Napolean in Egypt: How Egypt Became a Casualty of the Anglo-French War

In 1798, Napolean Bonaparte, the notorious French general and military advisor, set his eyes on conquering Egypt.

At the time, the French Republic reigned almost unparalleled in Europe, following their string of victories in the War of the First Coalition. Nonetheless, the French continued to face fierce opposition from Great Britain.

Hoping to put an end to this bilateral conflict, the French Revolutionary government (the Directory) assembled a 120,000-man army, to be led by Napoleon, for an invasion of Britain. However, after assessing Britian’s military strength, Napolean concluded that the French forces were no match for the British.

Thus, he sought instead to weaken the empire and he thought the best way to do this was to colonize Egypt. With the North African nation under their control, the French would be able to block the Red Sea, a major trade route for Britain’s East India Company, and cripple the British economy.

Moreso, the strength of the French colonial empire had dwindled following the loss of its colonies in the West Indies earlier that century. Consequently, the speculated wealth of Egypt made it a promising target for a colonial expedition.

Additionally, some historians opine that a hidden objective of the expedition was to remove Napolean who had become wildly popular in France following his success in the Italian Campaign which ended the previous year. Thus, the Directors (French leaders) easily consented to the expedition.

Landing in Egypt

Napolean set out for Egypt in May 19 with approximately 400 ships and 30,000 troops, eventually landing near Alexandria on July 1.

Just before their arrival, British Admiral Horatio Nelson had stormed the region looking for them. The British had caught wind of the French fleet and suspected that they were out to get them, but later realised that their ploy was an indirect one.

On July 2, the French easily conquered Alexandria, a major city in Egypt, as it was poorly defended. At this time, Egypt was ruled by the Mamelukes, descendants of Muslim slave soldiers who had stamped out the Ottoman rulers in the region. The Mamelukes had given Alexandria only a small garrison, leaving the sparse population to defend itself.

Napolean set up a provisional government in Alexandria and created a propaganda program that painted him as the messiah from the Mamelukes, who had ruled the region with an iron fist for centuries.

Then on July 7, he headed for Cairo, following a column that had been begun a journey through the desert, the most direct route from Alexandria. Another column, which had the army’s baggage and was under Gen. Charles Dugua, took a longer but less difficult route and was to meet with a portion of the fleet on the Nile at Rosetta. Thereafter, they would proceed to Ramanieh, where they would rejoin Napolean.

However, Napolean’s column was harassed by Bedouins, an ethnic group that resided in the desert, and suffered starvation. Many of the soldiers either died by suicide or from starvation. The surviving members of the column arrived at Ramanieh on July 10 and were joined by Dugua’s column a day later.

On July 12, the complete force began moving south along the west bank of the Nile so as to position themselves for an approaching attack by Mameluke troops, who had been sighted by scouts.

The following day, the French troops met an army of about 15,000-18,000 at the small town of Shubra Khit. The French forces arranged themselves in five squares—one for each division—over 2 miles, eventually defeating their less organized opponents. This clever tactic, called the divisional square, would also be employed in subsequent battles.

The Battle of the Pyramids

By July 20, the French army had advanced to Umm Dinar, 18 miles north of the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Scouts sent word that an Egyptian force led by Murad Bey was positioned at the west bank of the Nile at Embabeh, 6 miles from Cairo and 15 miles from the pyramids of Giza.

Another Egyptian force, led by Ibrahim Bey, was positioned at the east bank of the Nile, but remained spectators to the battle that ensued.

At 2 AM on July 21, the French started the 12-hour march to meet the Murad-led Egyptian force, with Napolean reportedly charging, “Soldiers! From atop these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you”

At about 3:30 PM, the 6,000-man Mameluke cavalry charged the 25,000-man French army, thus beginning the Battle of the Pyramids. Napolean once again formed his troops into five squares—which were actually shaped like rectangles with a full brigade forming the front and back lines and a half brigade forming the side lines. Each “square” had six ranks of infantry on all sides and protected cavalry and transport in their centres.

The superb formation easily deflected the charges of the Mameluke horsemen, shooting them as they approached and impaling any that managed to breach the squares. As the centre resisted the charge, the right and left lineups marched forward, forming a crescent shape and nearly surrounding the remnant of the Egyptian forces. The French then stormed the Egyptian camp and dispersed their troops, driving many of them to drown in the Nile.

After the battle, several more disorganized Egyptian infantry were killed, captured or scattered. While there were reportedly as many as 6,000 Egyptian casualties, only hundreds of the French were killed or injured.

For days, the French stripped the corpses of the Mameluke fatalities of valuables, many of which were stitched into their clothing.

Murad burned his fleet before leaving for Upper Egypt with the rest of his troops. The smoke from the ships caused a widespread panic among the people of Cairo. While many of them fled the city with their belongings, they were slaughtered and robbed by Bedouin mercenaries, who had ironically been hired by the Mamelukes to protect them.

Ibrahim absconded eastward along with the Turkish pasha, who had been the leader of Egypt only in name.

By July 24, Napolean had triumphantly entered Cairo. However, this victory was short-lived. On August 1, Napolean’s naval fleet was destroyed by the Nelson-led British navy in the Battle of the Nile. The harrowing loss resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 French seamen and trapped Napolean and his party of 35,000 in Egypt.

The Aftermath

As the self-installed master of Egypt, Napolean began to set up establishments of—what he viewed as—western civilisation. He built the Institut d’Egypte for French scientists, a library, a chemistry laboratory, a health service, a botanical garden, an observatory, a zoo and an antiquities museum, before he finally returned to France in 1799.

While Napolean’s army was ultimately defeated and repatriated by the British in 1801, the Egyptian Campaign continues to hold immense significance centuries after. For one, it further cemented Napolean’s status as a powerful military leader, having defeated the Mamelukes who had previously been considered invincible. Some believe that his dealings in Egypt were ample preparation for his subsequent conquest of Europe.

Additionally, Napolean’s expedition party included over 150 scientists whose studies on ancient and modern Egypt led to major scientific breakthroughs. The scientists—including astronomers, mathematicians and naturalists—were supposed to study Egypt’s environment, history and culture and determine how best to exploit them for the French Republic’s benefit. The three-year scientific quest resulted in many intriguing discoveries, including mummified remains, that fuelled the Western world’s fascination with Egypt, birthing Egyptology.