72 ISLAM AT WAR
litia remained under Murad to defend Cairo, while a force of around
100,000 advanced north to engage the French.
The first minor engagement occurred on July 10. Mamluk cavalry
charged the French infantry, who formed a square and drove them away
with disciplined musketry. Further small fights continued until July 21,
when the French army marched onto the plain at Giza and into the shad-
ows of the Pyramids and the Sphinx.
Murad Bey assumed command of the defending army. He probably
should have stayed on the east bank of the Nile, but it was not the Mamluk
way to avoid combat. He led his army across the Nile and established a
primitive fortified camp surrounded by rough trenches and protected by
forty immobile guns.
The 25,000-man-strong French army found itself confronted by the
8,000-man Mamluk cavalry army supported by a large force of Egyptian
infantry, whose military value was slight. The French formed themselves
into great hollow squares with their artillery at the corners and their cav-
alry in the middle of the squares. A small flotilla of French gunboats
floated on the Nile to support the French flank.
The Mamluks charged forward in their ferocious battle formation, but
the French squares stood firm and raked the oncoming squadrons with
disciplined musketry and canister-fire from their supporting cannons. De-
spite the murderous fire, the Mamluks swept around and through the line
of squares, firing their pistols at close range, but their effort was over-
whelmed by that of the French. Empty saddles multiplied in the Mamluk
ranks at a tremendous rate.
The fire of a battery of Mamluk cannons came from a village, but the
French infantry overran them and slaughtered the gunners. This maneuver
cut off the Mamluks’ retreat and they panicked. Turning toward the Nile,
they plunged into it and tried to swim away. At least 1,000 drowned and
a further 600 were shot down. When the battle ended, Murad Bey and his
3,000 surviving cavalry withdrew to Cairo. Egypt was lost and gained.
Napoleon’s victory had cost him 29 killed and less than 300 wounded.
Murad Bey had lost more than 2,000 Mamluks and thousands offellahin
militia.
More than just Egypt was won on the fields at Giza—loot was abundant.
The Mamluks had a tradition of carrying large quantities of gold and
jewels with them into battle. Many a French soldier grew rich picking the
bodies of the dead Mamluks. In this vein, a soldier of the 32nd Demi-
Brigade was the first to go fishing in the Nile. The Mamluks that had
drowned or been shot in the river were floating treasuries just waiting to
be looted by an industrious angler. This soldier discovered that the poorly