The Turkish outposts were assaulted early on the morning of the 24th of
July, 1799, and driven in with great slaughter; but the French, as they
advanced, came within range of the batteries and of the ships that lay
close by the shore, and were checked. This might have ended in a rout,
but for the undisciplined eagerness with which the Turks engaged in the
task of despoiling those that fell before them--thus giving Murat the
opportunity of charging their main body in flank with his cavalry, at
the moment when the infantry, rallying under the eye of Napoleon, forced
their way into the intrenchments. From that moment, the battle was a
massacre. The Turks, attacked on all sides, were panic-stricken; and the
sea was covered with the turbans of men who flung themselves headlong
into the waves, rather than await the fury of _Le Beau Sabreur_, or the
steady rolling fire of the _Sultan Kebir_. Six thousand surrendered at
discretion; twelve thousand perished on the field, or in the sea.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF ABOUKIR.]