Within the scope of this article, yet far more important from its
political and personal than from its general military interest, comes
the expedition of Napoleon to Egypt and its sequel (see also EGYPT:
_History_; NAPOLEON, &c.). A very brief summary must here suffice.
Napoleon left Toulon on the 19th of May 1798, at the same time as his
army (40,000 strong in 400 transports) embarked secretly at various
ports. Nelson's fleet was completely evaded, and, capturing Malta _en
route_, the armada reached the coast of Egypt on the 1st of July. The
republicans stormed Alexandria on the 2nd. Between Embabeh and Gizeh,
on the left bank of the Nile, 60,000 Mamelukes were defeated and
scattered on the 21st (battle of the Pyramids), the French for the
most part marching and fighting in the chequer of infantry squares
that afterwards became the classical formation for desert warfare.
While his lieutenants pursued the more important groups of the enemy,
Napoleon entered Cairo in triumph, and proceeded to organize Egypt as
a French protectorate. Meantime Nelson, though too late to head off
the expedition, had annihilated the squadron of Admiral Brueys. This
blow severed the army from the home country, and destroyed all hope of
reinforcements. But to eject the French already in Egypt, military
invasion of that country was necessary. The first attempts at this
were made in September by the Turks as overlords of Egypt.
Napoleon--after suppressing a revolt in Cairo--marched into Syria to
meet them, and captured El Arish and Jaffa (at the latter place the
prisoners, whom he could afford neither to feed, to release, nor to
guard, were shot by his order). But he was brought to a standstill
(March 17-May 20) before the half-defensible fortifications of Acre,
held by a Turkish garrison and animated by the leadership of Sir W.
Sidney Smith (q.v.). In May, though meantime a Turkish relieving army
had been severely beaten in the battle of Mount Tabor (April 16,
1799), Napoleon gave up his enterprise, and returned to Egypt, where
he won a last victory in annihilating at Aboukir, with 6000 of his own
men, a Turkish army 18,000 strong that had landed there (July 25,
1799). With this crowning tactical success to set against the Syrian
reverses, he handed over the command to Kleber and returned to France
(August 22) to ride the storm in a new _coup d'etat_, the "18th
Brumaire." Kleber, attacked by the English and Turks, concluded the
convention of El Arish (January 27, 1800), whereby he secured free
transport for the army back to France. But this convention was
disavowed by the British government, and Kleber prepared to hold his
ground. On the 20th of March 1800 he thoroughly defeated the Turkish
army at Heliopolis and recovered Cairo, and French influence was once
more in the ascendant in Egypt, when its director was murdered by a
fanatic on the 14th of June, the day of Marengo. Kleber's successor,
the incompetent Menou, fell an easy victim to the British
expeditionary force under Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1801. The British
forced their way ashore at Aboukir on the 8th of March. On the 21st,
Abercromby won a decisive battle, and himself fell in the hour of
victory (see ALEXANDRIA: _Battle of 1801_). His successor, General
Hely Hutchinson, slowly followed up this advantage, and received the
surrender of Cairo in July and of Alexandria in August, the debris of
the French army being given free passage back to France. Meantime a
mixed force of British and native troops from India, under Sir David
Baird, had landed at Kosseir and marched across the desert to Cairo.