psychological warfare, allowed French ships to deliver newspapers with
news of the Directory's disastrous setbacks in I798-99, that Napoleon
decided to leave Egypt. In fact some individual French spies managed to
get to Egypt with news, and it would indeed be surprising if Napoleon
had genuinely been without all intelligence for almost an entire year; after
all, the interests of too many people, from Joseph to Barras, depended on
keeping Bonaparte fully informed.
First, though, he had to pacify Egypt. To cow internal opposition, he
organized the show trials of thirty-two members of the Cairo elite whom
he suspected of treachery and, after having them convicted on trumped
up charges, executed them during I9-22 June. His propaganda machine
got to work, exaggerating his successes everywhere, and threatening dire
retribution if the Army of Rhodes dared land at Alexandria. To boost the
morale of his men, he claimed that bubonic plague was only contracted by
men who already had a death wish and that there was nothing to fear
from the disease. But when Napoleon tried to force Dr Desgenettes to
make a public declaration that the plague was not contagious, Desgenettes
protested he could not be party to such a blatant lie. At this Napoleon
exploded with rage, and a violent altercation took place between him and
Desgenettes. Angrily Napoleon accused the doctor: 'You're all the same
with your principles, you teachers, doctors, surgeons, chemists, the whole
pack of you. Rather than sacrifice one of your precious principles, you'd
let an entire army perish, yes, even an entire society!'
The blow Napoleon had long been expecting fell on I I July, when
Sidney Smith's fleet escorted Turkish landing craft into Aboukir Bay and
disembarked I5,ooo troops. The French garrison at Aboukir under
Marmont valiantly held out until I8 July, giving Napoleon his chance to
strike at the ageing commander Mustapha Pasha. But Napoleon was
supremely ungrateful for their sacrifice. He claimed to have given orders
for razing the town of Aboukir and fortifying the citadel, which Marmont
had not carried out. When I,300 defenders (including Marmont) and one
hundred elite fighters in the citadel finally surrendered, having bought
valuable time, Napoleon simply raged about their perfidy and cowardice.
Napoleon headed north from Cairo on forced marches, together with
Lannes, Bon and their corps; Desaix was urgently recalled from Upper
Egypt. The worst anxiety for Bonaparte was that, while he was engaged
in the north, a new Turkish army might advance on Cairo from Syria.
But a planned Turkish pincer movement foundered on the incompetence
of Murad Bey. Murad was supposed to advance to Alexandria, bringing
thousands of horses to mount the Turkish host and draw the big guns.
marcin
(Marcin)
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