The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte

B >> Bourrienne, Constant, and Stewarton >> The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte


On the first night a mistake occurred which might have proved fatal.
We were advancing in the dark, under feeble escort, almost sleeping on
our horses, when suddenly we were assailed by two successive discharges
of musketry. We aroused ourselves and reconnoitred, and to our great
satisfaction discovered that the only mischief was a alight wound
received by one of our guides. Our assailants were the division of
General Desaix, who, forming the advanced guard of the army, mistook us
for a party of the enemy, and fired upon us. It was speedily ascertained
that the little advanced guard of the headquarters had not heard the "Qui
vive?" of Desaix's advanced posts.

On reaching Damanhour our headquarters were established at the residence
of a sheik. The house had been new whitened, and looked well enough
outside, but the interior was inconceivably wretched. Every domestic
utensil was broken, and the only seats were a few dirty tattered mats.
Bonaparte knew that the sheik was rich, and having somewhat won his
confidence, he asked him, through the medium of the interpreter, why,
being in easy circumstances, he thus deprived himself of all comfort.
"Some years ago," replied the sheik, "I repaired and furnished my house.
When this became known at Cairo a demand was made upon me for money,
because it was said my expenses proved me to be rich. I refused to pay
the money, and in consequence I was ill-treated, and at length forced to
pay it. From that time I have allowed myself only the bare necessaries
of life, and I shall buy no furniture for my house." The old man was
lame in consequence of the treatment he had suffered. Woe to him who in
this country is suspected of having a competency--a hundred spies are
always ready to denounce him. The appearance of poverty is the only
security against the rapine of power and the cupidity of barbarism.

A little troop of Arabs on horseback assailed our headquarters.
Bonaparte, who was at the window of the sheik's house, indignant at this
insolence, turned to one of his aides de camp, who happened to be on
duty, and said, "Croisier, take a few guides and drive those fellows
away!" In an instant Croisier was in the plain with fifteen guides. A
little skirmish ensued, and we looked on from the window. In the
movement and in the attack of Croisier and his party there was a sort of
hesitation which the General-in-Chief could not comprehend. "Forward,
I say! Charge!" he exclaimed from the window, as if he could have been
heard. Our horsemen seemed to fall back as the Arabs returned to the
attack; and after a little contest, maintained with tolerable spirit, the
Arabs retired without loss, and without being molested in their retreat.
Bonaparte could no longer repress his rage; and when Croisier returned he
experienced such a harsh reception that the poor fellow withdrew deeply
mortified and distressed. Bonaparte desired me to follow him and say
something to console him: but all was in vain. "I cannot survive this,"
he said. "I will sacrifice my life on the first occasion that offers
itself. I will not live dishonoured." The word coward had escaped the
General's lips. Poor Croisier died at Saint Jean d'Acre.

On the 10th of July our headquarters were established at Rahmahanie'h,
where they remained during the 11th and 12th. At this place commences
the canal which was cut by Alexander to convey water to his new city; and
to facilitate commercial intercourse between Europe and the East.

The flotilla, commanded by the brave chief of division Perree, had just
arrived from Rosette. Perree was on board the xebec 'Cerf'.

--[Bonaparte had great confidence in him. He had commanded, under
the General's orders, the naval forces in the Adriatic in 1797.--
Bourrienne]--

Bonaparte placed on board the Cerf and the other vessels of the flotilla
those individuals who, not being military, could not be serviceable in
engagements, and whose horses served to mount a few of the troops.

On the night of the 14th of July the General-in-Chief directed his march
towards the south, along the left bank of the Nile. The flotilla sailed
up the river parallel with the left wing of the army. But the force of
the wind, which at this season blows regularly from the Mediterranean
into the valley of the file, carried the flotilla far in advance of the
army, and frustrated the plan of their mutually defending and supporting
each other. The flotilla thus unprotected fell in with seven Turkish
gunboats coming from Cairo, and was exposed simultaneously to their fire
and to that of the Mamelukes, fellahs, and Arabs who lined both banks of
the river. They had small guns mounted on camels.

Perree cast anchor, and an engagement commenced at nine o'clock on the
14th of July, and continued till half past twelve.

At the same time the General-in-Chief met and attacked a corps of about
4000 Mamelukes. His object, as he afterwards said, was to turn the corps
by the left of the village of Chebreisse, and to drive it upon the Nile.

About eleven in the morning Perree told me that the Turks were doing us
more harm than we were doing them; that our ammunition would soon be
exhausted; that the army was far inland, and that if it did not make a
move to the left there would be no hope for us. Several vessels had
already been boarded and taken by the Turks, who massacred the crews
before our eyes, and with barbarous ferocity showed us the heads of the
slaughtered men.

Perree, at considerable risk, despatched several persons to inform the
General-in-Chief of the desperate situation of the flotilla. The
cannonade which Bonaparte had heard since the morning, and the explosion
of a Turkish gunboat, which was blown up by the artillery of the xebec,
led him to fear that our situation was really perilous. He therefore
made a movement to the left, in the direction of the Nile and Chebreisse,
beat the Mamelukes, and forced them to retire on Cairo. At sight of the
French troops the commander of the Turkish flotilla weighed anchor and
sailed up the Nile. The two banks of the river were evacuated, and the
flotilla escaped the destruction which a short time before had appeared
inevitable. Some writers have alleged that the Turkish flotilla was
destroyed in this engagement. The truth is, the Turks did us
considerable injury, while on their part they suffered but little. We
had twenty men killed and several wounded. Upwards of 1500 cannon-shots
were fired during the action.

General Berthier, in his narrative of the Egyptian expedition, enumerates
the individuals who, though not in the military service, assisted Perree
in this unequal and dangerous engagement. He mentions Monge, Berthollet,
Andreossy, the paymaster, Junot, and Bourrienne, secretary to
the General-in-Chief. It has also been stated that Sucy, the
commissary-general, was seriously wounded while bravely defending
a gunboat laden with provisions; but this is incorrect.

We had no communication with the army until the 23d of July. On the 22d
we came in sight of the Pyramids, and were informed that we were only
about, ten leagues from Gizeh, where they are situated. The cannonade
which we heard, and which augmented in proportion as the north wind
diminished, announced a serious engagement; and that same day we saw the
banks of the Nile strewed with heaps of bodies, which the waves were
every moment washing into the sea. This horrible spectacle, the silence
of the surrounding villages, which had hitherto been armed against us,
and the cessation of the firing from the banks of the river, led us to
infer, with tolerable certainty, that a battle fatal to the Mamelukes had
been fought. The misery we suffered on our passage from Rahmahanie'h to
Gizeh is indescribable. We lived for eleven days on melons and water,
besides being momentarily exposed to the musketry of the Arabs and the
fellahs. We luckily escaped with but a few killed and wounded. The
rising of the Nile was only beginning. The shallowness of the river near
Cairo obliged us to leave the xebec and get on board a djerm. We reached
Gizeh at three in the afternoon of the 23d of July.

When I saluted the General, whom I had not seen for twelve days, he thus
addressed me: "So you are here, are you? Do you know that you have all
of you been the cause of my not following up the battle of Chebreisse?
It was to save you, Monge, Berthollet, and the others on board the
flotilla that I hurried the movement of my left upon the Nile before my
right had turned Chebreisse. But for that, not a single Mameluke would
have escaped."

"I thank you for my own part," replied I; "but in conscience could you
have abandoned us, after taking away our horses, and making us go on
board the xebec, whether we would or not?" He laughed, and then told me
how sorry he was for the wound of Sucy, and the death of many useful men,
whose places could not possibly be filled up.

He made me write a letter to his brother Louis, informing him that he had
gained a complete victory over the Mamelukes at Embabeh, opposite Boulac,
and that the enemy's loss was 2000 men killed and wounded, 40 guns, and a
great number of horses.

The occupation of Cairo was the immediate consequence of the victory of
Embabeh. Bonaparte established his head-quarters in the home of Elfy
Bey, in the great square of Ezbekye'h.

The march of the French army to Cairo was attended by an uninterrupted
succession of combats and victories. We had won the battles of
Rahmahanie'h, Chebreisse, and the Pyramids. The Mamelukes were defeated,
and their chief, Mourad Bey, was obliged to fly into Upper Egypt.
Bonaparte found no obstacle to oppose his entrance into the capital of
Egypt, after a campaign of only twenty days.

No conqueror, perhaps, ever enjoyed a victory so much as Bonaparte, and
yet no one was ever less inclined to abuse his triumphs.

We entered Cairo on the 24th of July, and the General-in-Chief
immediately directed his attention to the civil and military organization
of the country. Only those who saw him in the vigour of his youth can
form an idea of his extraordinary intelligence and activity. Nothing
escaped his observation. Egypt had long been the object of his study;
and in a few weeks he was as well acquainted with the country as if he
had lived in it ten years. He issued orders for observing the strictest
discipline, and these orders were punctually obeyed.

The mosques, the civil and religious institutions, the harems, the women,
the customs of the country-all were scrupulously respected. A few days
after they entered Cairo the French were freely admitted into the shops,
and were seen sociably smoking their pipes with the inhabitants,
assisting them in their occupations, and playing with their children.

The day after his arrival in Cairo Bonaparte addressed to his brother
Joseph the following letter, which was intercepted and printed. Its
authenticity has been doubted, but I saw Napoleon write it, and he read
it to me before he sent it off.

CAIRO,
7th. Thermidor (25th July 1798)

You will see in the public papers the bulletins of the battles and
conquest of Egypt, which were sufficiently contested to add another
wreath to the laurels of this army. Egypt is richer than any
country in the world in coin, rice, vegetables, and cattle. But the
people are in a state of utter barbarism. We cannot procure money,
even to pay the troops. I maybe in France in two months.

Engage a country-house, to be ready for me on my arrival, either
near Paris or in Burgundy, where I mean to pass the winter.

--[Bonaparte's autograph note, after enumerating the troops and
warlike stores he wished to be sent, concluded with the following
list:

1st, a company of actors; 2d, a company of dancers; 3d, some dealers
in marionettes, at least three or four; 9th, a hundred French women;
5th, the wives of all the men employed in the corps; 6th, twenty
surgeons, thirty apothecaries, and ten Physicians; 7th, some
founders; 8th, some distillers and dealers in liquor; 9th fifty
gardeners with their families, and the seeds of every kind of
vegetable; 10th, each party to bring with them: 200,000 pints of
brandy; 11th, 30,000 ells of blue and scarlet cloth; 12th, a supply
of soap and oil.--Bourrienne.]--

(Signed) BONAPARTE


This announcement of his departure to his brother is corroborated by a
note which he despatched some days after, enumerating the supplies and
individuals which he wished to have sent to Egypt. His note proves, more
convincingly than any arguments, that Bonaparte earnestly wished to
preserve his conquest, and to make it a French colony. It must be borne
in mind that the note here alluded to, as well as the letter above
quoted, was written long before the destruction of the fleet.





CHAPTER XV.

1798.

Establishment of a divan in each Egyptian province--Desaix in Upper
Egypt--Ibrahim Bey beaten by Bonaparte at Balehye'h--Sulkowsky
wounded--Disaster at Abonkir--Dissatisfaction and murmurs of the
army--Dejection of the General-in-Chief--His plan respecting Egypt
--Meditated descent upon England--Bonaparte's censure of the
Directory--Intercepted correspondence.

From the details I have already given respecting Bonaparte's plans for
colonising Egypt, it will be seen that his energy of mind urged him to
adopt anticipatory measures for the accomplishment of objects which were
never realised. During the short interval in which he sheathed his sword
he planned provisional governments for the towns and provinces occupied
by the French troops, and he adroitly contrived to serve the interests of
his army without appearing to violate those of the country. After he had
been four days at Cairo, during which time he employed himself in
examining everything, and consulting every individual from whom he could
obtain useful information, he published the following order:

HEADQUARTERS, CAIRO,
9th Thermidor, year VI.

BONAPARTE, MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE,
AND GENERAL-IN-CHIEF, ORDERS:

Art. 1. There shall be in each province of Egypt a divan, composed
of seven individuals, whose duty will be to superintend the
interests of the province; to communicate to me any complaints that
may be made; to prevent warfare among the different villages; to
apprehend and punish criminals (for which purpose they may demand
assistance from the French commandant); and to take every
opportunity of enlightening the people.

Art. 2. There shall be in each province an aga of the Janizaries,
maintaining constant communication with the French commandant. He
shall have with him a company of sixty armed natives, whom he may
take wherever he pleases, for the maintenance of good order,
subordination, and tranquillity.

Art. 3. There shall be in each province an intendant, whose
business will be to levy the miri, the feddam, and the other
contributions which formerly belonged to the Mamelukes, but which
now belong to the French Republic. The intendants shall have us
many agents as may be necessary.

Art. 4. The said intendant shall have a French agent to correspond
with the Finance Department, and to execute all the orders he may
receive.
(Signed) BONAPARTE.

While Bonaparte was thus actively taking measures for the organization of
the country,

--[Far more thoroughly and actively than those taken by the English
Government in 1882-3-4]--

General Desaix had marched into Upper Egypt in pursuit of Mourad Bey. We
learned that Ibrahim, who, next to Mourad, was the most influential of
the bays, had proceeded towards Syria, by the way of Belbeis and
Salehye'h. The General-in-Chief immediately determined to march in
person against that formidable enemy, and he left Cairo about fifteen
days after he had entered it. It is unnecessary to describe the
well-known engagement in which Bonaparte drove Ibrahim back upon El-Arish;
besides, I do not enter minutely into the details of battles, my chief
object being to record events which I personally witnessed.

At the battle of Salehye'h Bonaparte thought he had lost one of his
'aides de camp', Sulkowsky, to whom he was much attached, and who had
been with us during the whole of the campaign of Italy. On the field of
battle one object of regret cannot long engross the mind; yet, on his
return to Cairo, Bonaparte frequently spoke to me of Sulkowsky in terms
of unfeigned sorrow.

"I cannot," said he one day, "sufficiently admire the noble spirit and
determined courage of poor Sulkowsky." He often said that Sulkowsky
would have been a valuable aid to whoever might undertake the
resuscitation of Poland. Fortunately that brave officer was not killed
on that occasion, though seriously wounded. He was, however, killed
shortly after.

The destruction of the French squadron in the roads of Aboukir occurred
during the absence of the General-in-Chief. This event happened on the
1st of August. The details are generally known; but there is one
circumstance to which I cannot refrain from alluding, and which excited
deep interest at the time. This was the heroic courage of the son of
Casablanca, the captain of the 'Orient'. Casablanca was among the
wounded, and when the vessel was blown up his son, a lad of ten years of
age, preferred perishing with him rather than saving himself, when one of
the seamen had secured him the means of escape. I told the 'aide de
camp', sent by General Kleber, who had the command of Alexandria, that
the General-in-Chief was near Salehye'h. He proceeded thither
immediately, and Bonaparte hastened back to Cairo, a distance of about
thirty-three leagues.

In spite of any assertions that may have been made to the contrary, the
fact is, that as soon as the French troops set foot in Egypt, they were
filled with dissatisfaction, and ardently longed to return home.'

--['Erreurs' objects to this description of the complaints of the
army, but Savary (tome i. pp. 66, 67, and tome i. p. 89) fully
confirms it, giving the reason that the army was not a homogeneous
body, but a mixed force taken from Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice,
Genoa, and Marseilles; see also Thiers, tome v. p. 283. But the
fact is not singular. For a striking instance, in the days of the
Empire, of the soldiers in 1809, in Spain, actually threatening
Napoleon in his own hearing, see De Gonneville (tome i.
pp. 190-193): "The soldiers of Lapisse's division gave loud
expression to the most sinister designs against the Emperor's
person, stirring up each other to fire a shot at him, sad bandying
accusations of cowardice for not doing it." He heard it all as
plainly as we did, and seemed as if he did not care a bit for it,
but "sent the division into good quarters, when the men were as
enthusiastic as they were formerly mutinous." In 1796
d'Entraigues, the Bourbon spy, reports, "As a general rule, the
French soldier grumbles and is discontented. He accuses Bonaparte
of being a thief and a rascal. But to-morrow the very same soldier
will obey him blindly" (Iung's Bonaparte, tome iii. p. 152).]--

The illusion of the expedition had disappeared, and only its reality
remained. What bitter murmuring have I not heard from Murat, Lannes,
Berthier, Bessieres, and others! Their complaints were, indeed, often so
unmeasured as almost to amount to sedition. This greatly vexed
Bonaparte, and drew from him severe reproaches and violent language.

--[Napoleon related at St. Helena that in a fit of irritation he
rushed among a group of dissatisfied generals, and said to one of
them, who was remarkable for his stature, "you have held seditious
language; but take care I do not perform my duty. Though you are
five feet ten inches high, that shall not save you from being
shot."--Bourrienne.]--

When the news arrived of the loss of the fleet, discontent increased.
All who had acquired fortunes under Napoleon now began to fear that they
would never enjoy them. All turned their thoughts to Paris, and its
amusements, and were utterly disheartened at the idea of being separated
from their homes and their friends for a period, the termination of which
it was impossible to foresee.

The catastrophe of Aboukir came like a thunderbolt upon the
General-in-Chief. In spite of all his energy and fortitude, he was
deeply distressed by the disasters which now assailed him. To the
painful feelings excited by the complaints and dejection of his
companions in arms was now added the irreparable misfortune of the
burning of our fleet. He measured the fatal consequences of this event
at a single glance. We were now cut off from all communication with
France, and all hope of returning thither, except by a degrading
capitulation with an implacable and hated enemy. Bonaparte had lost all
chance of preserving his conquest, and to him this was indeed a bitter
reflection. And at what a time did this disaster befall him? At the
very moment when he was about to apply for the aid of the
mother-country.

From what General Bonaparte communicated to me previously to the 1st of
August, his object was, having once secured the possession of Egypt; to
return to Toulon with the fleet; then to send troops and provisions of
every kind to Egypt; and next to combine with the fleet all the forces
that could be supplied, not only by France, but by her allies, for the
purpose of attacking England. It is certain that previously to his
departure for Egypt he had laid before the Directory a note relative to
his plans. He always regarded a descent upon England as possible, though
in its result fatal, so long as we should be inferior in naval strength;
but he hoped by various manoeuvres to secure a superiority on one point.

His intention was to return to France. Availing himself of the departure
of the English fleet for the Mediterranean, the alarm excited by his
Egyptian expedition, the panic that would be inspired by his sudden
appearance at Boulogne, and his preparations against England, he hoped to
oblige that power to withdraw her naval force from the Mediterranean, and
to prevent her sending out troops to Egypt. This project was often in
his head. He would have thought it sublime to date an order of the day
from the ruins of Memphis, and three months later, one from London. The
loss of the fleet converted all these bold conceptions into mere romantic
visions.

When alone with me he gave free vent to his emotion. I observed to him
that the disaster was doubtless great, but that it would have been
infinitely more irreparable had Nelson fallen in with us at Malta, or had
he waited for us four-and-twenty hours before Alexandria, or in the open
sea. "Any one of these events," said I, "which were not only possible
but probable, would have deprived us of every resource. We are blockaded
here, but we have provisions and money. Let us then wait patiently to
see what the Directory will do for us."--"The Directory!" exclaimed he
angrily, "the Directory is composed of a set of scoundrels! they envy and
hate me, and would gladly let me perish here. Besides, you see how
dissatisfied the whole army is: not a man is willing to stay."

The pleasing illusions which were cherished at the outset of the
expedition vanished long before our arrival in Cairo. Egypt was no
longer the empire of the Ptolemies, covered with populous and wealthy
cities; it now presented one unvaried scene of devastation and misery.
Instead of being aided by the inhabitants, whom we had ruined, for the
sake of delivering them from the yoke of the beys, we found all against
us: Mamelukes, Arabs, and fellahs. No Frenchman was secure of his life
who happened to stray half a mile from any inhabited place, or the corps
to which he belonged. The hostility which prevailed against us and the
discontent of the army were clearly developed in the numerous letters
which were written to France at the time, and intercepted.

The gloomy reflections which at first assailed Bonaparte, were speedily
banished; and he soon recovered the fortitude and presence of mind which
had been for a moment shaken by the overwhelming news from Aboukir.
He, however, sometimes repeated, in a tone which it would be difficult to
describe, "Unfortunate Brueys, what have you done!"

I have remarked that in some chance observations which escaped Napoleon
at St. Helena he endeavoured to throw all the blame of the affair on
Admiral Brueys. Persons who are determined to make Bonaparte an
exception to human nature have unjustly reproached the Admiral for the
loss of the fleet.




CHAPTER XVI.

1798.

The Egyptian Institute--Festival of the birth of Mahomet--Bonapartes
prudent respect for the Mahometan religion--His Turkish dress--
Djezzar, the Pasha of Acre--Thoughts of a campaign in Germany--Want
of news from France--Bonaparte and Madame Fours--The Egyptian
fortune-teller, M. Berthollet, and the Sheik El Bekri--The air
"Marlbrook"--Insurrection in Cairo--Death of General Dupuis--Death
of Sulkowsky--The insurrection quelled--Nocturnal executions--
Destruction of a tribe of Arabs--Convoy of sick and wounded--
Massacre of the French in Sicily--projected expedition to Syria--
Letter to Tippoo Saib.