THE SIEGE OF CAIRO
It was the middle of June, 1799, before Bonaparte got back to Cairo
from Syria. His prolonged siege of Acre had been an utter failure, and
save for a little worthless loot the whole expedition had been but a
sample of that which his whole life was to be--a selfish, reckless
waste of human life, useless, unprofitable, and, in spite of the
servile adulation it has had, entirely contemptible. That this man was
personally brave, skilful in war, a clever general--in short, that he
was a man of many abilities that, rightly exercised, would have
entitled him to respect and admiration--is perfectly true, but it is
not more true of him than of many that the world has rightly and
properly agreed to class as criminals. Seeking nothing but his own
gain, in this futile expedition he had sacrificed thousands of lives,
wrecked hundreds of innocent homes. More than a third of his army had
perished, including twelve hundred of his sick and wounded abandoned
to the vengeance of the enemy for his own ruthless slaughter of his
prisoners. Such is the great hero of modern civilisation!
But defeated and discomfited as he was, he entered Cairo in triumph
with banners flying, drums beating, and all the rest of the idle
fanfaronade and pompous puerilities associated with triumphal entries.
Five long hours the grand procession occupied in passing through the
city gates, and thenceforth for three days and nights his coming was
celebrated with loud rejoicings and feastings, and the Egyptians
looked on and even took such part in the hollow mockery as they were
commanded to do, but they were in no way deceived; the gaunt skeleton
of defeat and failure was clothed but not concealed by the gaudy glare
of lying pretence.
So the "Great" Bonaparte paid honour to himself, heedless of the
droning of the surges on St. Helena's distant shore.
A month later the long-expected Turkish army arrived by sea, and,
landing at Abou Kir on the 14th of July, was besieged by the French
under Bonaparte himself on the 25th. Although aided by Sir Sidney
Smith, who was in command of a fleet that had already assisted in the
defence of Acre, the Turks, defeated by starvation, had to yield on
the 2nd of August.
The news of the arrival of the Turks had been received in Cairo with
unbounded joy, though none but a few of the hot-headed lower classes
had given any open expression to their feelings, but when Bonaparte
returned to the city with a long file of Turkish prisoners the
despondency of the people was overwhelming; yet, though it was felt by
all to be a rebinding of the chains of their bondage, they gave no
sign, and the life of the town went on in the listless way that was
becoming habitual to it. It was the easier for the people to bear this
reverse that they by no means looked upon it as in any way a final
one. The defeat of the Turks was but the defeat of a small force taken
at great disadvantage, and one which they did not doubt was but the
advance guard of an army against which the French could make no stand.
Meanwhile, the period of the inundation having arrived, the rising of
the Nile was celebrated by order, as it had been the year before, but
this time with an abandon on the part of the Christians that gravely
shocked Gabarty, who tells us that the eve of the _fete_ was spent by
them in boats on the river, or in the open along its banks, with
feasting and drinking and women and music. "On this occasion," he
writes, "they forgot their self-respect and cast modesty aside for
indecency, raillery, impudence, and impiety. The pen refuses to paint
the scandals of the night. Licence was carried to its extreme, and the
dregs of the people, following the example set them, the debauchery
and effrontery were without limit." All night the Bacchanalian
festival was continued, the outrageous orgie ceasing only with the
utter exhaustion of the degraded devotees of pleasure.
Some four days later Bonaparte gave a fresh proof of his greatness by
deserting the army that had served him so faithfully, and, abandoning
his dream of founding an Eastern Empire, hastened back to Europe to
pursue with unabated enthusiasm his own selfish ambitions. His
departure, like his coming and all his stay, was accompanied by the
silly rigmarole of braggart falsehoods he was never tired of issuing,
and which deceived no one but himself. He was going, so he said, to
open communications with France, and was to return in three months to
exterminate "the enemies of order."
Under General Kleber, whom Bonaparte had named as his successor in the
command of the French army, matters went smoothly enough, although he
was less affable in his treatment of the natives than Bonaparte had
been. He, like all the French, was heartily sick of the country, and
longing for an opportunity of escaping from it. The first glamour of
the occupation had long since passed away, and the dreary monotony of
their lives, coupled with the debilitating effect of the climate,
needed only the cowardly desertion of their chief to plunge the French
into a state of deep despondency. The task entrusted to General Kleber
was one, therefore, sufficient to try the ablest, and it was not
lessened by the complete destruction of trade and commerce, the heavy
expenses of the army, and the difficulty of dragging any further large
supplies from the impoverished people. It is not surprising,
therefore, that when the arrival of a Turkish army from Syria was
announced, the General hastened to accept the offer of the English
Admiral to give the French army a safe and honourable opportunity of
retiring. A convention was signed by which it was agreed that the
French were to evacuate the country within three months. This being
promptly made known to the Egyptians, the people rejoiced openly and
without restraint, the lower classes going so far as to insult and
abuse the French to their faces, to the great indignation of Gabarty,
who does not fail to condemn their conduct not only as foolish but as
unworthy of a self-respecting people. A few days later a Turkish
officer arrived, and was received with rapturous acclamations. The day
following the Vizier Yosuf, who was in command of the Turkish forces,
issued his first orders to the people through the mouth of the officer
they had thus cordially welcomed. Nothing could well be briefer or
more explicit than these orders. They were but two in number, and
were, first, that the people were to receive the officer in question
as Chief of Customs, with the power of establishing monopolies of all
food supplies; and secondly, the immediate raising of a sum of three
thousand purses, to be paid to the French as a contribution towards
the expenses of their evacuation of the country. "Thus," says the
always candid Gabarty, "from the first moment the country had to
suffer two evils at the hands of the Turks." But the tax levied was
quickly collected, the people paying gladly to hasten the departure of
the French. "Blessed be the day on which the infidel dogs quit us,"
was the cry raised, loudest of all by those who had most availed
themselves of the presence of the French to indulge in a laxity of
living offensive to all the better classes. Notwithstanding the
reminder the people had so promptly received that the Turks, however
much they were to be preferred to the French, were by no means lenient
rulers, the rejoicings for their coming were universal among the
Moslems, and though there were not a few of the more enlightened and
sensible who were wise and bold enough to protest against the
offensive treatment of the French, the current of popular feeling was
too strong, and carried with it even men who had heretofore kept their
heads. So once more the children of the schools were led by their
masters through the streets, as they had been at the first arrival of
the French, chanting songs in derision of, or of malediction on, the
hated feringhees.
But if the Moslems were exultant, the Christians of the town were
plunged in despondency and were keenly lamenting the folly that had
led them to outrage Moslem sentiment in the manner they had done.
Fearful that in the excited state of the people these would now seek
to avenge the wanton insults that had been offered them, they withdrew
from the streets and public places and hid in their houses, awaited in
trembling fear the attack they anticipated would be made upon them.
But the people were thinking of other things, and were too full of joy
at the promise of their early escape from the bitter thraldom of the
French to have a thought to spare for the minor grievances which they
had endured from their Christian countrymen, and so these were left in
peace.
Meanwhile small parties of the Turkish troops began to enter the town,
and these, according to a pleasant custom that survives in the Turkish
army up to the present day in outlying parts of the Empire, at once
proceeded to constitute themselves partners in the commercial affairs
of the people, without the aid of notaries or anything more than the
very simplest of procedures. Seating themselves on the mustabahs, or
raised fronts of the shops that serve at once as seats for the
customers and counters for the display of the shopman's goods, they
simply waited until a customer arrived and then demanded from the
shopkeeper a share of his profits, alleging, not always untruthfully,
that they had assisted in the sale of the goods by praising their
quality, cheapness, and so forth, and, when a customer appeared
unconvinced, not unfrequently by threatening him with violence should
he refuse to complete a purchase. Needless to say, customers and
dealers alike soon learned to shun the transaction of business in the
presence of these "partners." Complaints were made to the new Governor
of the town, but the only satisfaction accorded to the indignant
plaintiffs was that they ought to be pleased at the opportunity of
contributing to the upkeep of the troops that had come to defend them
from the French and free the country from their infidel rule.
Eager as the people were to be rid of the French, these were not less
so to get away from a town that no longer had any charm for them, and
was associated with so much of disappointment. The work, therefore, of
preparing for the evacuation was carried on with goodwill, and the
citadel and the forts around the town were handed over to the Turks,
while the French assembled themselves in camps in and about the
Esbekieh.
The three months allowed for the evacuation was drawing to a close
when the folly of the British Government suddenly altered the whole
position. The convention which Sir Sidney Smith had accorded the
French had been drawn up on a thorough understanding of the actual
facts with which he had to deal. Knowing well that it was entirely out
of his power to dictate terms to the French, and realising how greatly
it would be to the advantage of his own country that the French should
retire, he had treated with Kleber rather as a friend than as an
enemy. But the Government, with absolutely nothing to guide it but Sir
Sidney's report, declined to listen to his advice or to accept the
action he had taken, and ordered him to insist upon the French making
an unconditional surrender. A wiser and stronger man than Sir Sidney
would have ignored instructions so fatal to the honour and interests
of his own country, and so gratuitously insulting to brave and
honourable foes; but, to the great misfortune of all concerned, Sir
Sidney had not the courage to do justice to himself, and so
communicated the decision of the Government to General Kleber. The
blow was a bitter one. Honourable as the convention he had accepted
had been, it had demanded some sacrifice of pride on the part of the
French to adopt it, and Kleber was perfectly justified in terming the
demand now made "insolent." Thus the madness of our Government at the
moment when the French were straining every nerve to leave the
country, forced them to remain, and not only gave them fresh and good
reason to detest us, but laid a train of anti-English feeling in Egypt
that bears consequences prejudicial to English interests even to the
present day.
Finding his hope of an early return to Europe thus shattered, Kleber
took the only line of action open to him, and showed his ability as a
general by immediately re-entering the forts around the city which the
Turks, finding a residence in the town itself more in accordance with
their ideas of comfort, had neglected to occupy. This done, he
hastened to attack the Turkish army, which was encamped at Materiah,
some five miles from the town, and taking it by surprise and wholly
unprepared for action, believing itself in peaceful and unthreatened
possession of the country, routed it with ease and without loss. This
attack was naturally regarded as a most treacherous one by the Turks
and Egyptians, for until the French had actually opened fire upon the
Turks these had remained in careless security without the least
suspicion that anything could occur to bring them into conflict with
the French. But it is quite impossible to blame Kleber. For the French
an early and complete victory was now a matter of life and death. To
have given the Turks an opportunity of attacking them in the forts
around Cairo would have been suicidal madness. With no possibility of
relief they could only have held out against a siege until the
sickness and famine that were bound to assail them should have
accomplished the work of the enemy more effectually than its military
strength could.
As the time fixed for the evacuation had approached the excitement in
the town had increased, but when the French re-seized the forts and
gave other proofs of a sudden activity in a new and, to the
Egyptians, wholly inexplicable direction, rumours of the wildest kind
were circulated. Of these the one that gained most credence was that
the French had discovered it to be the intention of the Turks and the
English to surround and massacre them while on their way to the coast.
Utterly false as this report was, the outbreak of hostilities between
the French and the Turks gave it such apparent verification, that
there are not a few of the Egyptians who still believe it.
The Turkish army, utterly discomfited by the French, after having made
but a poor defence, took the road towards Syria, with the exception of
a part which, finding itself between the French and the town, decided
to seek the shelter of the latter. With these were a number of Mamaluk
Beys and their followers, who at the first news of the arrival of the
Turks had hastened to join them. The Turks who thus entered the town
were under the command of Nasooh Pacha, a bigot and fanatic of high
rank but little ability. His arrival was greeted by the assembling of
a crowd of all the worst characters of the town, who flocked after him
as he made his way through the streets, anxious to learn the truth as
to what had happened. His first act was to give a general but definite
order for the massacre of all the Christians.
We have seen how at the last meeting of the Mamaluk Dewan, and again
at Rosetta, proposals to massacre the Christians had been rejected.
Now, however, there was no question of a proposal, but a distinct and
definite order was given by a Pacha, a Turk, an orthodox Moslem, a
high officer of the Empire, and one who at the moment carried with him
all the weight of being the immediate representative of the Sultan and
Caliph of Islam. Those of the people to whom the order was given were
of the lowest and most ignorant class, precisely the one to which such
an order might be expected to be welcome, people having nothing to
risk but their personal safety, and thinking little of this as weighed
against the prospect of a rich harvest of loot. A wild rush was made,
therefore, for the Christian quarters of the town, the mob slaying on
its way the few Christians who happened to be overtaken by it and
unable to escape. Hastily barricading their doors and windows the
Christians made a bold stand, and the mob, which was much more anxious
to plunder the houses than to slaughter their inhabitants, devoted
their unwelcome attentions to the least protected of these, and
troubling nothing as to whether the houses attacked were those of
Christians or Moslems, were busily engaged in their work of
destruction when the quarters in which they were, were swept by
Turkish troops, who, without staying to expostulate or explain,
quickly routed the rioters with much heavier slaughter than these had
been guilty of, and charging them, more ruthlessly and more
effectively than they had charged the Christians, promptly restored
order. This vigorous suppression of the riot and intended massacre was
the work of Osman Agha, an officer of the Turkish army who, though of
less degree than Nasooh Pacha, had no sooner heard of the riot than he
protested not merely by word of mouth, but by the more practical
measure of despatching troops in hot haste with strict orders to spare
none of the rioters that did not at once desist. Thus once more the
Christians found Moslem protectors ready to defend them against Moslem
foes. We shall see later on how the Christians showed their gratitude.
The riot having been thus promptly suppressed, the Turkish officers
turned their attention to the defence of the town from the attack by
the French, which they rightly judged would not long be delayed. A
hurried survey of the available means of defence showed that these
were of the poorest. Gunpowder and munitions of all kinds were
deficient in quantity and defective in quality, but there was no
thought of submission to the coming foe, and, directed by the troops,
the people were set to work once more to barricade the entrances to
the town. The memories of the sufferings that had accompanied and
followed the great revolt against the French were still vivid in the
minds of the people, but their enthusiasm was as great as it had been
while yet the horrors of a siege were unknown to and undreamt of by
them. Some of the Mamaluk chiefs, seeing how woefully the town was
deficient in the things most urgently needed to enable it to make a
stand, were anxious to withdraw, but neither the Turkish troops nor
the people would consent to their doing so, and they had perforce to
remain and take their part in the defence.
Fighting was commenced by an attack upon the house of Elfi Bey, in the
Esbekieh quarter, which Bonaparte having chosen as his residence was
still in the occupation of the French. One day's firing having
exhausted the supply of cannon-ball, the defect was made good for the
moment by charging the guns with metal weights collected from the
shops in the bazaars, and such other missiles as could be found. Under
the direction of Osman Agha, shot and powder factories were
established, and all the craftsmen of the town whose skill could be
applied to the manufacture of defensive arms or materials were put to
work to provide what was needed, or the best substitute that could be
improvised. Being unable to ascertain anything of the movements or
intentions of the French, the chiefs decided that it was imperatively
necessary to be ready for an assault upon the town at any moment.
Orders were given, therefore, that all the townsmen as well as the
troops were to take up positions behind or near the barricades, and
were to remain on the spot day and night, sleeping as best they could
at their posts.
For eight days the fighting was continued in this way, the firing
being confined to the north-west end of the town, or that facing the
position occupied by the French. On the eighth day the return of
General Kleber, who had been in pursuit of the flying Turkish army,
brought about a change. With the troops he had with him, and those
already in garrison, he had a force quite equal to the siege of the
town in regular form, and he lost no time in surrounding the two
towns, Cairo and Boulac, as Gabarty expresses it, "as a bracelet
encircles the arms." Thenceforth the siege was carried on with
vigour. Amply provided with arms and ammunition, the French poured a
ceaseless hail of shot and shell upon the towns, not only from the
forts around, but also from the heights of the Mokattam hills, which
command the greater part of the city of Cairo.
For ten days and nights the siege and bombardment went on unceasingly.
For ten days and nights the people and the troops were without any
rest worthy of the name, and the long strain was beginning to tell
upon their energies. To add to the horrors of the bombardment under
which the buildings of the town were steadily crumbling away and
filling the streets with their ruins, not only was death busy, but
hunger and thirst were beginning to assail the living. Food was not
only scarce, but what there was was ruthlessly appropriated by the
Turkish troops, and the water was not only short but bad. Still, all
ranks kept manfully to their task, and while the lower classes
laboured cheerfully at what work there was for them to do, in clearing
the streets of the wreckage that threatened to block them entirely,
and in attending upon the troops, carrying ammunition to and fro as
needed, and so on, the highest of the Turks and Egyptians moved
constantly among them, encouraging them and bidding them hope for the
best. Of the Christians many had escaped from the town to seek shelter
with the French, in whose ultimate triumph they had the fullest and
withal most justifiable confidence. Of those that remained in the
town, not a few lent what aid they could to its defence, partly to
conciliate the mob and partly no doubt in recognition of the
protection given them by the leaders of the people, as evidence of
their loyalty to the Sultan, and as the line of conduct most likely to
conduce to their own interests. Many who under the Mamaluks had grown
wealthy and under the French had escaped having to bear anything like
their fair share of the burthens laid upon the people, now bid for
popularity by contributing funds towards the defence. But the steadily
growing weakness of their position, the exhaustion of the people and
the troops, and the prospect of an utter failure of food and other
supplies compelled the leaders to think of making terms with the
French while they were yet in a position to profit from whatever
concessions they could obtain. And the French knowing pretty well how
things were going in the city, and having no desire for useless
bloodshed, made repeated offers to treat. But the people would hear
nothing of a surrender, and nothing of treating for terms. They had
had enough of the French, and would have no more of them, if by any
means, by any sacrifice, they could get rid of them. The Turkish
Vizier with his army was sure to come to their relief soon, and
perhaps the English, for were not the English the enemies of the
French? And Mourad Bey with a large force of Mamaluks and troops was
not far off, and he too must come sooner or later to their aid. So
they would rather starve and thirst and suffer until help came; and
besides, was it not evident that the French must be nearly exhausted?
if not, why did they offer terms?
At last the chiefs took action for themselves, and a deputation of
Sheikhs was sent out to the French headquarters to treat for terms.
Kleber received the deputation courteously, but reproached them for
having taken the part of the Turks, and given these their aid and
support. The Sheikhs very justly replied that they had but followed
the advice he had himself given them when announcing the approaching
departure of the French. Eventually it was agreed that there should be
a truce of three days to enable the Turkish troops and all who cared
to go with them to leave the town. "As to the people," said Kleber,
"they have nothing to fear; are they not our people?" Full of hope and
joy at the result of their mission, the Sheikhs returned to report
what they believed would be accepted as good news by the
famine-stricken garrison. But far from accepting the terms offered,
the people insulted the Sheikhs and denounced them as traitors. "If,"
said they, "the Christian dogs were not at the end of their resources
they would not be so ready to make peace." So fighting was resumed,
and carried on on both sides with vigour until the 25th of April.
Boulac was the first to fall. A heavy thunderstorm had broken over the
devoted towns, and torrents of rain had quickly converted their
unpaved streets into quagmires, that rendered walking almost
impossible. With abundance of skill and material at their disposal,
and in robust health and spirits, the French had every advantage over
the famished, exhausted and undisciplined mob that had so long faced
them at such desperate odds, yet it was but foot by foot only that
they succeeded in forcing their way to victory through streets heaped
with the bodies of the slain.
It was a heroic fight, that of this poor famine-pinched, undisciplined
mob against the well-fed, well-clothed veterans of France. Strange
that our friends the historians, who are always so impartial and free
from bigotry and fanaticism, can see in this desperate defence nothing
more than the contumacy of an ignorant and foolish people. Strange,
for, after all, "how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for
the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of their gods?" For this in
the very literal sense of the words was what these poor starving
Egyptians were doing, it being not the least of their complaints
against the French that these had desecrated the graveyards of the
city, and defiled the temple in which they worshipped God.
A wild carnival of pillage and brutality followed the fall of the
town, and then the troops that had been investing Boulac turned with
revived appetite to assist in the siege of Cairo. There, as at Boulac,
the scarcity of food and water, and the want of proper rest and
shelter, had reduced the people to a condition that would have
justified their abandoning the hopeless struggle without further
effort; yet it was not the people, but their chiefs--the Mamaluk Beys
and the Turkish officers--men whose experience told them how
unavailing the attempt to hold out must prove, that spoke or thought
of treating with the foe. They had, as we have seen, already made an
effort in that direction, now, finding the French gradually gaining
ground, pushing their way slowly but surely into the town and, to add
fresh terrors to those by which the unhappy defenders were almost
overwhelmed, firing the houses as fast as they could reach them, the
chiefs once more asked for terms, and were accorded three days in
which to quit the town. Even then the people would have refused to
yield, and it was with difficulty that their leaders at last forced
from them a sullen and unwilling submission. Kleber, in addition to
granting the Turks and Mamaluks three days within which to evacuate
the town, undertook to supply funds and transport to enable them to
go, but demanded the exchange of hostages. All who wished were to be
free to depart with the retiring troops. These were liberal terms, but
still the people were unwilling to submit, and when the French
hostages arrived they had to be protected by a large body of the
Turkish troops, and even Osman Agha himself, who throughout the siege
had been foremost in the defence, and ever where danger was thickest,
even he had to seek protection from the wrath of the mob that still
furiously cried out against the admission of the French.
At length, peace and order having been restored, the Turks and
Mamaluks made haste to leave the town, and a general amnesty having
been proclaimed, Cairo was once more treated to a grand triumphal
entry of the French, and was once more directed to decorate and
illuminate itself in token of rejoicing.
For the third time the people settled down to bear the rule of the
French with what patience they could, and, in the manner that still
characterises their daily lives, the quarrel of the moment having been
abandoned, they let it sleep and went about their affairs as much as
possible as if nothing had ever occurred to interrupt them. Not that
they were in the least reconciled to the French, or that they had
ceased to long for redemption from the slavery in which they were
held. Far from that, but loyal to the terms they had accepted, they
desisted from all open or, indeed, covert opposition. It would have
been unreasonable to ask or expect more than this. So the truce having
once been made the French, though they did not think so, were
absolutely safe from any molestation or annoyance from the people who,
as a body, with all their faults, fear God, and, obeying the law of
Islam, observe their covenants even when made with an enemy.
One might have thought that this people, who had so strenuously
resisted the making of peace, who had turned against the most trusted
of their own leaders for accepting terms, who, in the hope of
rendering peace impossible, had frantically attempted to attack the
hostages--one might have thought that this people would have
repudiated the terms, and have sought every opportunity to injure and
annoy the French. Nor could they with any reason have been held
altogether blamable in refusing to abide by terms made in direct
opposition to their wishes. Yet this is, as I have said, just what
they did not do, and peace once established, the French went about
among them as safe and as free from molestation as though the people
had no grievance against them.
Let us turn now and see how the French interpreted the amnesty they
had accorded the people.