Chapter 7
Mixing Art, Science, and Guns in Egypt
In This Chapter
Gathering accolades
Embarking on a new campaign
Following in the footsteps of greatness
Winning and losing
Securing immortality
A s I explain in Chapter 6, Napoleon had great success in defeating the Austrian army that was threatening France in northern Italy. He was also successful in negotiating the Treaty of Campo Formio, which brought peace between France and Austria in that region. Napoleon’s success had not entirely pleased the Directory, France’s ruling body in Paris, which was beginning to fear this ambitious young general who seemed to constantly overstep his authority. However, it could do little to rein him in. Napoleon was at the top of his game, idolized in Italy and France and respected in Austria and Germany. In November 1797, the Directory sent him to Rastadt, Germany, where final negotiations for a comprehensive peace with Austria were underway.
On his way north to Germany, Napoleon toured much of northern Italy, where he was greeted everywhere as a hero for having freed the region from Austrian dominance. He stayed in Rastadt just long enough to bask in some glory and exchange very nice gifts with the principals, including accepting some magnificent Lipizzaner horses from the Emperor of Austria. His duties and pleasures completed, Napoleon soon left for Paris, where the people anxiously awaited their chance to shower him with glory.
In this chapter, I tell you about the next phase of Napoleon’s storied career, a phase that is in many ways the most romantic of them all. His campaign in Egypt and the Holy Land led to a greater understanding of that mysterious region and to an inevitable comparison of Napoleon to Alexander the Great. I also check in on Josephine and show how Napoleon reacted to her less than stellar behavior.
Basking in the Glow of Glory
When the 28-year-old General Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris in early December 1797, it must have seemed like he had the entire world at his feet. In a very short period of time, he had saved his government from overthrow at home and defended her against attack from abroad. The Italian campaign had been an overwhelming success, and everyone knew it. The Directory’s financial picture was good only to the extent that Napoleon had managed to send incredible riches home, and Paris was now the home to some of the world’s greatest artistic and historic treasures.
Everyone loves a hero, and Parisians were certainly no exception. Napoleon was wined and dined at every opportunity. Generals, diplomats, and politicians paid homage at his home, which was often quite crowded. Napoleon was in great demand at every imaginable social function, and he also held court at numerous salons — afternoon meetings of intellectuals and others.
In some ways, the salons may have been Napoleon’s favorite activity. He quite rightfully saw himself as an intellectual and scholar, and the salons, run by fashionable ladies whose husbands were of means (which means they had money!), gave him the opportunity to rub shoulders with the best intellectual minds of Paris.
Achieving high honors
Image makers of the day quickly picked up on “Napoleon the warrior and scholar.” Figure 7-1 is a fine example of a graphic that combines the images of intellect and war.
With Napoleon’s credentials even more firmly established, he was in even greater demand on the social circuit. He met intellectuals of all stripes. The most notorious of these was Madame Anne Louise Germaine de Staël. Her salon was perhaps the most important, and she met Napoleon at numerous social functions. At first enamored with Napoleon, in time she turned against him and was his nemesis for many years, writing scathing criticisms of his rule. Even so, Madame de Staël (as she is generally known) was one of the most important and influential women of her time.
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Figure 7-1: This extremely rare period engraving shows Napoleon as a scholar general. |
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Other tributes ranged from the humorous to the touching. The Directory paid Napoleon several honors, including throwing banquets for him, despite its growing concern over his popularity and his disdain for the governing body’s lack of competence. Composers and poets wrote in his honor, and he was given the best seats at any performance he wished to attend. Finally, the street his home was on was renamed Rue de la Victoire (“Street of Victory”) in his honor. Glory can be fleeting, and Napoleon understood this well, but for the moment, things were great.
However, not everything was as it seemed.
Looking for a new campaign
Napoleon had had great success and had achieved a position of enormous popularity. Now, who could possibly have a problem with that? For one, the Directory — a collection of incompetent, greedy politicians that was running France. It was one thing to have a popular General Bonaparte running around in Italy; it was quite another to have him running around in Paris. Napoleon was obviously ambitious, and the Directory feared he might turn that ambition in its general direction.
Napoleon, to his credit, kept out of politics and played the game more or less to the satisfaction of all. Still, the Directory wanted him out of town, soon. A new campaign was needed, and one was quickly found. Only England remained in opposition to France, and England had to be defeated, one way or another.
The most obvious way to defeat England would be by direct invasion. This idea had been around a long time, of course, but now France seemed ready. Victorious on land, her armies led by a great general (who, as it happened, the Directory wanted out of Paris — now!), the time seemed incredibly ripe. But the idea just wouldn’t float.
That little detail didn’t stop the French from having a go at it. The French were allied with Spain at the time, and Spain did have a pretty decent fleet. Napoleon put together a plan of battle but kept coming up against the fact that he simply would not have sufficient sea power to prevail. By February 1798, he was finally forced to face reality. He wrote the Directory, suggesting that at best the invasion was at least a year away, and at worst the time had already come and gone. France would have to look elsewhere for a victory over her archenemy, England.
Napoleon was anxious for a new campaign to keep his glory alive. The Directory was anxious to see him off on just such a campaign, the farther away from Paris the better. Soon, the two would agree on a win-win plan: Napoleon would invade Egypt.
Setting Sights on Egypt
There is some question as to the origin of the idea for the Egyptian campaign. The basic idea went back as far as the 17th century, and Napoleon had certainly suggested invading Egypt more than once. But some historians believe that the person who proposed it at just the right moment was Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who was serving as France’s foreign minister at the time. Almost from the start, Talleyrand’s scheming would be both good news and bad news for Napoleon, and few people would be so involved in, and influential on, Napoleon’s career. (Talleyrand shows up later in this chapter, as well as in subsequent chapters.)
At first blush, the idea of invading Egypt may seem madness. First, the Mediterranean is still water last I checked, and the British fleet was quite active in the area. Second, a quick look at a map would seem to indicate that Egypt is quite the opposite direction from England! While all that is true, it rather misses the point:
The Mediterranean is much larger than the English Channel, so French ships might easily avoid British ships. (Think of a needle in a haystack, and you have the basic idea.)
Egypt was a key element in the British trade system, especially for its trade with the Far East, particularly India.
Invading Egypt would be a significant psychological blow to the British ego, while adding to French presence in the Mediterranean.
The Directory immediately latched onto the idea. Not only would it offer all of the above advantages, but it would also get Napoleon out of Paris. Paris? Heck, it would get him out of France. With any luck, he would bring greater glory to France. With any better luck, he might get killed in the process.
Napoleon must have been equally delighted with the idea. He understood that glory can be fleeting and that his success in Italy would quickly fade away if he didn’t add to its luster. An invasion of England may have been preferable, but it simply wasn’t in the cards. Egypt, on the other hand, was very doable and had the potential to capture the imagination of all of France. Yes, Napoleon was pleased indeed, and he immediately began to plan the expedition.
Planning to conquer a world of mystery
Napoleon was in a pretty strong position, so when the Directory asked him to put together a plan of action, he could more or less write his own ticket. He selected his staff and began to put together an invasion force. His staff maintained secrecy and kept up the front that they were preparing an invasion of England. Napoleon put Generals Louis Alexandre Berthier, Jean Lannes, and Joachim Murat on his staff. They would first seize the island of Malta, whose government had been unfriendly to the Revolution and friendly to French royalists.
After taking Malta, they would then seize Egypt itself, on the pretext of restoring full control to the Turks, who at least in theory controlled the country. Since the Crusades, Egypt had really been run by the Mamelukes, warrior slaves from Georgia, Armenia, and other locations. By restoring Turkish control, France would strengthen its ties to Turkey, which would shut the British out of the area and give France an advantage in the trade routes to the Far East. If France could establish a trading colony just across the Mediterranean and do a bit of plundering at the same time, well, that would just be icing on the cake!
Sabotaging the effort
France had perfectly justifiable reasons for its expedition, as long as the Turks understood and agreed. Technically, the French forces would be helping Turkey regain control over its lands in Egypt. Talleyrand, who would increasingly become Napoleon’s nemesis, was supposed to go to Turkey and explain the situation to the Turkish sultan, Selim III, who wasn’t expected to object.
Napoleon, of course, knew nothing of this situation as he prepared to leave. In what can only be seen as an amazing organizational feat, he put together an invasion force of over 35,000 men. There were infantry, cavalry, artillerymen, and other soldiers of war. The flagship, l’Orient, was the finest ship of its kind. He had 13 ships of the line (roughly equivalent to battleships today), 4 frigates, and hundreds of troop transports. It was a major war machine.
And then there were the scholars.
Emulating Alexander
Napoleon had always been fascinated with Alexander the Great and his campaigns. When it was clear that Napoleon was about to follow in his footsteps, the future emperor read everything he could find on the subject. He may or may not have seen himself as the new Alexander, but he certainly put together a campaign that contained many similarities to Alexander’s.
Bringing scholars along
Alexander the Great had been tutored by no less than Aristotle, one of the greatest minds in human history, and when Alexander went on campaign, he took with him many scholars, determined to learn what he could about the new lands he was about to conquer. He was careful to send samples of plants and animals back to Aristotle to help preserve the knowledge gained from the campaign.
In addition to the top scholars, there were hundreds of additional savants, as well as an enormous amount of equipment, including printing presses, scientific equipment, hot air balloons, and several personal libraries of significant size. Napoleon’s library alone numbered some 300 volumes. Remember, these folks were going off to war, so it says a great deal that they were taking all these scientists and their equipment along for the ride.
While he was in Egypt, Napoleon would create the Egyptian Institute — a scholarly association dedicated to the study of all things Egyptian.
Finding the Rosetta stone
The stone is about 3.7 feet tall and 2.3 feet wide and dates to 196 BCE . It contains an inscription in Greek (the language of the rulers and educated classes), in demotic (the common language of Egyptians), and in hieroglyphics (the picture-writing used by the ancient Egyptians in the days of the Pharaohs, mainly in religious texts). Humanity had long forgotten how to read hieroglyphics, so all of the inscriptions on tombs, temples, and papyrus scrolls were virtually meaningless.
The members of the Egyptian Institute immediately went to work making rubbings of the stone for scholars to study. It’s a good thing, too, as a couple years later the British would end up with the stone. Today, it sits in the British Museum in London. The rubbings were taken to France, and in 1822, anthropologist Jean-François Champollion was able to translate the stone: The secrets of the Pharaohs were unleashed forever.
Documenting the journey
Another huge accomplishment of the Egyptian campaign was the output of the artists and engravers working under Vivant Denon’s direction. Denon, named art director of the Egyptian Institute, produced over 200 drawings and supervised countless more created by other artists. They made drawings of everything from ancient temples and tombs to modern-day Cairo. At times, they had mere minutes to record their observations as battles drew closer. At one point in the campaign, Denon and a number of his fellow artists and scholars accompanied General Louis Desaix on a campaign into upper Egypt, where they made it all the way past the first cataracts (waterfalls) to Aswan and beyond, recording the existence of countless temples and other treasures.
When this artistic team returned to France, its members set to work making copper engravings of what they had drawn. Soon it was possible to purchase inexpensive prints in shops all over France, and then the rest of Europe. The expedition set off a virtual frenzy of interest in all things Egyptian. Clothing and furniture styles, decorative arts — all adopted Egyptian motifs, and their popularity continues to this day.
Sailing (and Marching) into History
On May 19, 1798, Napoleon stepped on board his flagship, l’Orient, and set sail, leaving from the port city that had helped start his career, Toulon (see Chapter 4). The voyage was uneventful, with Napoleon spending much of his time reading and engaging in what must have been fascinating discussions with some of the scholars on board.
Gaining Malta
Three weeks after setting sail, Napoleon’s fleet arrived at the island of Malta. That island had long been controlled by the Knights of St. John, a religious order dating to the Middle Ages, but they had become weak and corrupt. When Napoleon’s army set foot on the island, the knights quickly surrendered (not that they had any real choice). Napoleon was generous to them, sending them to France with a nice pension.
In the first Punic War between Rome and Carthage (264–221 BCE ), Malta was one of the spoils of victory gained by the Romans. Though small, it is key to controlling the Mediterranean, and the French were pleased to now control its rather impressive citadel. They were also happy to gain several ships, quite a few military arms and supplies, and a large treasure. It was a pretty good haul for not having to fire a shot!
And all that in a week! Napoleon was a whirlwind of action. Malta was a reflection of Italy and a look into the future, all at the same time.
With Malta properly settled, Napoleon left for Egypt. The trip would take just under two weeks. All the while, Napoleon had to be on the lookout for the British fleet, led in this region by Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British had finally gotten word of the expedition and had sent Nelson to destroy the French fleet. The two fleets came close to each other several times but never made contact. That was certainly good news for the French, who would have been at a decided disadvantage in spite of their good ships; the French navy was generally no match for the Brits.
Reassuring the Egyptian people
Napoleon understood that the people of Egypt might be just a bit suspicious of a French military expedition. He did everything he could to reassure them of his honorable intentions. He prepared an Arabic-language proclamation telling the people of his intention to liberate them from the dreaded Beys (the leaders of the Mamelukes). He also assured them that he would respect their religion, which was Islam. He criticized the Beys, who he said had grabbed all the goodies for themselves, including female slaves, horses, land, and palaces.
Since the French were coming to help them, the proclamation went on to say, the Egyptian people should receive them as liberators and offer their full cooperation. Anyone who cooperated, or at least stayed in their homes and out of the way, would be treated with generosity and respect. Anyone who fought against the French would be destroyed.
In a proclamation to his soldiers, Napoleon told them that they would be striking a fatal blow against the hated British, all the while helping an enslaved people. He compared his army to that of the Roman legions and reminded soldiers that the Romans protected the religious beliefs of people they conquered. His men were ordered to respect Islam, even though it was quite different from their own beliefs (for example, in its treatment of women).
While on that subject, he gave the strictest orders that rape and pillage would not be tolerated, and anyone guilty of rape would be shot. An army of liberation does not take such liberties with the very people it is trying to free.
As a great fan of Alexander, Napoleon must have been excited to turn to securing the most famous of the many cities that carried his name, Alexandria. It was here that Alexander the Great had briefly ruled as Pharaoh of Egypt, and it was here that Ptolemy I brought Alexander’s body (which has subsequently disappeared).
The French forces marched from their beachhead and soon were storming the gates of Alexandria. Despite a spirited defense, helped by a deadly heat for which the French were ill-prepared, the city fell. Napoleon put General Jean-Baptiste Kléber in command of the city.
Marching to Cairo
With Alexandria secure, Napoleon sent his army toward Cairo. He had already sent an advance guard, commanded by General Louis Charles Desaix. It moved both on land and with a small flotilla of ships on the Nile. On July 6, Napoleon left Alexandria with his main army. The march was awful. The heat was unbearable, there was precious little water to be had along the way, the uniforms were heavy and inappropriate for the climate, and morale was understandably dismal. But all that changed when the soldiers reached the village of El Rahmanyeh, where Desaix’s troops were waiting for them. The reunion was no doubt gratifying, but even greater was the discovery of the cool waters of the Nile; long cool baths were the order of the day.
Refreshed, the army turned to the business at hand. Napoleon had an excellent army, but it was quite short on cavalry. Local leaders had promised horses, but those horses had not materialized. The Mameluke commander, Mourad-Bey, had a fearsome collection of 3,000 Mameluke cavalry as part of a total force of perhaps 15,000. The battle was fierce, but the Mameluke cavalry could not break the French squares, so they broke off combat and melted away. Round one to the French.
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Figure 7-2: General Bonaparte points to the Pyramids and exclaims, “Forty centuries of history look down on you!” This is a rare gold snuffbox. |
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The Battle of the Pyramids was also one of Napoleon’s greatest victories. The Mamelukes were fearsome and brave, but they had never had to deal with heavy guns and couldn’t figure out how to break infantry squares. They tried and tried again, but to no avail. The large crowds of civilians who had turned out to witness the slaughter of the French were no doubt disappointed, but Napoleon was elated. In only a couple hours, he defeated the entire enemy army. Much of it lay dead on the field of battle or at the bottom of the Nile, drowned in an effort to escape.
Napoleon was in command of Cairo and most of lower Egypt. As he had in Italy, Napoleon was more than willing to share the glory. He wrote of the bravery of many of his soldiers and officers and put many of them in for promotions. Napoleon reorganized Cairo, both militarily and politically. He was disappointed at the lack of wealth and supplies but began to make arrangements for more material to be sent from Malta and France. These were heady days, and Napoleon could have been forgiven if he saw himself as a new Alexander.
Heady days they were indeed, but fate was about to strike twin blows against Napoleon.
Learning of disaster
The first disaster was brought to Napoleon’s attention by a letter from General Kléber (who was in command of Alexandria). On August 2, 1798, Admiral Nelson caught up to the French fleet, which was anchored at Aboukir Bay, and destroyed it. (For much more on this situation, see Chapter 11.) Any hope of a regular stream of communication and supplies by sea to Malta and France was now over. The British ruled the Mediterranean, and future French resupply would be sporadic at best.
If this wasn’t enough, Napoleon soon learned of Talleyrand’s treachery (or incompetence, take your pick!). Talleyrand had never told the Turkish sultan, Selim III, of France’s intentions, so the sultan was, naturally enough, incensed to discover that his lands had been invaded. In September, the sultan declared war on France. It would only be a matter of time before his army would march to Egypt to drive out the invading French. The Turkish soldiers had a well-deserved reputation as fierce fighters who would give no quarter. Sultan Selim sent two armies against Napoleon. One was sent by sea, but poor sailing conditions meant that it would not arrive for some time. The other was coming on ground through the Holy Land, and Napoleon would have to face this army first.
Before that, however, Napoleon had to deal with an uprising in Cairo. It seems that not all Egyptians fully appreciated the opportunities for improvement afforded by the French presence. The uprising was a bloody affair that lasted two days, October 21 and 22, but it was finally brought under control. This happened largely through the efforts of General Thomas-Alexander Dumas (who was the father of Alexander Dumas, the author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers ). The insurrection was put down, but Napoleon now fully realized he was in a hostile land.
Struggling with Josephine
The campaign in Egypt was not Napoleon’s only source of bad news. As I explain in Chapter 6, when Napoleon was in Italy, he discovered that his new wife, Josephine, felt less than passionate toward her husband. She was, in fact, having a torrid affair with a young officer named Hippolyte Charles. When she finally visited Napoleon in Italy, she even brought her lover along as an aide, but Napoleon chose to ignore the signs and concentrate on his own love for her — and his victories in the field.
Facing reality
Napoleon was kept rather busy in Egypt, but his thoughts were seldom far from Josephine. Whatever suspicions he had, he kept them to himself and, unlike many of his officers, he did not take a local mistress. When his friend General Andoche Junot showed Napoleon a letter concerning Josephine’s relationship with Captain Charles, he could no longer ignore reality. Josephine and Charles had traveled together and were seen together all over Paris. When Napoleon asked other friends about this, they grimly confirmed what they had been fearful of telling him before: Josephine was having an affair.
If that were not enough, Josephine was known for her war profiteering, as she was involved in the procurement of military supplies. No doubt she felt she needed the money, as her spending had become prolific. All of Paris was aware of the situation, which could not do an ambitious general like Napoleon any good at all.
Napoleon was outraged and depressed over the news. He wrote his brother, Joseph, “I have great private unhappiness; the veil has at last quite fallen from my eyes.” Napoleon’s unhappiness was no doubt increased when this letter was intercepted by the British and published in the papers! Napoleon soon became a laughingstock in Paris.
Finding a new Cleopatra
Napoleon was a man of action, and he quickly resolved to take two steps. One would have to wait: He planned to divorce Josephine when he returned to Paris. But as long as he was in Egypt, he may as well do what so many of his officers had been doing: namely, take a mistress. He had little use for local women, but fortunately for him, especially given his rank as commanding general, another option was available.
Pauline Fourès was a very attractive 29-year-old leggy blond who had been smuggled into Egypt as a soldier by her husband, Lieutenant Jean-Noël Fourès. They were living openly but were not completely happy with each other. Napoleon soon fell for her, and she was more than happy to become his mistress. Napoleon sent her husband on assignment to France, and he and Pauline took up “open and notorious” companionship. All seemed well, but when the British captured her husband and, rather mischievously, returned him to Egypt, things got a bit dicey.
After some no doubt lengthy discussions, the young couple obtained a divorce. Napoleon and Pauline, whom both he and his soldiers called his “Cleopatra,” were then seen together everywhere. Napoleon undoubtedly hoped word would get back to Paris, and it did. The news may not have made Josephine happy, but it no doubt increased his standing with the public.
When Napoleon left Egypt, Pauline became the mistress to General Kléber, whom Napoleon left in command. Pauline later returned to Paris where she remarried and lived quietly.
Campaigning in the Holy Land
After taking Cairo, Napoleon turned his full attention to the Turkish threat to the north. Napoleon was determined to deal with the Turkish army before it reached Egypt. The Turks were known for their violence toward all in their path, including civilians, women, and children. To protect the people he claimed to be there to protect, Napoleon had to move into Syria, the name for the Holy Land at the time. Napoleon marched into the Sinai Desert with an army of about 14,000 men. The march through the desert was awful, but when the soldiers arrived in Gaza, they found ample food and water. Some images, such as the medallion in Figure 7-3, suggest that Napoleon rode a camel or a camel-drawn chariot, but he actually went on horseback.
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Figure 7-3: This medallion from 1799 shows an unlikely image of Napoleon riding a chariot drawn by two camels. |
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When the army arrived at the fortress of El Arish in Gaza, it suffered an unexpected delay. Though it easily captured the town and then, with a night attack, the armed camp outside the fortress, the fortress itself continued to hold out. When the fortress eventually capitulated, Napoleon was faced with another problem. He had taken as prisoner some 2,000 Turks, but he could not spare the forces to either send them to Cairo or imprison them at El Arish. Nor could he take them with him, as his food supplies were dangerously low.
Confronting a terrible dilemma
Napoleon and his army continued to march up the coast to Jaffa, a city that today is a suburb of Tel Aviv in Israel. This city had an important port and a large number of supplies, so its capture was essential. On March 7, 1799, Napoleon’s forces successfully took the city. In so doing, he captured 4,000 prisoners. Much to his surprise, Napoleon discovered that many of them were the very prisoners he had released on parole in Gaza.
This discovery put Napoleon in a real quandary. If he released the prisoners, they would eventually fight again and kill more of his soldiers. If he kept them prisoner, they would either starve or cause his soldiers to starve, as there was already a serious shortage of food. There was no good choice. But according to the rules of war followed by Europe at the time, if an army continues to fight after the walls are breached, the soldiers can be executed. (This is not unlike the rule that allows a retreating army to be fair game, while soldiers who surrender must be spared.) Moreover, the commandant had beheaded Napoleon’s emissary and put his head on a pike. This action enraged Napoleon and his soldiers.
Napoleon held war councils, consulted his generals, and no doubt looked into his conscience. In the end, his concern for the welfare of his men won out, and he ordered the prisoners executed. It was an awful decision to have to make, and some historians have seized on it to question his character, but it is hard to imagine that Napoleon could have done anything else. (I would not have wanted to be the father of a son killed by one of those combatants had they been released and allowed to fight again.)
The French soldiers remembered well the fate of their emissary and the fact that many of their comrades had died at the hands of paroled soldiers, and they took out their fury on the population of Jaffa. Throughout the night, they raped and pillaged their way through the city, and only in the morning could Napoleon and his officers restore order.
Reaching the end of the line
Jaffa secured, Napoleon marched up the coast to the town of Acre, also known as Acco or Akko. There he met Turkish forces led by Djezzar Pasha, whose nickname “the butcher” probably tells us all we need to know. He had been joined, thanks to Napoleon’s delay at El Arish, by Sir Sydney Smith, who commanded some 800 British sailors.
Napoleon tried to take the city by bombardment, by frontal assault, and by a combination of the two. His attacks met only limited success and in every case were beat back. The siege lasted six weeks. During that time, Napoleon sent Generals Junot, Kléber, and Murat to defeat elements of the Turkish and Mameluke armies. They had great initial success, but Kléber got into a tricky situation near Mount Tabor, not far from Nazareth. Kléber played defense for the better part of a day, but when Napoleon suddenly arrived with a division of men, the rout was on.
The Battle of Mount Tabor and the skirmishes that led to it made the trip into the Holy Land worthwhile, as they finished the Mamelukes as a fighting force and kept the Turks from thinking of moving toward Cairo.
The success at Mount Tabor notwithstanding, it soon became clear that Napoleon’s siege of Acre was going nowhere. Napoleon had observation balloons with him but failed to use them (see Chapter 25). Had he done so, he would have learned of the exact nature of the defenses, including a double-wall construction that proved quite effective. But the delays earlier in the campaign that allowed the British to reinforce Acre caused his ultimate failure in the siege.
Some historians describe this campaign in the Holy Land as a total failure, but it did accomplish its most fundamental goal, which was to protect Cairo from the oncoming Turks. Still, the march back was no fun, despite Napoleon’s efforts to put the best possible face on it. Napoleon had arranged for the worst sick to be taken care of along the way — there is no truth to a rumor that he had some of them poisoned — and for Cairo to give a great welcome to the returning army. Cairo went all out, holding an orgy of celebration that lasted for several days.
Defending against the Turks
Napoleon had little time to rest. The second Turkish army, the one sent by sea, landed near Alexandria at Aboukir on July 11, 1799. Napoleon was ready for them. The Turks were caught between Napoleon’s forces and the sea. Nine thousand Turks had been landed by 60 transports supported by Sir Sydney Smith, and they faced only 8,000 French. Even so, the contest wasn’t even close. The Turks established a beachhead and gained control of a small fortress called Fort Aboukir. The fort was of little use, and most of their forces were stretched out over at least half a mile in relatively open ground.
Napoleon sent General Murat’s cavalry crashing into them, supported by a massive artillery barrage and General Lanne’s infantry. As Napoleon planned, the beachhead collapsed, and the Turks were literally pushed into the sea. Of the 9,000 Turks that began the engagement, 7,000 were either shot or drowned, and the rest were captured. It was a decisive victory that cost the French only around 100 killed and several hundred wounded, including the dashing Murat, who received a slight pistol wound in the cheek.
In short, Napoleon achieved at the very least success in his short-term military goals. And when added to the incredible accomplishment of his savants, who are generally credited with the development of modern Egyptology, the campaign can hardly be seen as a disaster.
Suffering European Setbacks
Whatever success Napoleon did or did not have in Egypt, while he was there it soon became clear that France was in trouble at home. England, Austria, and Russia had joined in the Second Coalition against France, and France had taken the field against Austria in Germany. Unfortunately, the Archduke Charles, brother to Emperor Francis of Austria, defeated General Jean Baptiste Jourdan, who was forced to retreat back across the Rhine River.
The situation in Italy was even worse, at least from Napoleon’s point of view. The Austrians and the Russians had invaded northern Italy and pushed the French back to Genoa. The Cisalpine Republic, Napoleon’s pride and joy, was retaken and its government dissolved. The situation seemed grim and in need of strong leadership.
Preparing to leave
Napoleon was determined to be that strong leader. After all, he had defeated the Austrians in Italy and was perhaps the only general capable of doing so again. Just ask him! There was, however, the little matter that he was under orders to command the French forces in Egypt, and those orders had not been changed. For Napoleon to leave for France without proper orders would be to desert his army. It was a risky move, but Napoleon was nothing if not a risk-taker.
After Napoleon’s victory against the Turks at Aboukir, he returned to Cairo and outwardly continued his incredible pace of work to study and modernize Egypt. But he also informed a number of his closest associates, including his secretary Bourrienne; Generals Murat, Lannes, Marmont, Antoine-François Andréossy, and Berthier; and his friends and scholars Monge and Berthollet that they would soon be leaving Cairo.
Heading back to France
The biggest concern, of course, was the fact that the British fleet made departure from Egypt rather risky business. But when Napoleon was told that the Brits had sailed away, he acted quickly. He dashed off letters to a number of people, including General Kléber (whom he left in charge); said goodbye to his Cleopatra, Pauline Fourès; and collected his belongings. On August 22, 1799, Napoleon and his entourage boarded two frigates and sailed away.
Three weeks later, they reached Corsica where, due to wind conditions, they remained for six days. This was quite a time for Napoleon, who had become a local hero. Large crowds formed wherever he went, and he often seemed under siege by adoring fans in his own home. (If you visit his home, you can see the trap door that he sometimes used to sneak out of the house.)
Napoleon could not have known it at the time, but when he left Corsica he did so for the last time, never again to return. On October 9, 1799, he and his followers arrived at Fréjus, where they were again welcomed as heroes. Napoleon had already added the conquest of Egypt to his growing legend, and the hero had returned to save France. A week later, he was in Paris. He was about to take the world by storm.