1798.
Departure of the squadron--Arrival at Malta--Dolomieu--General
Barguay d'Hilliers--Attack on the western part of the island--
Caffarelli's remark--Deliverance of the Turkish prisoners--Nelson's
pursuit of the French fleet--Conversations on board--How Bonaparte
passed his, time--Questions to the Captains--Propositions discussed
--Morning music--Proclamation--Admiral Brueys--The English fleet
avoided Dangerous landing--Bonaparte and his fortune--Alexandria
taken--Kléber wounded--Bonaparte's entrance into Alexandria.
The squadron sailed on the 19th of May. The Orient, which, owing to her
heavy lading, drew too much water, touched the ground; but she was got
off without much difficulty.
We arrived off Malta on the 10th of June. We had lost two days in
waiting for some convoys which joined us at Malta.
The intrigues throughout Europe had not succeeded in causing the ports
of that island to be opened to us immediately on our arrival. Bonaparte
expressed much displeasure against the persons sent from Europe to
arrange measures for that purpose. One of them, however, M. Dolomieu,
had cause to repent his mission, which occasioned him to be badly
treated by the Sicilians. M. Poussielgue had done all he could in the
way of seduction, but he had not completely succeeded. There was some
misunderstanding, and, in consequence, some shots were interchanged.
Bonaparte was very much pleased with General Baraguay d'Hilliers'
services in Italy. He could not but praise his military and political
conduct at Venice when, scarcely a year before, he had taken possession
of that city by his orders. General Baraguay d'Hilliers joined us with
his division,--which had embarked in the convoy that sailed from Genoa.
The General-in-Chief ordered him to land and attack the western part of
the island. He executed this order with equal prudence and ability, and
highly to the satisfaction of the General-in-Chief. As every person
in the secret knew that all this was a mere form, these hostile
demonstrations produced no unpleasant consequences. We wished to save
the honour of the knights--that was all; for no one who has seen Malta
can imagine that an island surrounded with such formidable and perfect
fortifications would have surrendered in two days to a fleet which was
pursued by an enemy. The impregnable fortress of Malta is so secure
against a 'coup de main' that General Caffarelli, after examining its
fortifications, said to the General-in-Chief, in my presence, "Upon my
word, General, it is luck: there is some one in the town to open the
gates for us."
By comparing the observation of General Caffarelli with what has been
previously stated respecting the project of the expedition to Egypt and
Malta, an idea may be formed of the value of Bonaparte's assertion at
St. Helena:
"The capture of Malta was not owing to private intrigues, but to the
sagacity of the Commander-in-chief. I took Malta when I was in Mantua!"
It is not the less true, however, that I wrote, by his dictation, a mass
of instructions for private intrigues. Napoleon also said to another
noble companion of his exile at St Helena, "Malta certainly possessed
vast physical means of resistance; but no moral means. The knights did
nothing dishonourable, nobody is obliged to do impossibilities. No; but
they were sold; the capture of Malta was assured before we left Toulon."
The General-in-Chief proceeded to that part of the port where the Turks
made prisoners by the knights were kept.
The disgusting galleys were emptied of their occupants: The same
principles which, a few days after, formed the basis of Bonaparte's
proclamation to the Egyptians, guided him in this act of reason and
humanity.
He walked several times in the gardens of the grandmaster. They were in
beautiful order, and filled with magnificent orange-trees. We regaled
ourselves with their fruit, which the great heat rendered most
delicious.
On the 19th of June, after having settled the government and defence of
the island, the General left Malta, which he little dreamed he had taken
for the English, who have very badly requited the obligation. Many of
the knights followed Bonaparte and took civil and military appointments.
During the night of the 22d of June the English squadron was almost
close upon us. It passed at about six leagues from the French fleet.
Nelson, who learned the capture of Malta at Messina on the day we left
the island, sailed direct for Alexandria, without proceeding into the
north. He considered that city to be the place of our destination. By
taking the shortest course, with every sail set, and unembarrassed by
any convoy, he arrived before Alexandria on the 28th of June, three days
before the French fleet, which, nevertheless, had sailed before him from
the shores of Malta. The French squadron took the direction of Candia,
which we perceived on the 25th of June, and afterwards stood to the
south, favoured by the Etesian winds, which regularly prevail at that
season. The French fleet did not reach Alexandria till the 30th of June.
When on board the 'Orient' he took pleasure in conversing frequently
with Monge and Berthollet. The subjects on which they usually talked
were chemistry, mathematics, and religion. General Caffarelli, whose
conversation, supplied by knowledge, was at once energetic, witty,
and lively, was one of those with whom he most willingly discoursed.
Whatever friendship he might entertain for Berthollet, it was easy to
perceive that he preferred Monge, and that he was led to that preference
because Monge, endowed with an ardent imagination, without exactly
possessing religious principles, had a kind of predisposition for
religious ideas which harmonised with the notions of Bonaparte. On
this subject Berthollet sometimes rallied his inseparable friend Monge.
Besides, Berthollet was, with his cold imagination, constantly devoted
to analysis and abstractions, inclined towards materialism, an opinion
with which the General was always much dissatisfied.
Bonaparte sometimes conversed with Admiral Brueys. His object was always
to gain information respecting the different manoeuvres, and nothing
astonished the Admiral more than the sagacity of his questions. I
recollect that one day, Bonaparte having asked Brueys in what manner the
hammocks were disposed of when clearing for action, he declared, after
he had received an answer, that if the case should occur he would order
every one to throw his baggage overboard.
He passed a great part of his time in his cabin, lying on a bed,
which, swinging on a kind of castors, alleviated the severity of the
sea-sickness from which he frequently suffered much when the ship
rolled.
I was almost always with him in his cabin, where I read to him some of
the favourite works which he had selected for his camp library. He
also frequently conversed, for hours together, with the captains of the
vessels which he hailed. He never failed to ask whence they came? what
was their destination? what ships they had met? what course they had
sailed? His curiosity being thus satisfied, he allowed them to continue
their voyage, after making them promise to say nothing of having seen
the French squadron.
Whilst we were at sea he seldom rose before ten o'clock in the morning.
The 'Orient' had the appearance of a populous town, from which women had
been excluded; and this floating city was inhabited by 2000 individuals,
amongst whom were a great number of distinguished men. Bonaparte every
day invited several persons to dine with him, besides Brueys, Berthier,
the colonels, and his ordinary household, who were always present at the
table of the General-in-Chief. When the weather was fine he went up to
the quarter-deck, which, from its extent, formed a grand promenade.
I recollect once that when walking the quarter-deck with him whilst we
were in Sicilian waters I thought I could see the summits of the Alps
beautifully lighted by the rays of the setting sun. Bonaparte laughed
much, and joked me about it. He called Admiral Brueys, who took his
telescope and soon confirmed my conjecture. The Alps!
At the mention of that word by the Admiral I think I can see Bonaparte
still. He stood for a long time motionless; then, suddenly bursting from
his trance, exclaimed, "No! I cannot behold the land of Italy without
emotion! There is the East: and there I go; a perilous enterprise
invites me. Those mountains command the plains where I so often had the
good fortune to lead the French to victory. With them we will conquer
again."
One of Bonaparte's greatest pleasures during the voyage was, after
dinner, to fix upon three or four persons to support a proposition
and as many to oppose it. He had an object in view by this. These
discussions afforded him an opportunity of studying the minds of
those whom he had an interest in knowing well, in order that he might
afterwards confide to each the functions for which he possessed the
greatest aptitude: It will not appear singular to those who have been
intimate with Bonaparte, that in these intellectual contests he gave the
preference to those who had supported an absurd proposition with ability
over those who had maintained the cause of reason; and it was not
superiority of mind which determined his judgment, for he really
preferred the man who argued well in favour of an absurdity to the
man who argued equally well in support of a reasonable proposition. He
always gave out the subjects which were to be discussed; and they most
frequently turned upon questions of religion, the different kinds of
government, and the art of war. One day he asked whether the planets
were inhabited; on another, what was the age of the world; then he
proposed to consider the probability of the destruction of our globe,
either by water or fire; at another time, the truth or fallacy of
presentiments, and the interpretation of dreams. I remember the
circumstance which gave rise to the last proposition was an allusion
to Joseph, of whom he happened to speak, as he did of almost everything
connected with the country to which we were bound, and which that
able administrator had governed. No country came under Bonaparte's
observation without recalling historical recollections to his mind. On
passing the island of Candia his imagination was excited, and he spoke
with enthusiasm of ancient Crete and the Colossus, whose fabulous renown
has surpassed all human glories. He spoke much of the fall of the
empire of the East, which bore so little resemblance to what history has
preserved of those fine countries, so often moistened with the blood of
man. The ingenious fables of mythology likewise occurred to his mind,
and imparted to his language something of a poetical, and, I may say,
of an inspired character. The sight of the kingdom of Minos led him to
reason on the laws best calculated for the government of nations; and
the birthplace of Jupiter suggested to him the necessity of a religion
for the mass of mankind. This animated conversation lasted until the
favourable north winds, which drove the clouds into the valley of the
Nile, caused us to lose sight of the island of Candia.
The musicians on board the Orient sometimes played serenades; but only
between decks, for Bonaparte was not yet sufficiently fond of music to
wish to hear it in his cabin. It may be said that his taste for this art
increased in the direct ratio of his power; and so it was with his taste
for hunting, of which he gave no indication until after his elevation
to the empire; as though he had wished to prove that he possessed within
himself not only the genius of sovereignty for commanding men, but also
the instinct for those aristocratical pleasures, the enjoyment of which
is considered by mankind to be amongst the attributes of kings.
It is scarcely possible that some accidents should not occur during
a long voyage in a crowded vessel--that some persons should not fall
overboard. Accidents of this kind frequently happened on board the
'Orient'. On those occasions nothing was more remarkable than the great
humanity of the man who has since been so prodigal of the blood of
his fellow-creatures on the field of battle, and who was about to shed
rivers of it even in Egypt, whither we were bound. When a man fell into
the sea the General-in-Chief was in a state of agitation till he was
saved. He instantly had the ship hove-to, and exhibited the greatest
uneasiness until the unfortunate individual was recovered. He ordered me
to reward those who ventured their lives in this service. Amongst these
was a sailor who had incurred punishment for some fault. He not only
exempted him from the punishment, but also gave him some money. I
recollect that one dark night we heard a noise like that occasioned by
a man falling into the sea. Bonaparte instantly caused the ship to be
hove-to until the supposed victim was rescued from certain death. The
men hastened from all sides, and at length they picked up-what?--the
quarter of a bullock, which had fallen from the hook to which it was
hung. What was Bonaparte's conduct? He ordered me to reward the sailors
who had exerted themselves in this occasion even more generously than
usual, saying, "It might have been a sailor, and these brave fellows
have shown as much activity and courage as if it had."
After the lapse of thirty years all these things are as fresh in my
recollection as if they were passing at the present moment. In this
manner Bonaparte employed his time on board the Orient during the
voyage, and it was also at this time that he dictated to me the
following proclamation:
HEADQUARTERS ON BOARD THE "ORIENT,"
The 4th Messidor, Year VI.
BONAPARTE, MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE,
GENERAL-IN-CHIEF.
SOLDIERS--You are about to undertake a conquest the effects of which
on civilisation and commerce are incalculable. The blow you are
about to give to England will be the best aimed, and the most
sensibly felt, she can receive until the time arrive when you can
give her her deathblow.
We must make some fatiguing marches; we must fight several battles;
we shall succeed in all we undertake. The destinies are with us.
The Mameluke Beys who favour exclusively English commerce, whose
extortions oppress our merchants, and who tyrannise over the
unfortunate inhabitants of the Nile, a few days after our arrival
will no longer exist.
The people amongst whom we are going to live are Mahometans. The
first article of their faith is this: "There is no God but God, and
Mahomet is his prophet." Do not contradict them. Behave to them as
you have behaved to the Jews--to the Italians. Pay respect to their
muftis, and their Imaums, as you did to the rabbis and the bishops.
Extend to the ceremonies prescribed by the Koran and to the mosques
the same toleration which you showed to the synagogues, to the
religion of Moses and of Jesus Christ.
The Roman legions protected all religions. You will find here
customs different from those of Europe. You must accommodate
yourselves to them. The people amongst whom we are to mix differ
from us in the treatment of women; but in all countries he who
violates is a monster. Pillage enriches only a small number of men;
it dishonours us; it destroys our resources; it converts into
enemies the people whom it is our interest to have for friends.
The first town we shall come to was built by Alexander. At every
step we shall meet with grand recollections, worthy of exciting the
emulation of Frenchmen.
BONAPARTE.
During the voyage, and particularly between Malta and Alexandria, I
often conversed with the brave and unfortunate Admiral Brueys. The
intelligence we heard from time to time augmented his uneasiness. I
had the good fortune to obtain the confidence of this worthy man. He
complained bitterly of the imperfect manner in which the fleet had been
prepared for sea; of the encumbered state of the ships of the line
and frigates, and especially of the 'Orient'; of the great number of
transports; of the bad Outfit of all the ships and the weakness of their
crews. He assured me that it required no little courage to undertake the
command of a fleet so badly equipped; and he often declared, that in
the event of our falling in with the enemy, he could not answer for the
consequences. The encumbered state of the vessels, the immense quantity
of civic and military baggage which each person had brought, and would
wish to save, would render proper manoeuvres impracticable. In case of
an attack, added Brueys, even by an inferior squadron, the confusion
and disorder amongst so great a number of persons would produce an
inevitable catastrophe. Finally, if the English had appeared with ten
vessels only, the Admiral could not have guaranteed a fortunate result.
He considered victory to be a thing that was impossible, and even with a
victory, what would have become of the expedition? "God send," he said,
with a sigh, "that we may pass the English without meeting them!" He
appeared to foresee what did afterwards happen to him, not in the open
sea, but in a situation which he considered much more favourable to his
defence.
On the morning of the 1st of July the expedition arrived off the coast
of Africa, and the column of Septimus-Severus pointed out to us the city
of Alexandria. Our situation and frame of mind hardly permitted us to
reflect that in the distant point we beheld the city of the Ptolemies
and Caesars, with its double port, its pharos, and the gigantic
monuments of its ancient grandeur. Our imaginations did not rise to this
pitch.
Admiral Brueys had sent on before the frigate Juno to fetch M. Magallon,
the French Consul. It was near four o'clock when he arrived, and the sea
was very rough. He informed the General-in-Chief that Nelson had been
off Alexandria on the 28th--that he immediately dispatched a brig to
obtain intelligence from the English agent. On the return of the brig
Nelson instantly stood away with his squadron towards the north-east.
But for a delay which our convoy from Civita Vecchia occasioned, we
should have been on this coast at the same time as Nelson.
It appeared that Nelson supposed us to be already at Alexandria when he
arrived there. He had reason to suppose so, seeing that we left Malta on
the 19th of June, whilst he did not sail from Messina till the 21st.
Not finding us where he expected, and being persuaded we ought to have
arrived there had Alexandria been the place of our destination; he
sailed for Alexandretta in Syria, whither he imagined we had gone to
effect a landing. This error saved the expedition a second time.
Bonaparte, on hearing the details which the French Consul communicated,
resolved to disembark immediately. Admiral Brueys represented the
difficulties and dangers of a disembarkation--the violence of the surge,
the distance from the coast,--a coast, too, lined with reefs of rocks,
the approaching night, and our perfect ignorance of the points suitable
for landing. The Admiral, therefore, urged the necessity of waiting
till next morning; that is to say, to delay the landing twelve hours.
He observed that Nelson could not return from Syria for several
days. Bonaparte listened to these representations with impatience and
ill-humour. He replied peremptorily, "Admiral, we have no time to lose.
Fortune gives me but three days; if I do not profit by them we are
lost." He relied much on fortune; this chimerical idea constantly
influenced his resolutions.
Bonaparte having the command of the naval as well as the military force,
the Admiral was obliged to yield to his wishes.
I attest these facts, which passed in my presence, and no part of which
could escape my observation. It is quite false that it was owing to the
appearance of a sail which, it is pretended, was descried, but of which,
for my part, I saw nothing, that Bonaparte exclaimed, "Fortune, have you
abandoned me? I ask only five days!" No such thing occurred.
It was one o'clock in the morning of the 2d of July when we landed on
the soil of Egypt, at Marabou, three leagues to the west of Alexandria.
We had to regret the loss of some lives; but we had every reason to
expect that our losses would have been greater.
At three o'clock the same morning the General-in-Chief marched on
Alexandria with the divisions of Kléber, Bon, and Menou. The Bedouin
Arabs, who kept hovering about our right flank and our rear, picked up
the stragglers.
Having arrived within gunshot of Alexandria, we scaled the ramparts, and
French valour soon triumphed over all obstacles.
The first blood I saw shed in war was General Kléber's. He was struck
in the head by a ball, not in storming the walls, but whilst heading the
attack. He came to Pompey's Pillar, where many members of the staff were
assembled, and where the General-in-Chief was watching the attack.
I then spoke to Kléber for the first time, and from that day our
friendship commenced. I had the good fortune to contribute somewhat
towards the assistance of which he stood in need, and which, as we were
situated, could not be procured very easily.
It has been endeavoured to represent the capture of Alexandria,
which surrendered after a few hours, as a brilliant exploit. The
General-in-Chief himself wrote that the city had been taken after a
few discharges of cannon; the walls, badly fortified, were soon scaled.
Alexandria was not delivered up to pillage, as has been asserted, and
often repeated. This would have been a most impolitic mode of commencing
the conquest of Egypt, which had no strong places requiring to be
intimidated by a great example.
Bonaparte, with some others, entered the city by a narrow street which
scarcely allowed two persons to walk abreast; I was with him. We were
stopped by some musket-shots fired from a low window by a man and a
woman. They repeated their fire several times. The guides who preceded
their General kept up a heavy fire on the window. The man and woman fell
dead, and we passed on in safety, for the place had surrendered.
Bonaparte employed the six days during which he remained in Alexandria
in establishing order in the city and province, with that activity
and superior talent which I could never sufficiently admire, and in
directing the march of the army across the province of Bohahire'h. He
sent Desaix with 4500 infantry and 60 cavalry to Beda, on the road to
Damanhour. This general was the first to experience the privations and
sufferings which the whole army had soon to endure. His great mind,
his attachment to Bonaparte, seemed for a moment about to yield to the
obstacles which presented themselves. On the 15th of July he wrote from
Bohahire'h as follows: "I beseech you do not let us stop longer in this
position. My men are discouraged and murmur. Make us advance or fall
back without delay. The villages consist merely of huts, absolutely
without resources."
In these immense plains, scorched by the vertical rays of a burning
sun, water, everywhere else so common, becomes an object of contest. The
wells and springs, those secret treasures of the desert, are carefully
concealed from the travellers; and frequently, after our most oppressive
marches, nothing could be found to allay the urgent cravings of thirst
but a little brackish water of the most disgusting description.
--[Some idea of the misery endured by the French troops on this
occasion may be gathered from the following description is
Napoleon's Memoirs, dictated at St. Helena:
"As the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness complained, and angrily
asked Moses for the onions and flesh-pots of Egypt, the French
soldiers constantly regretted the luxuries of Italy. In vain were
they assured that the country was the most fertile in the world,
that it was even superior to Lombard; how were they to be persuaded
of this when they could get neither bread nor wine? We encamped on
immense quantities of wheat, but there was neither mill nor oven in
the country. The biscuit brought from Alexandria had long been
exhausted; the soldiers were even reduced to bruise the wheat
between two stones and to make cake which they baked under the
ashes. Many parched the wheat in a pan, after which they boiled it.
This was the best way to use the grain; but, after all, it was not
bread. The apprehensions of the soldiers increased daily, and rose
to such a pitch that a great number of them said there was no great
city of calm; and that the place bring that name was, like
Damanhour, a vast assemblage of mere huts, destitute of everything
that could render life comfortable or agreeable. To such a
melancholy state of mind had they brought themselves that two
dragoons threw themselves, completely clothed, into the Nile, where
they were drowned. It is nevertheless true that, though there was
neither bread nor wine, the resources which were procured with
wheat, lentils, meat, and sometimes pigeons, furnished the army with
food of some kind. But the evil was, in the ferment of the mind.
The officers complained more loudly than the soldiers, because the
comparison was proportionately more disadvantageous to them. In
Egypt they found neither the quarters, the good table, nor the
luxury of Italy. The General-in-Chief, wishing to set an example,
tried to bivouac in the midst of the army, and in the least
commodious spots. No one had either tent or provisions; the dinner
of Napoleon and his staff consisted of a dish of lentils. The
soldiers passed the evenings in political conversations, arguments,
and complaints. 'For what purpose are we come here?' said some of
them, 'the Directory has transported us.' 'Caffarelli,' said others,
'is the agent that has been made use of to deceive the
General-in-Chief.' Many of them, having observed that wherever there
were vestiges of antiquity they were carefully searched, vented their
spite in invective against the savants, or scientific men, who, they
said, had started the idea of she expedition to order to make these
searches. Jests were showered upon them, even in their presence.
The men called an ass a savant; and said of Caffarelli Dufalga,
alluding to his wooden leg, 'He laughs at all these troubles; he has
one foot to France.'"]