Napoleon in Egypt (81 page)

W. G. Regier,
Book of the Sphinx
(Nebraska, 2004)
Réimpression de L’Ancien Moniteur
(Paris, 1847)

Claire de Rémusat,
Mémoires
, 3 vols. (Paris, 1880)

Charles Richardot,
Nouveaux mémoires sur l’armée française en Égypte et Syrie
(Paris, 1848)

Roustam Raza,
Souvenirs de Roustam, mamelouck de Napoleon 1er
(Paris, 1911?)

Jack Russell,
Nelson and the Hamiltons
(London, 1969)

Terence M. Russell,
The Discovery of Egypt
(Stroud, 2005)

Michelle Sadoun-Goupil,
Le Chimiste Claude-Louis Berthollet
(Paris, 1977)

Armand Sauzet,
Desaix: le “Sultan Juste”
(Paris, 1954)

A. Savary (Duc de Rovigo),
Mémoires
, 4 vols. (Paris 1828)

Claude Savary,
Lettres sur L’Égypte
(Paris, 1785)

Nathan Schur,
Napoleon in the Holy Land
(London, 1999)

J. Thiry,
Bonaparte en Égypte
(Paris, 1978)

Lieutenant Thurman,
Bonaparte en Égypte: souvenirs
(published posthumously, Paris, 1902)

Jean Tranié,
Bonaparte: la campagne d’Égypte
(Paris, 1988)

Nicolas Turc,
Chronique d’Égypte 1798–1804
, trans. Gaston Wiet (Cairo, 1950)

Nicolas Turc (Nakoula el-Turk),
L’Expédition des Français en Égypte
, trans. M. Desgranges (Paris, 1839)

Jean Vercoutter,
The Search for Ancient Egypt
(London, 1992)

M. Vertray,
Journal d’un officier de l’armeé d’Égypte
(published posthumously, Paris, 1883)

Victoires, conquêtes, désastres, revers et guerres civiles des Français de 1792 à 1815
, 28 vols. (Paris, 1818–95)

Constantin Volney,
Oeuvres Complètes
(Paris, 1860)

Constantin Volney,
Voyage en Égypte et en Syrie
, 2 vols. (Paris, 1787)

Ben Weider and Émile Guigen,
Napoleon: The Man Who Shaped Europe
(Staplehurst, 2001)

Cooper Willyams,
A Voyage up the Mediterranean . . . with a Description of the Battle of the Nile
(London, 1802)

Adam Zamoyski,
1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow
(London, 2004)

Chapter I

*                  Although the kingdoms of England and Scotland formed a union in 1707 to become Great Britain, the French continued to refer to the British as
Anglois
or
Anglais
(i.e., the English); for reasons of consistency I have referred to Britain, the British, the British navy (which flew the Union Jack), etc., throughout.
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Chapter III

*                  Napoleon always suspected that his father was not his real father, unconsciously at first, but more openly later. He certainly discovered that his mother, Letizia, had had an affair prior to his birth, a revelation that had a profound if enigmatic effect on his psychology. This probably played a part in his deep and difficult relationship with Josephine, but what effect it had on his ambition and his need to assert his willpower remains a matter of speculation.
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*                  He was in fact twenty-eight.
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*                  The six acres of land is not mentioned in the official version of Napoleon’s speech, though there is overwhelming evidence that he did make this promise.Some sources quote it as follows: “I promise every soldier that, upon his return to France, he shall have enough money to buy himself six acres of land” (Saintine and Reybaud,
Histoire scientifique et militaire de l’Expédition Française en Égypte
, Vol. 3, pp. 43-4). However, there is much evidence that the soldiers themselves understood the promise to mean an allocation of six acres of land at their destination, for when they first saw the Egyptian wilderness they coined an ironic catchphrase: “
Voilà
—the six acres of land they promised us” (Denon,
Voyages dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte pendant les campagnes de Bonaparte
, Vol. 1, p. 21), a saying which quickly gained currency throughout the expeditionary army.
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Chapter IV

*                  
L’Orient
had previously been named
Sans-Culotte
, after the revolutionary mob of Paris, and later the extreme Republican faction. Yet the sans-culottes had now fallen from favor, and Napoleon “renamed [the ship] to give it a name more in line with the aim of the expedition” (Benoist-Méchin
, Bonaparte en Égypte
, p. 327, n. 6). But when exactly did this renaming take place? Had it been done during the preparations in Toulon, this would surely have given away the expedition’s desti-n ation. On the other hand, Napoleon first refers to
L’Orient
as such in his dispatches for May 17, two days prior to sailing, heading his dispatches for the 19th itself “On board
L’Orient
.” Whether this renaming had actually happened at this stage, or had happened and was not made public, or was simply Napoleon’s intention, or was perhaps inserted by the later editors of the
Correspondance
, remains unclear.
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*                  The apotheosis of this role would of course come with the establishment of the Napoleonic Code in France, and in the European territories that Napoleon conquered. The code remains to this day the basis of much law throughout Europe. As with surprisingly many features of the Egyptian expedition, here once again we can see Napoleon’s future being worked out in embryo.
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*                  This latter, the most rousing of all anthems, had been composed overnight by Rouget de Lisle, a young officer in the engineers, just six years previously, and was originally known as “The War Song of the Army of the Rhine.” It gained its current name because of its popularity with the units from Marseilles, many of whom were now members of the expeditionary force. Ironically, it would later be banned by Napoleon when he became emperor, because of its revolutionary associations.
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*                  The savants had been provided with their own uniforms, designed by Napoleon himself, which were a plain version of those worn by celebrated members of the Institute in Paris. These uniforms were the object of much contempt and derision amongst all ranks of those who wore “proper” military or naval uniforms.
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*                  In the dark and under misty conditions, British squadron procedure was to sound guns at regular intervals, enabling ships to stay in contact, and by following the direction of the sound to maintain relative position.
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Chapter V

*                  Estimates vary, with some authoritative sources claiming the population was down to 6,000. However, the evidence suggests that 24,000 was more likely, of which around 800 were Jews, 100 Greeks, and 100 other Europeans, mainly French and British traders.
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*                  Now on the Thames embankment in London.
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Chapter VI

*                  In fact, a later verse in this song specifically refers to the invading German army which the Army of the Rhine had faced:

Do you hear in the countryside
The roar of those savage soldiers
Who come to . . . cut the throats of our sons, our comrades.
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*                  As the great German military theorist Clausewitz perceptively noted, a distinctive uniform plays an essential role in a soldier’s life: it makes him identify with the glorious traditions of his regiment, and at the same time its very distinctiveness renders him noticeable, making it difficult for him to desert—for better or for worse, he is identified with his regiment.
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*                  Sources differ as to the precise timing of this encounter, which may well have happened
before
Desaix arrived at El Ramaniyah.
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Chapter VII

*                  Most sources say he was Greek, although El-Djabarti identifies him as Armenian.
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*                  In this instance, usually a makeshift wooden cylinder wrapped in a spiral around a central axle, inclined at 45º with its foot in water. When the axle is turned, water is carried up from twist to twist of the cylinder, eventually disgorging at a higher level. Although this ingenious device may in fact not have been invented by Archimedes, it certainly dates from his time—that is, some 2,000 years previously.
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*                  The Janissaries were the Ottoman garrison officially under the command of the Turkish pasha, but were in practice commanded by the Mamelukes. They were trained infantry, and were mainly Albanian in origin. It is unclear precisely how many of them were garrisoned in Egypt at this time, but a figure of a few thousand is most likely. Napoleon, and other French sources, often used this name loosely to describe any Egyptian troops.
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*                  There are several versions of this speech: the version I have given collates some of Napoleon’s more characteristic phrases. On the other hand, many reliable sources claim that he never in fact made the speech, simply inserting it into his memoirs to add to his legend. However, the fact that he did make the speech was confirmed in a recently published letter by Bernoyer, written on the day after the battle. (This letter was only made public in 1976 with the posthumous publication of Bernoyer’s
Avec Bonaparte en Égypte
, where it appears on p. 59.)
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*                  I have been unable to identify this group; indeed there is a strong possibility that it is either a word coined by Napoleon (which appears nowhere else in the French language) or a misprint which runs through all editions.
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Chapter VIII

*                  Napoleon used this title loosely to refer to leading religious, and sometimes civic or tribal, dignitaries.
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*                  In the following century this would become the site of the celebrated Shepheard’s Hotel.
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*                  The French soon began regularly referring to
all
the inhabitants of Egypt as “Turks,” possibly a reflection of the fact that the country was part of the Ottoman Empire.
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*                  Though some historians have cast doubt on these figures, mathematicians I have consulted assure me that they are indeed correct (personal conversations with Howard Martin and Mark Strathern). In some sources Napoleon is quoted as saying this wall around France would be “ten feet high and three feet wide.” It is not clear which system of measurement he actually used. The exact proportions of the metric system were not decided until 1797, and thus only came into use during the year before the Egyptian expedition set out. As is evident from the memoirs and official correspondence of the expedition, many continued to use, and think in terms of, the older system.
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Chapter X

*                  The earlier signal from the
Zealous
had been inaccurate.
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*                  The sheet anchor was the largest on board, and was least likely to drag. The springs were attached to the anchor cable, enabling the vessel to swing to one side or the other.
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*                  Nelson must also have given an order which strictly contravened British naval practice. He was “Admiral of the Blue,” which meant that he and his ships sailed under the blue ensign. But at the Battle of the Nile his squadron fought under the red ensign, whose most distinctive feature was a red cross on a white background. He reasoned that the whiteness of this large flag would further assist the British ships in recognizing one another in the dark.
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*                  This incident was witnessed by several French survivors, and passed on to Napoleon, who mentioned it in his consequent report to the Directory. It would later give rise to the popular verse by the American poet Felicia Hemans:

The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle’s wreck,
Shone round him o’er the dead . . .
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*                  However, Nelson would have the last word in this personal contest: seven years later he would meet Villeneuve, now commander of the French fleet, at the Battle of Trafalgar. After this loss Villeneuve would commit suicide rather than face Napoleon’s wrath once more.
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Chapter XI

*                  The venerated grandson of the Prophet.
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*                  It is unclear whether this figure included those assets which now lay at the bottom of Aboukir Bay with
L’Orient
.
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*                  Each of these figures resided within the confines of the Ottoman Empire, though by this period the further regions of the empire maintained varying degrees of autonomy. Libya, for instance, was virtually independent under the Karamanlis.
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*                  During this period the name
Syria
was used to denote the entire region east and north of Sinai, as far as Turkey, including modern Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as the territory now known as Syria.
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