What did Napoleon look for in Egypt? To answer this question, you need to know what the situation was in the newly emerged French Republic at the end of the 18th century. She managed to defend her independence and go on the offensive. The main enemy of the French were the British, who were difficult to get on their island.
Therefore, it was decided to approach them by violating their trade and the security of the colonies. In addition, it was necessary to expand the French colonial possessions, which for the most part were lost. Bonaparte also sought to strengthen his influence, while the Directory wanted to send away the too-popular general. Therefore, Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt was organized. We will briefly talk about him in our article.
Event preparation
The preparation and organization of the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon of 1798-1799 was carried out in an atmosphere of strict secrecy. No information should have come to the enemy about why the French were collecting the fleet at points such as Toulon, Genoa, Civitt-Vecchia, and where he would go.
The history of the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte brought us the following figures:
- The total number of French troops was approximately 50 thousand people.
- The army included: infantry - 30 thousand, cavalry - 2.7 thousand, gunners - 1.6 thousand, conductors - 500.
- About 500 sailing ships were concentrated in the ports.
- The flagship Orient had 120 guns.
- 1200 horses were taken, taking into account the replenishment of their number on the spot.
In addition, the army consisted of a group of scientists - mathematicians, geographers, historians and writers.
Departure
The story of Napoleon in Egypt began with his departure from Toulon in May 1798. Naturally, the English side knew this, but she did not know exactly where such a significant fleet of France was heading.
Two months after the squadron entered the Mediterranean Sea, the French launched a landing in Ireland, which was a distracting maneuver. At the same time, rumors were circulating that the expedition led by Bonaparte would soon turn west through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Chase
Horatio Nelson, vice admiral, commander of the English fleet, entered the Strait of Gibraltar at the very beginning of May. He intended to control all the movements of the French. However, a storm broke severely damaged the English ships, and when their repairs came to an end, the French had already caught a trace.
Nelson had to organize a chase. By the end of May, he received information that a week before the French had seized Malta, and they went further east.
Nelson hurried to Egypt. Due to the fact that the British ships were faster than the French, the first arrived there earlier. The English vice admiral thought that his chosen direction was wrong, and set off from Alexandria towards Turkey. Thus he missed Napoleon for just one day.
Landing in Abukir
The first point of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt was the city of Abukir. It is located a few kilometers east of Alexandria, here on July 1, the French army began its landing. Hungry and tired soldiers marched on Alexandria. By the night of the next day the city was taken, after which the French proceeded south along the Nile, in the direction of Cairo.
At that time, the population of Egypt had the following composition:
- The dependent peasants are fellahs.
- Nomad Bedouins.
- The predominant layer is the Mameluke warriors.
Politically, Egypt was dependent on Turkey, however, the Sultan did not practice interference in the internal affairs of this territory. But the French invasion was an impetus for him to organize an anti-French coalition.
Call to the Fellahs
Organizing Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, the French believed that they could secure the support of the peasant population, promising them equal rights and freedom. Bonaparte addressed the fellahs with an appeal containing flowery phrases about human rights, equality and fraternity. But these half-starved and illiterate people remained completely indifferent. Their main concern was to feed the family.
This situation has become decisive in the entire course of Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign. When it was conceived by the French, it seemed to them that the peoples of the East would rise towards the army carrying liberation from British coercion and would act according to the given scenario. However, in a different civilization, with different values, they had to plunge into a social vacuum.
Mamelukes
The main component of Egyptian society - the Mamelukes - boldly opposed uninvited guests. Being skilled warriors and dashing riders, they boasted that they would chop them into pieces, like pumpkins.
Not far from Cairo, in the Valley of the Pyramids, on July 21 a meeting of two armies took place. The Mameluke army, consisting of several thousand well-armed soldiers, was led by Murad Bey. At their disposal were carbines, pistols, sabers, knives and axes. Quickly erected fortifications with infantry consisting of fellahs behind them were located in their rear.
The battle for the pyramids
At that moment, Napoleon’s army was a well-coordinated military machine, in which each soldier was a single whole with it. However, the Mamelukes were confident in their superiority and did not expect that the opposing side could withstand their rapid onslaught.
Before the battle, Bonaparte addressed his soldiers with a fiery speech, saying that they had been watched from the top of the pyramids for forty centuries of history.
In response to the French attack, the Mamelukes moved into the ranks of closed bayonets in scattered groups. Fighting forward, the French rounded the Mamelukes from the flanks and defeated them, and some were pushed to the banks of the Nile. Many of the Mamelukes drowned in its waters.
Losses on both sides were unequal. About 50 Frenchmen and about 2 thousand Mamelukes died in the battle. Napoleon won a complete victory. The battle for the pyramids in Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign was an example of the superiority of the regular army of the late 18th century over, in fact, the medieval army.
The next day, the French were already in Cairo. Having settled there, they were struck by the abundance of jewelry and unsanitary conditions. Bonaparte began to establish control of Egypt in a European manner. He was still hoping to find support in the local environment.
The defeat of the French
Meanwhile, on August 1, the fleet of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, not finding an opponent on the Turkish coast, sailed to the mouth of the Nile. In the Gulf of Abukir they noticed French ships. There were much fewer than English, and their leader took an extraordinary decision. He wedged part of his ships between the French on the one hand and the coast on the other. The recent winners of the Mamelukes were "between two fires."
But also the British also fired from the coast, and the fire of their artillery was stronger. The French flagship "Orient" was blown up, flying up into the air. On August 2, the French fleet ceased to exist, its vast majority was either captured or destroyed. Two ships, due to the hopelessness of the situation, were flooded by their own. Only four ships were saved from enemy fire.
The defeat at Abukir nullified all previous successes of Bonaparte on land. He found out about this military disaster only two weeks later. As it turned out, his organizational talent did not help in this country, where speed and efficiency were not at the forefront. Napoleon realized that because of the loss of communication with France, he was doomed to death.
Skirmishes with Mamelukes
Vice-Admiral Nelson, after repairing his ships, left Egypt, leaving for Naples. He left his rival without means of transportation along the sea route.
Part of the French army moved to the headwaters of the Nile River, while chasing the remains of the Mamelukes, led by Murad Bey. The group of pursuers included scientists who decided not to miss the chance and do research on the secrets of the East.
The value of scientists, as well as horse-drawn transport - donkeys, shows the following fact. At that moment, when the Mameluke detachments launched another attack, a team of scientists and donkeys followed in the middle. Then the soldiers surrounded them to protect, and only after that they entered the fray. Although the French most often won in skirmishes, this could not change their hopeless situation.
Desperate step
Seeking a way out of the mousetrap, Bonaparte in February 1799 decided to go to Syria through the desert. Inland, the French moved, entering the battle with an elusive enemy on the way and capturing fortresses. In early March, Jaffa was conquered, which until then had stubbornly resisted.
The floor of her garrison was killed during the assault, and the second half was captured or destroyed after it. Such cruelty was explained by the fact that among the prisoners there were people whom the French had earlier released during the capture of another fortress.
Then followed the siege of Acre, which lasted two months and ended with nothing. At the head of her defense were British officers and representatives of the French royalists. Meanwhile, losses among the command and rank and file of the French were increasing. One of the terrible episodes of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt was the plague epidemic.
Depleted by this scourge, as well as battles, heat, water shortages, the French army was forced to return to Egypt. There they were already waiting for the Turks, who had landed near Abukir. At the end of July 1799, another battle took place there, on land. Then Napoleon Bonaparte still managed to improve his reputation as a commander. However, by and large, this victory did not give him anything, since the army of the Turks was already moving from Syria.
To the mercy of fate
Plans to create a European-style state were abandoned. Now Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt interested him more in how he could increase his popularity in France. That is, he was interested in the situation at home. When Bonaparte was leaving for the East, the position of the Directory was very unstable and not fully defined. Judging by the echoes of the events that reached him from Europe, her days were numbered.
Historians do not fully understand the logic of the commander-in-chief, who rejected the sense of duty and the responsibility entrusted to him for the army, which at the end of August 1799 threw him to the mercy of fate. Napoleon left Egypt on the surviving ship, leaving General Kleber, his deputy, an order for the transfer of authority. However, the order was received only when the escaped general was already at sea.
The consequences of the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon
After the flight of Commander-in-Chief Kleber, he still fought for several months. In the autumn of 1801 he was killed, and the French army in Egypt surrendered to the grace of the Anglo-Turkish troops.
Logically, the career of a general who compromised himself with such an unseemly act should inevitably end. The government was to be severely punished, and the society was subjected to no less severe moral condemnation.
Nevertheless, everything happened quite the opposite. The French people met the fugitive commander with glee, as the conqueror of the East. And the stealing Directory did not give him the slightest reproach. A month after the fugitive's landing in France, a coup d'état took place, he turned into a dictator, becoming the first consul.
However, the strategic goal of the Egyptian expedition of Napoleon, which was mentioned above, was not achieved. The only achievement of this grandiose adventure was the scientific works on the culture of Egypt. This led to a surge of interest in this issue. As a result of a trip to France, a large number of historical monuments were taken out. In 1798, the Institute of Egypt was opened.
In addition, Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt was an important milestone in the relations between the European and Arab-Ottoman world in modern times. It was with him that the open colonial confrontation of European countries in the Middle East and North Africa began.