David Smethurst's Blog

              Suddenly, the boom of cannons shook us from our thoughts as the earthworks of Embabeh erupted in flames and smoke. The Mamelukes shelling Vial and Bon’s divisions, two squares of tightly packed men. The square was designed to protect us from the Mameluke cavalry, but presented a ripe target for Murad’s gunners.             A stunned look appeared on the faces of my men as we saw the balls arc toward Vial’s division and skip through their ranks, cutting down files of men six deep.  

  At one in the morning, the drummers beat the call to arms. Thousands of men shuffled and cursed to get into formation in the inky darkness. Again we were ordered to march in square, a sure sign that the General expected a battle.   We marched through fields on the right bank of the Nile in echelon. Vial’s division marched beside the banks of the Nile. To their left was Bon’s division. We anchored the center of the line and to our right, Reynier and Desaix anchored the flank.   At four in the

               We had defeated Murad Bey’s first thrust, but the true enemy, however, was not the Mamelukes, but the merciless heat and hunger.  To take the shortest route to Cairo, we had to march across the desert, away from our supply boats. So again we set out across the broken, dusty desert with a ration of three biscuits per man. Each biscuit weighed four ounces. I divided my biscuits into three packets, saving one for each day.              We marched three more days, changing form column[image error]

              Spies had reported that Murad Bey had moved south from Cairo. The estimate of his army’s strength was on the order of seven thousand cavalry and ten thousand fellahin, or footmen. Against this formidable cavalry force we had some two hundred dragoons. I hoped the General had some tactics in mind to counteract Murad’s decided advantage, or else we would end up  fertilizing a good portion of the Nile basin.             As we marched along the west bank of the Nile through fields of[image error]

We left Alexandria on 18 Messidor, heading east toward Rosetta. The khamsin blew steadily, creating whirlwinds of fine sand that stung our eyes and sapped our strength. The sun beat down on us cruelly. Our route took us along the coast toward Rosetta, which lay at the mouth of one of the Nile tributaries. Our role was to take the town and allow our naval forces to pass upriver to support our expeditionary force. After taking Rosetta, we would pivot south and march along the left bank of the[image error]

The General’s headquarters at the base of Pompey’s Pillar hummed with activity as the General awaited the arrival of the commandant of the city, Mohammed el-Koraim, as well as the sheiks, who would formally surrender. They arrived at noon.   I watched from a nearby vantage point where my platoon was stationed to guard the entrance to the city. The entire affair was for the most part, formal, as the General accepted el-Koraim’s surrender. However, once concluded, I witnessed a French soldier[image error]

  The boats ferried men and material back and forth all night until about four thousand of us were on the beach. Most of the men were from Kléber’s, Menou’s, and Bon’s division. Desaix had still not landed, and Reynier was on the beach, but with only a hundred or so men.   At 2 a.m., Colonel Mallot called over the lieutenants and captains who had managed to get ashore. Looking around at the group of officers, I saw that no more than a third of the unit had landed.   “Gentlemen,” he said. “We’ll[image error]

  As we approached the ochre-colored shore of Egypt I gripped the taffrail and peered at the shore, taking in my first glimpse of the fabled city of Alexandria.  It was a disappointing sight. Instead of seeing a glorious gem of antiquity, she looked decrepit, ruined. I spied Pompey’s Pillar and the decaying walls of a fortress, as well as a thicket of masts in the harbor, but for the most part, the reality of Egypt did not square with my romantic notion.   “There! Philippe,” cried Paul. “Look at[image error]

  I am the youngest of three brothers, and grew up in a small village to the west of Nice in southern France. I joined the army for two reasons. The first was that my older brother, Joseph, had joined at the start of the Revolution, among the first mass of volunteers. He came home, regaling me with stories of soldiering. I looked up to him, and wanted to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to defend France from her enemies.   The second reason was that I was nineteen years old, and I was a[image error]

  I am writing a new book about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798.  I'll be posting chapters in the coming weeks. Here's the first installment:     The Egypt Campaign     IN 1798, NAPOLÉON BONAPARTE LED AN ARMY OF 50,000 TO OVERTHROW EGYPT'S DESPOTIC RULER AND SPREAD ENLIGHTENMENT THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST. THIS IS ONE SOLDIER'S STORY OF THAT FATEFUL EXPEDITION.     Historical Note    Napoléon Bonaparte’s Egypt campaign began in the summer of 1798 when his army captured Alexandria, and[image error]