to Europe and rub it in his face.' Technically, Napoleon was within his
rights, since the letter from the Directory authorized him to return with
or without his army. And it must be pointed out that he sent Ganteaume
back several times with a force of s,ooo reinforcements but on each
occasion the admiral was unable to make landfall. The fact that Napoleon
was unlikely to achieve much in Egypt and was needed more urgently in
Europe is irrelevant to the argument, since this was already the case when
he left France in May 1798. An honourable general would have stayed
with his men and taken his chances, even if it meant capitulating with
them. But Napoleon did not work from moral principles and despised
notions like honour if they could not be yoked to his self-interest. A man
who would remain with his army in Egypt in the context of August 1799
was not the stuff of which a future emperor was made.
The sequel in Egypt is easily told. As soon as Napoleon left, Kleber
disregarded his instructions and contacted Sidney Smith to act as
mediator between France and Turkey. By the treaty of El Arish of 13
January 18oo, Kleber agreed to leave Cairo within forty days for
Alexandria, where he and the French army would be given safe conduct
back to France. But the hardline Pitt in London refused to countenance
any terms but unconditional surrender. Two more years had to elapse
and many more battles were fought before there was an end of bloodshed
in the desert; it was not just Napoleon who was careless of human life in
this epoch. Kleber, with just 1o,ooo men, won a spectacular victory
against yet another invading Turkish army at Heliopolis on 20 March
18oo. In December that year he was assassinated by a Moslem fanatic and
succeeded by the lacklustre General Menou, the only Frenchman in
Egypt who actually converted to Islam.
Faced by what seemed to be a permanent French colony astride British
trade routes to the Orient, the government in London decided in October
18oo by a bare majority to send General Abercromby to reconquer Egypt.
The landing in Aboukir Bay in March 1801 was bitterly contested but
ultimately successful. Two weeks later a night battle was fought at
Aboukir, which the British won (though Abercromby was killed). The
French General Belliard cravenly surrendered the 1o,ooo-strong French
garrison in Cairo in June, and after a protracted campaign Menou
capitulated at Alexandria in September with his remaining 7,300
effectives. Ganteaume, heading yet another French relieving expedition,
reached Derna in Libya, 400 miles west of Alexandria but was forced to
turn back. In October the men who surrendered and their dependants
arrived back in France. Among them was Pauline Foures, who was met
marcin
(Marcin)
#1