In ordering an expedition to Egypt and creating an Army of the Orient under the command of the young General Napoleon Bonaparte in April 1798, France’s post-revolutionary Directory sought to do two things. The first was to block Britain’s trade route to India and re-establish commerce with the Levant (refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Cyprus). The second unstated objective was to remove the ambitious young Bonaparte, whose popularity following his success in the Italian Campaign of the previous year rendered him a threat in contemporary volatile politics.

General Bonaparte famously addressed his troops on their arrival in Egypt with the words: “From the heights of the Pyramids, 40 centuries look down on us”. The reality of France’s Egyptian Campaign was less grandiose, and descriptions by surviving French Officers of Napoleon’s decision to trek his 37,000 troops across the desert rather than follow the Nile River from Alexandria, tell of appalling mismanagement, of thirst, discomfort, disease, and death.

Nevertheless, it was in the Battle of the Pyramids (more accurately the Battle of Embabeh in the Gaza plain where the battle actually took place) that Napoleon famously routed the Mameluke cavalry by putting into practice his innovative use of the massive so-called Divisional Square, a tactic first deployed in Antiquity. The Mamelukes had effectively ruled Egypt since the 13th Century and were legendary, apparently invincible and fearless warriors. Their defeat at the hands of General Bonaparte further enhanced his reputation.

The Battle of the Pyramids between French troops, led by Bonaparte, and 21,000 Egyptian Mameluke soldiers was a resounding victory for the French. In contrast, the French naval fleet, stationed in the Bay of Aboukir, was attacked by the newly arrived British fleet, under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson, and was roundly defeated. Following this naval defeat, Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign remained land-based.

Having installed himself as master of Egypt by force, Bonaparte then set about installing in Egypt what he viewed as the benefits of Western Civilisation. He established the Institut d’Egypte for French scholars, a library, a chemistry laboratory, a health service, a botanical garden, an observatory, an antiquities museum and a zoo. Certainly, Bonaparte held high hopes of advancing both his own status and expanding the French Empire.

Despite the fact that the Military Campaign was a failure when the French Fleet was destroyed by Lord Nelson and the British Navy at Aboukir in the Battle of the Nile (effectively blockading the Army of the Orient in Egypt), the Egyptian Campaign acquired legendary status. Napoleon and his personal body-guard, Raza Roustam, as well as a number of the captured Mamelukes, departed Egypt in 1799; while the majority of the Army were repatriated back to France by the British Navy following the final defeat of the French forces in Egypt in 1801.

Nevertheless, the Egyptian Campaign entered into the popular imagination. Around 154 scholars from every profession – from archaeology to architecture, medicine to geography, and engineering to lexicography – had accompanied Napoleon to Egypt as part of this expedition. Their scientific studies of both ancient and modern Egypt, together with the legendary status of the Battle of the Pyramids, established a mystique embracing both the Pharaohs and the exotic Orient.

The Battle of the Pyramids signalled the beginning of the end of seven centuries of Mamluk Rule in Egypt. Despite this auspicious beginning, British Admiral Horatio Nelson‘s victory in the Battle of the Nile 10 days later effectively ended Napoleon’s ambitions in Egypt.

Source: Talk Diplomacy (Instagram)

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das