked now for weak spots in the French line and hurled their lances against the French so as to create a passage between the French bayonets, but in vain. Junot was attacked by two Turks, but killed one of them by a pistol shot and the other by a cut of his sabre. A further four battle banners were captured by the French, but were lost again in the melee. At 3 o'clock the Turks withdrew. The French lost eight cavalrymen and three infantrymen killed, and 48 wounded. In Junot's report to Napoleon after the battle he stressed the good quality of the enemy cavalry and pointed out that his had been the hottest fight he had ever been in. Napoleon, who always preferred to name battles after places with historically resonant names, did not call the engagement after the village of Lubya, but named it the 'Battle of Nazareth'. He appreciated the spirit shown there by his old friend Junot to such an extent that, when in 1807 he decided to create him a duke, his first choice was Duke of Nazareth. However he had second thoughts; he believed 'Junot of Nazareth' might sound just a bit too like 'Jesus of Nazareth', and thus Junot was created Duke of Abrantes (in Portugal) instead. NAPOLEON IN THE HOLY LAND by Nathan Schur. Nathan Schur is a historian living in Israel. (9 X 6in), 240 x 159mm; 224 pages; 9 maps, 23 illustrations; ISBN: 1-85367-345-5. £18.95. To be published February 1999. Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal Limited Park House 1 Russell Gardens London NW11 9NN Tel: 0181 458 6314 Fax: 0181 905 5245 E-mail: LionelLeventhal@compuserve.com Web site: www.greenhillbooks.com Distributed in the United States (at $34.95) by: Stackpole Books 5067 Ritter Road Mechanicsburg PA 17055 Tel: 717 796 0411 Fax: 717 796 0412 E-mail: sales@stackpolebooks.com Back to 4th Quarter 98 List of News Items Back to Master List of News Items Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 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