RETREAT FROM JAFFA--POISONING OF FIVE HUNDRED SOLDIERS--DIFFERENT
ENGLISH AUTHORITIES THEREON--NAPOLEON’S OWN STORY, ALSO THOSE
OF LAS CASES AND O’MEARA--RETREAT TO CAIRO.
But this retreat became the subject of a dreadful accusation against
Napoleon, which must have hit him hard at the time of his projected
invasion in 1803--aye, quite as hard as the massacre at Jaffa. It
was nothing less than that he poisoned, with opium, 500 of his sick
soldiers, before he left Jaffa. There was a solid foundation for this
fearful charge, as will be shown hereafter. Combe speaks of it thus--
Another great thing Boney now did,
With sick the hospitals were crowded,
He therefore planned, nor planned in vain,
To put the wretches out of pain;
He an apothecary found--
For a physician, since renown’d,
The butchering task with scorn declined,
Th’ apothecary, tho’, was _kind_.
It seems that Romeo met with such a one,
This is a mournful theme to touch upon,
Opium was put in pleasant food,
The wretched victims thought it good;
But, in a few hours, as they say,
About six hundred, breathless lay.
The truth of this has never been accurately established, but I fancy,
at that time, there were very few Englishmen who did not thoroughly
believe it. Sir Robert Wilson wrote: ‘Buonaparte finding that his
hospitals at Jaffa were crowded with sick, sent for a physician,
whose name should be inscribed in letters of gold, but which, from
important reasons, cannot be here inserted; on his arrival, he entered
into a long conversation with him respecting the danger of contagion,
concluding at last with the remark, that something must be done to
remedy the evil, and that the destruction of the sick at present in the
hospital, was the only measure which could be adopted. The physician,
alarmed at the proposal, bold in the confidence of virtue, and the
cause of humanity, remonstrated vehemently, respecting the cruelty, as
well as the atrocity, of such a murder; but, finding that Buonaparte
persevered and menaced, he indignantly left the tent, with this
memorable observation; “Neither my principles, nor the character of my
profession, will allow me to become a murderer; and, General, if such
qualities as you insinuate are necessary to form a great man, I thank
my God that I do not possess them.”
[Illustration: POISONING THE SICK AT JAFFA.]
‘Buonaparte was not to be diverted from his object by moral
considerations; he persevered, and found an apothecary, who (dreading
the weight of power, but who since has made an atonement to his mind,
by unequivocally confessing the fact) consented to become his agent,
and to administer poison to the sick. Opium, at night, was distributed
in gratifying food, the wretched, unsuspecting, victims banqueted, and,
in a few hours, five hundred and eighty soldiers, who had suffered so
much for their country, perished thus miserably by the order of its
idol....
‘If a doubt should still exist as to the veracity of this statement,
let the Members of the Institute at Cairo be asked what passed in
their sitting after the return of Buonaparte from Syria; they will
relate, that the same virtuous physician, who refused to become the
destroyer of those committed to his protection, accused Buonaparte of
high treason, in the full assembly, against the honour of France, her
children, and humanity; that he entered into the full details of the
poisoning of the sick, and the massacre of the garrison, aggravating
these crimes by charging Buonaparte with strangling, previously, at
Rosetta, a number of French and Copts, who were ill of the plague;
thus proving that this disposal of his sick was a premeditated plan,
which he wished to introduce into general practice. In vain Buonaparte
attempted to justify himself; the members sat petrified with terror,
and almost doubted whether the scene passing before their eyes was not
an illusion.’
Dr. Wittman assures his readers that whilst he was in Egypt with the
army, a man was pointed out to them as having been the executioner of
Napoleon’s commands to poison the sick and wounded French soldiers in
the hospitals of Jaffa.
Barre says: ‘Although neither Sir Robert Wilson nor Dr. Wittman mention
the name of the worthy physician who refused with horror, and of the
infamous wretch, who basely consented to become the executioner of the
sick soldiers, it is now well known that the former was the worthy
physician Dr. Desgenettes, and the latter, one Rouyer, an infamous
apothecary, who thus became the murderer of his own countrymen, in
compliance with the wishes of a Corsican assassin.’
In a little periodical, called ‘Ring the Alarum Bell!’ (which only
ran four numbers), published in 1803, is the following, written by
a General Danican: ‘In 1801, I met at a lazaretto in Sicily, with a
number of French Soldiers just come from Alexandria. With one of them
I contracted habits of intimacy during my stay, and who frequently
related to me some curious particulars of the conduct of Buonaparté
in Egypt.... Having been witness to the poisoning scene at Caiffa
he related to me the following anecdote. A grenadier, who had lost
two brothers, was amongst the unfortunate wretches slightly affected
with the pestilential disease. From what he had previously observed
in the hospital, he had become more suspicious than his companions
in distress, and he had scarcely taken the _Corsican physic_, than
he immediately discharged it, made his way out of the hospital, and
escaping the guard, whom he contrived to knock down, he gained the
column under the command of Kleber, at whose feet he threw himself,
and, in the intercession, almost of despair, conjured him to let him
mount one of the camels, describing what he had escaped from, and
venting the most energetic maledictions on the _Poisoner in Chief_. The
poor wretch, in the most piteous manner, assured General Kleber that he
would keep at a distance from the army, so that no one should be in any
danger of catching his disorder, except the camel. Kleber granted his
request; the grenadier was saved and recovered, and was alive when the
English landed under the brave Abercrombie.’
Now let us hear the Emperor’s side of the question, beginning with De
Bourrienne. ‘Orders were given directly to undermine the fortifications
and blow them up; and, on the 27th May, upon the signal being given,
the town was in a moment laid bare. An hour afterwards, the General in
Chief left his tent and repaired to the town, accompanied by Berthier,
some physicians and surgeons, and his usual staff. I was also one of
the party. A long and sad deliberation took place on the question,
which now arose, relative to the men who were incurably ill of the
plague, or were at the point of death. After a discussion of the most
serious and conscientious kind, it was decided to accelerate a few
moments, by a potion, a death which was inevitable, and which otherwise
would be painful and cruel....
‘I cannot say that I saw the potion administered. I should state an
untruth if I did. I cannot name any person concerned in the matter,
without hazarding a misrepresentation. But I well know that the
decision was come to after that deliberation, which was due to so
important a measure; that the order was given, and that the infected
are dead. What! shall that which formed the subject of the whole
conversation of the head quarters, on the day after leaving Jaffa, and
was spoken of without any question of its reality; which was regarded
by us as a dreadful, but unavoidable, misfortune; which was never
mentioned in the army but as a fact, of which there was no doubt,
and only the details of which were inquired after--I appeal to every
honourable man who was present, for the truth of what I state--shall
that, I say, be now stigmatized as a malignant calumny, fabricated to
injure the reputation of a hero, who, were this the only reproach that
might be addressed to him, would go down with little blemish on his
character, to posterity?’
Las Cases is specially wroth with Sir Robert Wilson, but, even he,
cannot successfully whitewash his beloved emperor. His attempted
vindication is too long to be reproduced _in extenso_, but it goes
to prove how widely spread in the army was the belief that the sick
were hurried to their rest at Jaffa. ‘A circumstance, which will not a
little surprise those who have yet to learn how little credit is due to
public report, and which will serve to show the errors that may creep
into history, is that Marshall Bertrand, who was himself with the army
in Egypt, (though certainly in a rank which did not enable him to come
into immediate contact with the General in Chief) firmly believed, up
to the period of his residence at Saint Helena, the story of poison
having been administered to sixty invalids. The report was circulated,
and believed, even in our army; therefore, what answer could be given
to those who triumphantly asserted, “It is a fact, I assure you, I
have it from officers who served in the French army at the time.”
Nevertheless, the whole story is false. I have collected the following
facts from the highest source, from the mouth of Napoleon himself.
‘1st. That the invalids in question who were infected with the plague,
amounted, according to the report made to the General in Chief, only to
_seven_ in number.
‘2nd. That it was not the General in Chief, but a professional man,
who, at the moment of the crisis, proposed the administering of opium.
‘3rd. That opium was not administered to a single individual.
‘4th. That the retreat having been effected slowly, a rear-guard was
left behind in Jaffa for three days.
‘5th. That on the departure of the rear guard, the invalids were all
dead, except one or two, who must have fallen into the hands of the
English.’
But Las Cases, in his zeal, tries to prove too much; for, in a
later passage, he says, that since his return to Paris he has had
opportunities of conversing with those whose situation and profession
naturally rendered them the first actors on the scene, and he finds
‘that no order was given for the administering of opium to the sick,’
and ‘That there was not at the period in question, in the medicine
chest of the army, a single grain of opium for the use of the sick.’ So
he admits that the emperor had the proposition made to him, by a man
who must have known he had not the means to carry it out.
Is Barry O’Meara to be trusted? Let us hear what his testimony is (also
professedly from the emperor’s own lips). ‘“Previously to leaving
Jaffa,” continued Napoleon, “and after the greatest number of the
sick and wounded had been embarked, it was reported to me that there
were some men in the hospital so dangerously ill, as not to be able
to be moved. I ordered, immediately, the chiefs of the medical staff
to consult together upon what was best to be done, and to give me
their opinion on the subject. Accordingly they met, and found there
were seven or eight men so dangerously ill, that they conceived it
impossible to recover, and also that they could not exist twenty-four
or thirty-six hours longer; that, moreover, being afflicted with the
plague, they would spread that complaint amongst all who approached
them. Some of them, who were sensible, perceiving they were about to
be abandoned, demanded with earnest entreaties, to be put to death.
Larrey was of opinion that recovery was impossible, and that those
poor fellows could not exist many hours; but as they might live long
enough to be alive when the Turks entered, and experience the dreadful
torments which they were accustomed to inflict upon their prisoners, he
thought it would be an act of charity to comply with their desires, and
accelerate their end by a few hours. Desgenettes did not approve of
this, and replied, that his profession was to cure the sick, and not to
despatch them.
‘“Larrey came to me immediately afterwards, informed me of the
circumstances, and of what Desgenettes had said; adding, that perhaps
Desgenettes was right. ‘But,’ continued Larrey, ‘those men cannot live
more than a few hours, twenty-four, or thirty-six at most; and, if
you will leave a rear-guard of cavalry to stay and protect them from
advanced parties, it will be sufficient.’ Accordingly I ordered four or
five hundred cavalry to remain behind, and not to quit the place until
all were dead. They did remain, and informed me that all had expired
before they had left the town; but I have heard since, that Sydney
Smith found one or two alive when he entered it. This is the truth of
the business....
‘“You have been amongst the Turks, and know what they are; I ask you
now, to place yourself in the situation of one of those sick men, and
that you were asked which you would prefer, to be left to suffer the
tortures of those miscreants, or to have opium administered to you?”
I replied, “Most undoubtedly I would prefer the latter.” “Certainly,
so would any man,” answered Napoleon; “if my _own son_ (and I believe
I love my son as well as any father does his child) were in a similar
situation with those men, I would advise it to be done; and, if so
situated myself, I would insist upon it, if I had sense enough, and
strength enough to demand it....
‘“If I had thought such a measure, as that of giving opium, necessary,
I would have called a council of war, have stated the necessity of it,
and have published it in the order of the day.” He afterwards goes on
to say that if he had done so, some of his soldiers would have been
sure to have shot him.’
I have gone thus at length into these occurrences at Jaffa, to show
how widely spread was the belief in them, and also to prove that these
scandals were not of British origin. Whatever amount of truth there may
be in them, readers must judge, as I have laid both sides fairly before
them. That there was foundation for them, there can be no doubt--but we
know that a tale does not lose in telling.
The return to Cairo, and the battle of Aboukir, are soon dismissed by
the satirist, and not chronicled by the caricaturist.