by two corps of Bonaparte's army from two different points, commanded by
Massena and Serrurier. The last General the Sardinian repulsed with
loss; but when he found Massena, in the mean time, was turning the left
of his line, and that he was thus pressed on both flanks, his situation
became almost desperate. The cavalry of the Piedmontese made an effort
to renew the combat. For a time they overpowered and drove back those of
the French; and General Stengel, who commanded the latter, was slain in
attempting to get them into order. But the desperate valor of Murat,
unrivalled perhaps in the heady charge of cavalry combat, renewed the
fortune of the field; and the horse, as well as the infantry of Colli's
army, were compelled to a disastrous retreat. The defeat was decisive;
and the Sardinians, after the loss of the best of their troops, their
cannon, baggage, and appointments, and being now totally divided from
their Austrian allies, and liable to be overpowered by the united forces
of the French army, had no longer hopes of effectually covering Turin.
Bonaparte, pursuing his victory, took possession of Cherasco, within ten
leagues of the Piedmontese capital.
Thus Fortune, in the course of a campaign of scarce a month, placed her
favorite in full possession of the desired road to Italy, by command of
the mountain-passes, which had been invaded and conquered with so much
military skill. He had gained three battles over forces far superior to
his own; inflicted on the enemy a loss of twenty-five thousand men in
killed, wounded, and prisoners; taken eighty pieces of cannon, and
twenty-one stands of colors; reduced to inaction the Austrian army;
almost annihilated that of Sardinia; and stood in full communication
with France upon the eastern side of the Alps, with Italy lying open
before him, as if to invite his invasion. But it was not even with such
laurels, and with facilities which now presented themselves for the
accomplishment of new and more important victories upon a larger scale,
and with more magnificent results, that the career of Bonaparte's
earliest campaign was to be closed. The head of the royal house of
Savoy, if not one of the most powerful, still one of the most
distinguished in Europe, was to have the melancholy experience, that he
had encountered with the "Man of Destiny," as he was afterward proudly
called, who, for a time, had power, in the emphatic phrase of Scripture,
"to bind kings with chains, and nobles with fetters of iron."
The shattered relics of the Sardinian army had fallen back, or rather
fled, to within two leagues of Turin, without hope of being again able
to make an effectual stand. The sovereign of Sardinia, Savoy, and
Piedmont had no means of preserving his capital, nay, his existence on
the Continent, excepting by an almost total submission to the will of
the victor. Let it be remembered, that Victor Amadeus III was the
descendant of a race of heroes, who, from the peculiar situation of
their territories, as constituting a neutral ground of great strength
betwixt France and the Italian possessions of Austria, had often been
called on to play a part in the general affairs of Europe, of importance
far superior to that which their condition as a second-rate power could
otherwise have demanded. In general, they had compensated their
inferiority of force by an ability and gallantry which did them the
highest credit, both as generals and as politicians; and now Piedmont
was at the feet, in her turn, of an enemy weaker in numbers than her
own. Besides the reflections on the past fame of his country, the
present humiliating situation of the King was rendered more mortifying
by the state of his family connections.
Victor Amadeus was the father-in-law of "Monsieur" (by right Louis
XVIII), and of the Comte d'Artois, the reigning King of France. He had
received his sons-in-law at his court at Turin, had afforded them an
opportunity of assembling around them their forces, consisting of the
emigrant _noblesse_, and had strained all the power he possessed, and in
many instances successfully, to withstand both the artifices and the
arms of the French Republicans. And now, so born, so connected, and with
such principles, he was condemned to sue for peace on any terms which
might be dictated, from a general of France aged twenty-six years, who,
a few months before, was desirous of an appointment in the artillery
service of the Grand Seignior!
An armistice was requested by the King of Sardinia under these
afflicting circumstances, but could only be purchased by placing two of
his strongest fortresses--those keys of the Alps, of which his ancestors
had long been the keepers--Coni and Tortona, in the hands of the French,
and thus acknowledging that he surrendered at discretion. The armistice
was agreed on at Cherasco, but commissioners were sent by the King to
Paris, to arrange with the Directory the final terms of peace. These
were such as victors give to the vanquished.
Besides the fortresses already surrendered, the King of Sardinia was to
place in the hands of the French five others of the first importance.
The road from France to Italy was to be at all times open to the French
armies; and indeed the King, by surrender of the places mentioned, had
lost the power of interrupting their progress. He was to break off every
species of alliance and connection with the combined powers at war with
France, and become bound not to entertain at his court, or in his
service, any French emigrants whatsoever, or any of their connections;
nor was an exception even made in favor of his own two daughters. In
short, the surrender was absolute. Victor Amadeus exhibited the utmost
reluctance to subscribe this treaty, and did not long survive it. His
son succeeded in name to the kingdom of Piedmont; but the fortresses and
passes which had rendered him a prince of some importance were,
excepting Turin and one or two of minor consequence, all surrendered
into the hands of the French.
Viewing this treaty with Sardinia as the close of the Piedmontese
campaign, we pause to consider the character which Bonaparte displayed
at that period. The talents as a general which he had exhibited were of
the very first order. There was no disconnection in his objects, they
were all attained by the very means he proposed, and the success was
improved to the utmost. A different conduct usually characterizes those
who stumble unexpectedly on victory, either by good-fortune or by the
valor of their troops. When the favorable opportunity occurs to such
leaders, they are nearly as much embarrassed by it as by a defeat. But
Bonaparte, who had foreseen the result of each operation by his
sagacity, stood also prepared to make the most of the advantages which
might be derived from it.
His style in addressing the Convention was, at this period, more modest
and simple, and therefore more impressive, than the figurative and
bombastic style which he afterward used in his bulletins. His
self-opinion, perhaps, was not risen so high as to permit him to use the
sesquipedalian words and violent metaphors, to which he afterward seems
to have given a preference. We may remark also, that the young victor
was honorably anxious to secure for such officers as distinguished
themselves the preferment which their services entitled them to. He
urges the promotion of his brethren-in-arms in almost every one of his
despatches--a conduct not only just and generous, but also highly
politic. Were his recommendations successful, their General had the
gratitude due for the benefit; were they overlooked, thanks equally
belonged to him for his good wishes, and the resentment for the slight
attached itself to the Government who did not give effect to them.
OVERTHROW OF THE MAMELUKES
THE BATTLE OF THE NILE
A.D. 1798
CHARLES KNIGHT
Napoleon's Italian victories forced even Austria to seek
peace and acquiesce in the extension of the French Republic
to the Rhine and over a considerable part of Italy. The
Continent was for a moment at peace, only England remaining
in open hostility to France. A great invasion was planned to
subdue the island kingdom, but Britain felt secure in the
power of her ships which had repeatedly defeated those of
France, Spain, and Holland.
The French Government, which had gradually gathered a strong
fleet on the Mediterranean, now at Bonaparte's urgency
undertook what has often been regarded as the rather
visionary attempt of conquering Egypt, perhaps expecting to
extend French power over all Asia and so destroy British
trade, the source of Britain's wealth. Egypt was nominally
subject to Turkey, but was really ruled by the Mamelukes, an
aristocracy of soldiers who had held the land for centuries.
Nelson, the English admiral, despatched to discover and
defeat the French fleet, is England's greatest naval hero.
He had already won renown as second in command in an
important victory over the Spaniards off Cape St. Vincent.
The Battle of the Nile was the first of his three most
celebrated achievements, the others being the defeat of the
Danes at Copenhagen[46] and then the final destruction of
the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar.
Bonaparte with great difficulty persuaded the Directory to postpone
their scheme for the invasion of the British Islands, and to permit him
to embark an army for Egypt, the possession of which country, he
maintained, would open to France the commerce of the East, and prepare
the way for the conquest of India. Having subdued Egypt, he would return
before another winter to plant the tricolor on the Tower of London. In
April, Bonaparte was appointed general-in-chief of the Army of the East.
The secret had been well kept.
The French fleet under Admiral Brueys was in the harbor of Toulon,
ready to sail upon its secret destination. Something different from the
invasion of England was in contemplation; for on board the admiral's
ship, L'Orient, were a hundred literary men and artists, mathematicians
and naturalists, who were certainly not required to enlighten the French
upon the native productions or the antiquities of the British Isles.
Bonaparte arrived at Toulon on May 9th, and issued one of his
grandiloquent proclamations to his troops. The armament consisted of
thirteen ships of the line, many frigates and corvettes, and four
hundred transports. The army, which it was to carry to some unknown
shore, consisted of forty thousand men. On May 19th this formidable
expedition left the great French harbor of the Mediterranean.
On the day when Bonaparte arrived at Toulon, Nelson had sailed from
Gibraltar, with three seventy-fours, four frigates, and a sloop, to
watch the movements of the enemy. Since the most daring of British naval
commanders had fought in the Battle of St. Vincent, he had lost an arm
in an unsuccessful attack upon the island of Teneriffe. For some time
his spirit was depressed, and he thought that a left-handed admiral
could never again be useful. He had lost also his right eye, and was
severely wounded in his body. But he had not lost that indomitable
spirit which rose superior to wounds and weakness of constitution. He
rested some time at home; and then, early in 1798, sailed in the
Vanguard to join the fleet under Lord St. Vincent. The Admiralty had
suggested, and Lord St. Vincent had previously determined, that a
detachment of the squadron blockading the Spanish fleet should sail to
the Mediterranean, under the command of Nelson. The seniors of the fleet
were offended at this preference of a junior officer; and men of routine
at home shrugged their shoulders, and feared, with the cold Lord
Grenville, that Nelson "will do something _too_ desperate." He was not
stinted in his means, being finally reenforced with ten of the best
ships of St. Vincent's fleet.
The first operation of Bonaparte was the seizure of Malta. His fleet was
in sight of the island on June 9th. He had other weapons than his cannon
for the reduction of a place deemed impregnable. The Order of St. John
of Jerusalem had held the real sovereignty of the island since 1530.
These Knights of Malta, powerful at sea, had formed one of the bulwarks
of Christendom against the Ottomans. They had gradually lost their
warlike prowess as well at their religious austerity; and Malta,
protected by its fortifications, became the seat of luxury for this last
of the monastic military orders whose occupation was gone. Bonaparte had
confiscated their property in Italy; and he had sent a skilful agent to
the island to sow dissensions among the Knights, and thus to prepare the
way for the fall of the community. There were many French knights among
them, to whom the principal military commands had been intrusted by the
grand master, a weak German.
Bonaparte, on June 9th, sent a demand to the grand master, that his
whole fleet should be permitted to enter the great harbor for the
purpose of taking in water. The reply was that, according to the rules
of the Order, only two ships, or at most four, could be allowed to enter
the port at one time. The answer was interpreted as equivalent to a
declaration of hostility; and Bonaparte issued orders that the army
should disembark the next morning on the coasts of the island wherever a
landing could be effected. The island was taken almost without
opposition; the French Knights declaring that they would not fight
against their countrymen. On June 13th, the French were put in
possession of La Valletta and the surrounding forts. Bonaparte made all
sorts of promises of compensation to the recreant Knights, which the
Directory were not very careful to keep. He landed to examine his prize,
when General Caffarelli, who accompanied him, said, "We are very lucky
that there was somebody in the place to open the doors for us."
Leaving a garrison to occupy the new possession, the French sailed away
on the 20th, with all the gold and silver of the treasury, and all the
plate of the churches and religious houses. "The essential point now,"
says Thiers, "was not to encounter the English fleet"; nevertheless, he
adds, "nobody was afraid of the encounter." Nelson was at Naples on the
day when Bonaparte quitted Malta. He immediately sailed. On the 22d, at
night, the two fleets crossed each other's track unperceived, between
Cape Mesurado and the mouth of the Adriatic. The frigates of the British
fleet had been separated from the main body, and thus Nelson had no
certain intelligence. His sagacity made him conjecture that the
destination of the armament was Egypt. He made the most direct course to
Alexandria, which he reached on the 28th. No enemy was there, and no
tidings could be obtained of them. On the morning of July 1st, Admiral
Brueys was off the same port, and learned that Nelson had sailed away in
search of him. Bonaparte demanded that he should be landed at some
distance from Alexandria, for preparations appeared for the defence of
the ancient city. As he and several thousand troops who followed him
reached the shore in boats, a vessel appeared in sight, and the cry went
forth that it was an English sail. "Fortune," he exclaimed, "dost thou
abandon me? Give me only five days!" A French frigate was the cause of
the momentary alarm. Nelson had returned to Sicily.
The Sultan was at peace with France; a French minister was at
Constantinople. Such trifling formalities in the laws of nations were
little respected by the man who told his soldiers that "the genius of
Liberty having rendered the Republic the arbiter of Europe, had assigned
to her the same power over the seas and over the most distant nations."
Four thousand of the French army were landed, and marched in three
columns to the attack of Alexandria. It was quickly taken by assault.
Bonaparte announced that he came neither to ravage the country nor to
question the authority of the Grand Seignior, but to put down the
domination of the Mamelukes, who tyrannized over the people by the
authority of the beys. He proclaimed to the population of Egypt, in
magnificent language that he caused to be translated into Arabic, that
he came not to destroy their religion. We Frenchmen are true Mussulmans.
Have not we destroyed the pope, who called upon Europe to make war upon
Mussulmans? Have not we destroyed the Knights of Malta, because these
madmen believed that God had called them to make war upon Mussulmans?
Leaving a garrison of three thousand men in Alexandria, the main army
commenced its march to Cairo. Bonaparte was anxious to arrive there
before the periodical inundation of the Nile. The fleet of Brueys
remained at anchor in the road of Abukir. Bonaparte chose the shorter
route to Cairo through the desert of Damanhour, leading thirty thousand
men--to each of whom he had promised to grant seven acres of fertile
land in the conquered territories--through plains of sand without a drop
of water. They murmured, and almost mutinied, but they endured, and at
length reached the banks of the Nile, at Rahmaniyeh, where a flotilla,
laden with provisions, baggage, and artillery, awaited them. The
Mamelukes, with Amurath Bey at their head, were around the French. The
invaders had to fight with enemies who came upon them in detachments,
gave a fierce assault, and then fled. As they approached the great
Pyramids of Gizeh, they found an enemy more formidable than these
scattered bands. Amurath Bey was encamped with twelve thousand Mamelukes
and eight thousand mounted Bedouins, on the west bank of the Nile, and
opposite Cairo.
The French looked upon the great entrepot, where the soldiers expected
to find the gorgeous palaces and the rich bazaars of which some had read
in Galland's _Arabian Nights_, whose tales they had recounted to their
comrades on their dreary march under a burning sun. They had to sustain
the attack of Amurath and his Mamelukes, who came upon them with the
fury of a tempest. In the East, Bonaparte was ever in his altitudes; and
he now pointed to the Pyramids, and exclaimed to his soldiers, "Forty
centuries look down upon you." The chief attack of the Mamelukes was
upon a square which Desaix commanded. In spite of the desperate courage
of this formidable cavalry, the steadiness of the disciplined soldiery
of the army of Italy repelled every assault; and after a tremendous loss
Amurath Bey retreated toward Upper Egypt. His intrenched camp was
forced, amid a fearful carnage. The conquerors had no difficulty in
obtaining possession of Cairo.
Ibrahim Bey evacuated the city, which on July 25th Bonaparte entered.
His policy now was to conciliate the people instead of oppressing them.
He addressed himself to the principal sheiks, and obtained from them a
declaration in favor of the French. It went forth with the same
authority among the Mussulmans as a brief of the pope addressed to Roman
Catholics. In the grand mosque a litany was sung to the glory of "the
Favorite of Victory, who at the head of the valiant of the West has
destroyed the infantry and the horse of the Mamelukes." A few weeks
later "the Favorite of Victory" was seated in the grand mosque at the
"Feast of the Prophets," sitting cross-legged as he repeated the words
of the _Koran_, and edifying the sacred college by his piety.
From the beginning to the end of July, Mr. Pitt was waiting with anxious
expectation for news from the Mediterranean. During this suspense he
wrote to the Speaker that he "could not be quite sure of keeping any
engagement he might make." It was not till September 26th that the
English Government knew the actual result of the toils and
disappointments to which Nelson had been subjected. When it was known in
England that he had been to Egypt and had returned to Sicily, the
journalists talked of naval mismanagement; and worn out captains who
were hanging about the Admiralty asking for employment marvelled at the
rashness of Lord St. Vincent in sending so young a commander upon so
great an enterprise.
The Neapolitan Ministry, dreading to offend the French Directory,
refused Nelson the supplies of provision and water which he required
before he again started in pursuit of the fleet which "Caesar and his
fortune bare at once." Sir William Hamilton was our minister at Naples;
his wife was the favorite of the Queen of Naples, and one of the most
attractive of the ladies of that luxurious court. Nelson had a slight
acquaintance with Lady Hamilton; and upon his representations of the
urgent necessity for victualling his fleet, secret instructions were
given that he should be supplied with all he required. In 1805 Nelson
requested Mr. Rose to urge upon Mr. Pitt the claims of Lady Hamilton
upon the national gratitude, because "it was through her interposition,
exclusively, he obtained provisions and water for the English ships at
Syracuse, in the summer of 1798; by which he was enabled to return to
Egypt in quest of the enemy's fleet; to which, therefore, the success of
his brilliant action of the Nile was owing, as he must otherwise have
gone down to Gibraltar to refit, and the enemy would have escaped."
On July 25th Nelson sailed from Syracuse. It was three days before he
gained any intelligence of the French fleet, and he then learned that
they had been seen about four weeks before, steering to the southeast
from Candia. He was again convinced that their destination was Egypt;
and he made all sail for Alexandria. On August 1st he beheld the
tricolored flag flying upon its walls. His anxiety was at an end. For a
week he had scarcely taken food or slept. The signal was made for the
enemy's fleet; and he now ordered dinner to be served, and when his
officers rose to prepare for battle he exclaimed that before the morrow
his fate would be a peerage or Westminster Abbey.
The fleet of Admiral Brueys was at anchor in the bay Abukir. The
transports and other small vessels were within the harbor. Bonaparte
told O'Meara that he had sent an officer from Cairo with peremptory
orders that Brueys should enter the harbor, but that the officer was
killed by the Arabs on the way. Brueys had taken measures to ascertain
the practicability of entering the harbor with his larger ships, and had
found that the depth of water was insufficient. He was unwilling to sail
away to Corfu--as Bonaparte affirmed that he had ordered him to do if to
enter the harbor were impracticable--until he knew that the army was
securely established at Cairo. The French Admiral moored his fleet in
what he judged the best position; a position described by Nelson himself
as "a strong line of battle for defending the entrance of the bay (of
shoals), flanked by numerous gunboats, four frigates, and a battery of
guns and mortars."
The French ships were placed "at a distance from each other of about a
hundred sixty yards, with the van-ship close to a shoal in the
northwest, and the whole of the line just outside a four-fathom
sand-bank; so that an enemy, it was considered, could not turn either
flank." Nelson, with the rapidity of genius, at once grasped this plan
of attack. Where there was room for a French ship to swing, there was
room for an English ship to anchor. He would place half his ships on the
inner side of the French line, and half on the outer side. The number of
ships in the two fleets was nearly equal, but four of the French were of
larger size. At 3 P.M. the British squadron was approaching the bay,
with a manifest intention of giving battle. Admiral Brueys had thought
that the attack would be deferred to the next morning. Nelson had no
intention of permitting the enemy to weigh anchor and get to sea in the
darkness.