British navy misses
On June 18-19, the French fleet left Malta and moved to the shores of North Africa. Life was in full swing on board the flagship: the commander of the expedition, as usual, worked from early morning. For lunch, scientists, researchers, officers gathered in his cabin. After lunch there were lively debates and discussions. Themes were almost always proposed by Napoleon: these were questions of religion, political structure, the structure of the planet, etc. On June 30, the shores of Africa appeared. On July 2, at Marabou, near Alexandria, the army was hastily, but in perfect order, was landed. Immediately the troops set out and a few hours later were at Alexandria. The French entered the city. The French fleet under the command of Admiral Bruyce d'Egalier remained near Alexandria, having received the command of the commander-in-chief to find a passage deep enough for the ships of the line to the harbor of the city, where they would be safe from a possible attack by the British fleet.
The most dangerous part of the hike is the long way across the sea, left behind. For more than forty days the French armada was at sea, it passed from west to east and from north to south, but never met the British. On land, Napoleon and his soldiers were not afraid of anything, they felt like an army of victors. Where were the British? Was the "insidious Albin" deceived by the rather simple disinformation used by the French government and its agents?
In fact, the French fleet was saved by a chain of accidents. Napoleon was indeed born under a lucky star. Nelson was sent a strong reinforcement of 11 ships of the line (under his command was a detachment of 3 ships of the line, 2 frigates and 1 corvette) and the order of Admiral Jervis to follow the French everywhere in the Mediterranean and even in the Black Sea.
On May 17, Nelson was already near Toulon and learned about the composition of the French fleet. However, on the day the French fleet left, a violent storm broke out, Nelson's ships, including the flagship, were badly battered, which forced the admiral to withdraw to Sardinia. The British frigates, having lost sight of the flagship, deciding that heavy damage had forced him to seek refuge in some English port, stopped reconnaissance and went in search of him. The French flotilla left on May 19 and, with a favorable wind, approached Corsica, where 2 semi-brigades of General Vaubois were put on ships.
Nelson repaired the damage for several days and on May 31 approached Toulon, where he learned about the departure of the French expedition. But having lost the frigates, the British command could not collect any information even about the direction where the enemy had gone. In addition, there was a calm, Nelson lost a few more days. On June 5, Nelson's detachment found a reconnaissance brig sent ahead by Captain Trowbridge, who was leading a squadron of ships of the line, and on June 11, the admiral was already at the head of a strong fleet of 14 ships of the line. Hoping to find the enemy fleet, Nelson drew up a plan of attack: two 2 divisions of 5 ships of the line were to attack the forces of the French Admiral Bruyce (13 ships of the line, 6 frigates), and the 3rd division of 4 ships, under the command of Trowbridge, was to destroy transports.
Nelson, not knowing the direction of the movement of the French fleet, searched the Italian coast. He visited the island of Elba, on June 17 he approached Naples, where the English envoy Hamilton suggested that Napoleon could go to Malta. On June 20, the British fleet passed the Strait of Messina, where Nelson learned of Napoleon's capture of Malta. On June 21, Nelson was only 22 miles from the French fleet, but did not know about it and walked southwest. Napoleon continued to drive. On June 22, from a passing commercial vessel, Nelson learned that the enemy had already left Malta and was heading east. This confirmed the admiral in the idea that the enemy was going to Egypt. Nelson rushed in pursuit, wanting to overtake and destroy the hated enemy.
The fate of the expedition to Egypt hung in the balance, but happiness again came to the rescue of the French commander. Nelson had only warships and raced across the sea at such a speed that he overtook the much slower French armada north of Crete. In addition, Nelson did not have frigates, and he could not conduct a full-fledged reconnaissance. On June 24, Nelson overtook the French fleet and on June 28 approached Alexandria, but the raid was empty, no one here knew about the French and did not expect their appearance. Nelson believed that the French, while he was off the coast of Africa, were storming Sicily, entrusted to his protection, or headed for Constantinople. The British squadron again rushed on the road, and the French landed troops near Alexandria on July 2. The French could not avoid the battle at sea, but only postpone its beginning. It was clear that the British would return soon.
Napoleon in Egypt
Egypt at that time was de jure the possession of the Ottoman sultans, but in fact, they were melted by the military caste-class of Mamluks, Mameluks (Arabic - "white slaves, slaves"). These were Turkic and Caucasian warriors of origin, who formed the guard of the last Egyptian rulers from the Ayyubid dynasty (1171-1250). The number of this cavalry guard at different times ranged from 9 to 24 thousand horsemen. In 1250, the Mamluks overthrew the last Ayyubid sultan, Turan Shah, and seized power in the country. The Mamluks controlled the best lands, the main government offices, and all profitable businesses. The Mamluk beys paid some tribute to the Ottoman sultan, recognized his supremacy, but practically did not depend on Constantinople. The Arabs, the main population of Egypt, were engaged in trade (among them were large merchants associated with international trade), crafts, agriculture, fishing, servicing caravans, etc. The most oppressed and lowest social group were the Copts-Christians, the remnants of the pre-Arab population of the region.
Bonaparte, after a minor skirmish, occupied Alexandria, this vast and then rather wealthy city. Here he pretended that he was not fighting the Ottomans, on the contrary, he had deep peace and friendship with Turkey, and the French came to free the local population from oppression by the Mamluks. Bonaparte already on July 2 addressed the Egyptian people with an appeal. In it, he said that the beys who rule over Egypt are insulting the French nation and subjecting it to merchants and the hour of revenge has come. He promised to punish the "usurpers" and said that he respects God, his prophets and the Koran. The French commander urged the Egyptians to trust the French, to unite with them in order to throw off the yoke of the Mamluks and create a new, more just order.
Napoleon's early actions showed how carefully he thought out the military and political details of the Egyptian operation. Many future actions of Napoleon and his companions in Egypt were also marked by this rationality and efficiency. But Napoleon, preparing for a campaign in Egypt, seriously miscalculated in the field of psychology of the local population. In Egypt, like Italy, he hoped to find masses of a disadvantaged, oppressed and disaffected population who would become his social basis for conquering and retaining the region. However, Napoleon miscalculated. The slaughtered and impoverished population was present, but it was at such a low stage of development that it did not matter who dominated the country - Mamelukes, Ottomans or Europeans. The question was in the military power of the new conquerors and the ability to hold onto the captured territory. All the calls to fight the feudal lords-beys simply did not reach the consciousness of the population, the fellahi were not yet able to perceive them.
As a result, Napoleon ended up in Egypt without social support, in the end, this ruined all the plans of the French commander. His strategic plans include 35 thousand. the French army was supposed to become the nucleus, the vanguard of the great liberation army, into which the inhabitants of Egypt, Syria, Persia, India, and the Balkans would join. The great march to the East was supposed to lead to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the influence of the British in the region. In Egypt, the population was indifferent to his calls. The reforms of the antifeudal order did not give him the support of the local population. The narrow military nature of the operation could not lead to the implementation of the grandiose plans for the transformation of the East conceived by Napoleon. Napoleon's army could defeat the enemy and capture significant territories, but the problem was in keeping the conquered. The French were removed from their bases and under the dominance of the British fleet at sea, sooner or later they were doomed to defeat.
Antoine-Jean Gros. "Battle of the Pyramids" (1810).
To Cairo
Bonaparte did not linger in Alexandria; a strong 10,000 men were left in the city. garrison under the command of Kleber. On the night of July 4, the French vanguard (4,600 divisions of Deset) set out in the direction of Cairo. Of the two roads: through the Rosetta and further up the Nile River and through the Damangur (Damakur) desert, which connected at Romany, the French commander-in-chief chose the last, shorter route. Behind the vanguard were the divisions of Bon, Rainier and Mainu. The latter took command over the Rosetta district, in Rosetta itself was left 1-thousand. garrison. At the same time, the division of General Dugas (formerly Kleber) went through Aboukir to Rosetta, so that it had to follow from there to Romagna, accompanied by a flotilla of light ships that carried ammunition and provisions along the Nile. On July 9, Bonaparte himself departed from Alexandria with the headquarters. Before that, he ordered Admiral Brues, who went to Abukir, not to linger there, and move to Corfu or enter the port of Alexandria.
The crossing of the desert was very difficult. The soldiers suffered from the scorching rays of the African sun, the difficulties of crossing the hot desert sands, and lack of water. Local residents, who were informed that they wanted to turn the infidels into slaves, left their squalid villages. Wells were often damaged. The scourge of the army was dysentery. The Mamelukes occasionally harassed the French army with their raids. Napoleon was in a hurry, he knew that the enemy had to be defeated before the flood of the Nile, since during a flood the whole area in the Cairo region would be a swamp, which would extremely complicate the task of destroying the main forces of the enemy. The commander wanted to break the enemy's resistance in one general battle.
On July 9, the French reached Damakura and the next day set out for Romany. On July 13, the French defeated the Mamluks near the village of Shebreis. Here, the French commanders used formation in a square against the brave enemy cavalry - each division lined up in a square, on the flanks of which there was artillery, and the horsemen and carts inside. The Mamluks retreated to Cairo.
Battle of the pyramids
When the minarets of Cairo were already visible in the distance, in front of the French 20-thous. the army appeared the Mameluke cavalry. On July 20, 1798, the French army reached the village of Vardan, here the commander gave the troops a two-day rest. The soldiers needed at least a little refreshment and put themselves in order. At the end of the second day, intelligence reported that the Mamluk army under the command of Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey was preparing for battle at a camp near the village of Imbaba. Napoleon began to prepare the army for the general battle. French troops, having made a 12-hour march, saw the pyramids.
The Turkish-Egyptian army of Murad and Ibrahim occupied a position that adjoined the Nile with the right wing, and with the left - to the pyramids. On the right flank, a fortified position was occupied by janissaries and infantry militias with 40 cannons; in the center were the best forces of Egypt - the cavalry corps of the Mamelukes, noble Arabs, on the left flank - the Arab Bedouins. Part of the Turkish-Egyptian army under the command of Ibrahim was located on the east bank of the Nile. The river itself was closed by about 300 ships. The inhabitants of Cairo also gathered to watch the battle. The exact size of the Turkish-Egyptian army is unknown. Kirheisen reports 6,000 Mamelukes and 15,000 Egyptian infantry. Napoleon in his memoirs speaks of 50 thousand hordes of Turks, Arabs, Mamelukes. A figure of 60 thousand people is also reported, including 10 thousand Mameluke horsemen and 20-24 thousand janissaries. In addition, it is obvious that only part of the Turkish-Egyptian army participated in the battle. Apparently, the size of Murad's army was approximately equal to the French, or slightly exceeded it. A significant part of the Egyptian army did not participate in the battle at all.
Before the battle, Napoleon addressed the soldiers with a speech in which he uttered his famous phrase: "Soldiers, forty centuries of history are looking at you!" Apparently, the hope for an early rest in Cairo played an important role in the high morale of the soldiers. The army was divided into 5 squares. Napoleon's headquarters conducted reconnaissance and quickly found out the weaknesses of the enemy: the main camp of the Mamelukes at Imbaba (Embaheh) was poorly fortified, the artillery was stationary, the enemy infantry could not support the cavalry, so Napoleon did not attach much importance to the enemy infantry. The first thing to do was to crush the Mameluke cavalry in the center.
At about 15:30, Murad Bey launched a massive cavalry attack. The forward divisions of Rainier and Deze were surrounded by masses of enemy cavalry, led by Murad Bey himself. Mamelukov began to mow down the rifle and artillery fire. The tenacious French infantry did not panic and did not flinch in the face of the fierce enemy cavalry. Those individual horsemen who were able to break through to the square itself died under the blows of bayonets. One detachment of Mamelukes, having suffered huge losses, was able to break through Deze's defenses and burst into square, but he was quickly surrounded and killed. For some time the Mamelukes circled around the inaccessible square, but then, unable to withstand the destructive fire, retreated. Murad with part of the detachment retreated to the pyramids of Giza, the other Mamelukes went to the fortified camp.
At the same time, the divisions of Bona, Dugua and Rampon repelled the attack of the enemy cavalry from the camp from Imbaba. The cavalry retreated to the Nile, in the waters of which many found their death. Then the enemy camp was captured. The Egyptian infantry from the camp at Imbaba, realizing that the battle was lost, abandoned the camp and began to use improvised means and swim to the other bank of the Nile. Murad's attempts to break through to the camp were repelled. The Bedouins, standing on the left flank and practically not participating in the battle, disappeared into the desert. Towards nightfall, Murad also retreated, ordering the ships to be burned on the Nile.
It was a complete victory. The Turkish-Egyptian army, according to Napoleon, lost up to 10 thousand people (many of them drowned trying to escape). The losses of the French army were insignificant - 29 soldiers were killed, 260 were wounded. The Muslim clergy, after the victory of Napoleon, surrendered Cairo without a fight. On July 24, 1798, Napoleon entered the Egyptian capital. Murad Bey from 3 thous. a detachment retreated to Upper Egypt, where he continued to fight the French. Ibrahim with a thousand horsemen retreated to Syria.
