October 1798 to March 1799
The Syrian campaign
In Cairo the French face a revolt on 21 and 22 October 1798, which they put down with artillery fire on the al-Azhar Mosque, and 5,000 to 6,000 Cairenes are killed or wounded. After the loss of the fleet Sultan Selim III declares war on France. He prepares two armies against Egypt, one to advance from Syria, where Jezzar Pasha governs from Acre, and one to come by sea from Rhodes.
Bonaparte decides to strike first. On 10 February 1799 he leaves Cairo with about 13,000 men in the divisions of Kléber, Bon, Lannes and Reynier, Murat’s cavalry and a camel company, while Rear-Admiral Perrée is to bring the heavy siege guns by sea. El Arish surrenders on 19 February after an unexpected siege, and Gaza falls without a fight on 25 February.
On 3 March the army reaches Jaffa, whose walls are held by troops of Jezzar with 1,200 Ottoman gunners. The French storm the city on 7 March and sack it. Bonaparte then has the prisoners of the garrison, who had surrendered on a promise of their lives, shot on the shore, 2,100 by one count and more than 3,000 by others. He later justifies it by the lack of food and escorts.
Bonaparte visiting the plague victims of Jaffa, painting by Antoine-Jean Gros, 1804Wikimedia Commons, Antoine-Jean Gros, Public domain (Antoine-Jean Gros - Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims of Jaffa.jpeg)
On 15 March British ships under Commodore Sir Sidney Smith reach Acre. Smith helps Jezzar strengthen the defences with guns and with sailors and marines from his ships, and captures the French flotilla carrying the siege artillery. The French arrive before Acre and open the siege on 20 March with infantry and field guns only.
Sir Sidney Smith at the walls of Acre, portrait by John EcksteinWikimedia Commons, John Eckstein, Public domain (Sir William Sidney Smith by John Eckstein.jpg)
Sources
- David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (1966).
- Paul Strathern, Napoleon in Egypt (2008).
- Juan Cole, Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East (2007).
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