Napoleon's Egypt: Invading The Middle East - Reenactor.ru

20 NAPOLEON’S EGYPTat the price of subordination to a foreign power and of being cleaned out oftreasure and objets d’art.In contrast, the revolutionary French government had attempted to runHaiti (then Saint-Domingue) as a simple colony. Unexpectedly, the spread tothis French colony of the ideals of the Revolution led to the emergence of freeblack former slaves and of slaves themselves as an active political force. Franceended slavery there, and lost control of the territory in the 1790s to the Britishnavy and local leaders such as the revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture. Moiretand others clearly wanted to see imposed on Egypt a French-enforced Directoryrepublicanism like that of Holland or Switzerland, though aspects of aSaint-Domingue-style colony were also in their minds.Bonaparte himself later listed among his objects in undertaking the conquestof Egypt establishing “a French colony on the Nile, which would prosperwithout slaves, and serve France instead of the republic of Saint Domingo, andof all the sugar islands.” 32 Bonaparte’s marriage to Josephine, born and bred onthe West Indies island of Martinique, alerted him to Caribbean affairs. He thusrepresented himself, at least, as sensitive to the economic damage France hadsuffered in losing control of Saint-Domingue in the 1790s, and the need for anew colony to substitute for it. Both he and Talleyrand consistently mentionedsugar as a desirable commodity, and it may well be that Egypt’s cane crop was itsprimary draw for them.When the French arrived off Alexandria on the morning of 1 July, the shipswere assailed by “impetuous winds, which mixed together all the vessels and putthem in the greatest disorder.” 33 Some were sure that, at dawn, they had glimpsedNelson’s sails above the horizon. Bonaparte sent a frigate to do reconnaissance,and it discovered an Egyptian vessel, which approached. The French officer inducedthe Egyptian captain to lead him to the Egyptian flagship, the commanderof which, unable to take evasive action, came and informed the French that twodays before, the English fleet had appeared in the harbor of Alexandria. TheBritish had attempted to warn the governor, or kashif, Sayyid Muhammad Kurayyim,of the French intention to assault his country, but Kurayyim had haughtilyrefused Nelson’s ships permission to remain or to take on fresh water andprovisions. This intelligence produced profound consternation among the Frenchsailors and troops, who had a healthy regard for the prowess of the British navy.Bonaparte is said to have cried out, “Fortune, do you abandon me? Only fivemore days!” The words implied that he could get a toehold in Egypt in less than aweek, if only he could avoid Nelson for that long. Though some have denied thathe spoke the words, he almost certainly felt the sentiments.