Napoleon in Egypt (67 page)

The indications are that the newspapers and Smith’s suggestion of the Directory’s wishes all triggered in Napoleon the decision that he unconsciously wished to take. His dream of an Oriental empire was beginning to look like just that—a dream. And the situation in Egypt was not getting any better, with his army running out of men and money. His only realistic hope of the glory he so craved lay in France: he would leave Egypt and take his chance with destiny.

Perceptively, Sidney Smith had predicted in a letter written on August 9 to Earl Spencer, head of the Admiralty, that this was precisely what Napoleon would do. Smith had learned—from the emissary he had sent ashore at Alexandria to facilitate the exchange of prisoners—that Admiral Ganteaume had two frigates standing ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and had guessed that Napoleon would soon set sail for France. Furthermore, he had even predicted that Napoleon would leave Kléber in charge in Egypt, and that as Kléber had misgivings about the Egyptian expedition he would probably be open to negotiating a French evacuation. This was astonishingly perspicacious of Smith, which makes it all the more surprising that on August 12 he decided to set sail in the
Tigre
for Cyprus to replenish his stores and pick up salted provisions. He instructed his other battleship, the
Theseus
, to patrol to the west of Alexandria, ready to pounce if Ganteaume tried to make a run for it. Yet in a few days it too left its station, presumably under orders from Smith, setting sail for Rhodes, also to pick up stores and salted provisions. The explanation given for Smith’s extraordinary conduct was that his squadron had exhausted all its salted provisions during the siege of Acre, which sounds perfectly credible. But there were no salted provisions available in either Cyprus or Rhodes. In the end, Smith would choose to remain in Cyprus for over two months, playing a characteristically dashing role in preventing a mutiny of Turkish soldiers, only returning to his station off Alexandria on October 18.

Napoleon and his victorious army made a triumphant entry into Cairo on August 11, whereupon he embarked upon a week of whirlwind activity in preparation for his departure. At this stage, only Bourrienne and Chief of Staff Berthier had been told of his plans. Astonishingly, no one else knew, or guessed, what was about to take place. Only at the very last moment did Napoleon inform those who were to embark with him on the momentous voyage back to France, and all of them were sworn to secrecy. Others were given their orders of the day and sent their dispatches much as usual. Napoleon had put out a cover story that he would be leaving the city on an expedition into the delta, followed by a visit to the Natron Lakes, and then south to Fayoum, all of which would keep him away from Cairo for some time. Only with hindsight is it possible to see that he was covertly bidding several of his loyal colleagues farewell. To Poussielgue he wrote: “I am leaving tomorrow morning before dawn [for the Delta]. . . . I recommend that you proceed vigorously with the collection of all land rents and taxes. . . . Finally, remain on friendly terms with the sheiks and maintain good order in Cairo. I recommend to General Dugua that he clamps down firmly at the first sign of any trouble: if necessary cut off six heads a day, but keep smiling.”
³
He wrote angrily to Desaix in Upper Egypt, demanding to know why he had not obeyed orders and reported to Cairo. Napoleon admired Desaix and had wanted him to hand, for if he chose to go to France he wanted Desaix with him.
^*
He ended his letter with the enigmatic words: “I tell you this for the future,”
⁴
the hidden implication being that Desaix would understand Napoleon’s anger in the light of future events.

On August 17 Napoleon received a dispatch from Admiral Ganteaume, sent three days beforehand from Alexandria, which revealed that Sir Sidney Smith appeared to have temporarily lifted the blockade: “Seemingly the British and Turkish vessels which are absent have sailed for the island of Cyprus or the Archipelago [Aegean islands] to replenish their supplies, which had completely run out.”
⁵
It looked as if the coast would be clear for a few days.

There was no time to lose. Napoleon decided to leave Cairo that night. The main figures he invited to accompany him on his voyage were Generals Murat, Marmont, Andréossy and Lannes, along with several aides including his stepson Beauharnais, and the savant-artist Denon, as well as his ever-faithful Monge and Berthollet. The latter pair, who were making preparations to leave on the expedition into the delta, were sent a secret note informing them of what was happening. This threw them into some confusion when their fellow savants began pressing them about the arrangements for the forth coming expedition. And when Napoleon sent his carriage to the Institute at ten
P.M.
to collect Monge and Berthollet, Costaz and Fourier became particularly suspicious. They followed the two men to the carriage where their luggage was being loaded, demanding to know if there was any truth in the outrageous rumor sweeping the Institute that they were both going back to France. Monge, in some discomfort, blurted out incoherently: “My dear friends, if we are deparating for France, I can assure you we knew nothing about it before noon today.”
⁶

Monge and Berthollet swept off in Napoleon’s carriage, leaving the Institute in some disarray. The savants earnestly discussed what Monge could have meant by his last remark, but the poet-savant Parseval-Grandmaison had already made up his mind, and rushed upstairs to pack. If there was a group leaving for France, he was determined to be in it.

By midnight, Napoleon’s headquarters at Elfi Bey’s palace was a hive of activity, and a string of more than twenty camels was lined up in the front courtyard, seemingly in preparation for the expedition to the delta. Meanwhile the select members of the party leaving for France were assembling in the garden at the back of the palace. These included the generals and aides, as well as Napoleon’s secretary Bourrienne, his cook and his new young Mameluke bodyguard Roustam. Napoleon himself was pacing up and down with Monge and Berthollet, affecting to discuss some scientific matter in an attempt to take his mind off what was happening. According to eyewitness reports, “Madame Fourès was strolling along an adjoining path, dressed in a tight-fitting hussar’s uniform. . . . From time to time, as he often did on normal days when taking the air, he went over to Madame Fourès, giving her a few little friendly pats on the bottom, saying to her with such gaiety as to dispel any suspicions she might have: ‘This looks like a little hussar who’s spying on me!’”
⁷
Astonishingly, Pauline Fourès had no idea what was going on. She had not been let in on the secret, and was not being taken back to France. As far as she knew, Napoleon was leaving for the delta, and would be back in a week or two.

Shortly after midnight, Napoleon and his entourage set off for Boulac, where they boarded a river craft and embarked at three
A.M.
Next day, as they were sailing down the Nile, Napoleon dictated a message for Kléber: “Please report at once to Rosetta in person . . . on 7 Fructidor [August 24]. I have to confer with you on an extremely important matter.”
⁸
At this meeting he planned to reveal to Kléber that he was leaving for France, and that Kléber was being left in command. Possibly because Napoleon did not wish to confront Kléber (he could easily predict his explosive reaction), or possibly because of the speed at which events unfolded, this meeting never took place. Bourrienne was in no doubt about which of these possibilities matched the truth, commenting in his memoirs, “Bonaparte gave [Kléber] a rendez-vous where he knew he would not be; he wished to avoid the reproaches and uncompromising frankness of Kléber.”
⁹

On the afternoon of August 23, Napoleon’s party, now on horseback, skirted Alexandria and reached the sea a couple of miles east of the city. Admiral Ganteaume and General Menou were on the beach to meet them, with the frigates
La Muiron
and
La Carrère
riding at anchor offshore. Napoleon led Menou to one side, informing him for the first time what was happening. Menou was given a package containing letters of instruction to Kléber, Dugua, Poussielgue and the Cairo
divan
. He was warned not to send the letters to Cairo until forty-eight hours after the sails of the two frigates, and their two accompanying courier ships, had disappeared over the horizon. By now the sun was setting and Ganteaume insisted that Napoleon should board ship immediately, in case Sir Sidney Smith and his warships returned. They waited for the sloops to pick them up, but night fell before they could reach the shore. Clouds obscured the moon and the stars, making it pitch dark, so they were forced to light a flare to guide the sloops to where they were on the beach, despite the risk of this being seen by any passing ship. It was eight o’clock before the sloops arrived, and a further hour before Napoleon reached
La Muiron
.

The sea was flat calm, the warm darkness utterly still. They would have to wait for the dawn breeze to carry them on their way. The long, tense hours of this vigil were almost over, with first light beginning to spread over the eastern horizon, when Napoleon and his entourage came on deck at five
A.M.
Bourrienne, who was aboard Ganteaume’s
La Muiron
with Napoleon, recorded what happened next:

Just as they were running up the sails, we saw coming towards us from the port of Alexandria a sloop with Monsieur Parseval-Grandmaison on board. This fine fellow, whom we all liked, had not been amongst those chosen by the commander-in-chief to accompany him back to France. Wishing to depart at once, Bonaparte did not want to hear about anyone else coming on board. . . . Parseval-Grandmaison implored and begged to be allowed on board, but in vain.
¹⁰

Napoleon eventually relented, and Parseval-Grandmaison “was hoisted aboard with the wind already beginning to fill the sails.”
¹¹

But this favorable breeze which started them on their way was to be a rarity. Trading ships were in the habit of sailing from Europe to Alexandria in the summer, following the prevailing winds, setting back on the return journey in winter when the wind was in the opposite direction. This meant that Napoleon’s flotilla was sailing against the wind, and should have put out to sea in search of whatever breeze it was lucky enough to pick up in the opposite direction. But instead he ordered Ganteaume to hug the coast, in order to avoid any British naval vessels on patrol in the Mediterranean, and as a result they made little progess.

La Muiron
and
La Carrère
both had 100 soldiers on board, but these could have offered no protection against the guns of the British navy. According to Bourrienne, Napoleon informed his shipboard colleagues: “If the English appear, I will have myself put ashore on the sand. I will set off overland with my troops for Oran, Tunis, or some other port, and there I will find a way of taking ship for France.”
¹²
As Bourrienne put it: “Such was the irrevocable resolution fixed in his mind.”

Yet what was the motive behind this “irrevocable resolution”? Why precisely was he so keen to get back to France? All the ambition he had once had for his Oriental empire was now channeled towards one aim—France. Of this there was never any doubt, from the moment he made his decision. In Egypt he had been much more than a soldier; he had been sole ruler, responsible to no one but himself. He was not returning to France to become just a soldier again, to place himself under orders. On the contrary: “If I have the luck to set foot in France again, the reign of these chatterers is over.”
¹³
Before leaving Menou on the beach, he had promised him: “I will arrive in Paris. I will chase out that bunch of lawyers who are making a mockery of us and who are incapable of governing the Republic. I will install myself at the head of the government, and I will rally all parties in my support.”
¹⁴
His intentions could not have been plainer. The Directory—the chatterers, the ditherers, the corrupt lawyers he so despised—had sent for him with the intention of putting him once more in charge of the army. Napoleon had not received this message, nor had he any intention of accepting such a post, which would have kept him away from Paris. France was in danger, it needed a powerful man to take charge of the Republic. There was no doubt in Napoleon’s mind as to who this man should be.

Forty-seven days after setting out from Alexandria, Napoleon and his flotilla arrived off the coast of France. But he was not yet home and dry. At the very last moment, amidst a shifting mist, a British squadron caught sight of the French sails. Presuming that the only warships in this part of the Mediterranean were British, involved in the blockade of Toulon some fifty miles to the west down the coast, or allies of the British, the British naval squadron took no action and Napoleon was able to pass unmolested.

On October 9, 1799, he landed at Fréjus, where he was immediately acclaimed as the returning conqueror, the hero of whom France was in such need. Fortuitously, news of his great victory over the Turkish army at Aboukir had preceded him by just a few days. As he rapidly made his way north, he was received with acclaim at every city on his route. (Though an indication of the state into which France had sunk can be seen in the fact that his baggage train, which was following him, was attacked and robbed by brigands outside Aix-en-Provence.)

Napoleon arrived in Paris on October 16. His first meeting with Josephine was a predictably stormy affair, with promises of divorce, and her furniture being loaded onto carts and shipped out of Rue Victoire. It ended with Josephine pleading all night in tears outside his locked bedroom door. But after the usual ructions, and her ritual humiliation, Napoleon and Josephine were reconciled. There is no doubt that he still loved her; and besides, she remained part of the Parisian social circle which included Barras and Talleyrand, as well as any others who might be scheming against the Directory.