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

THE FERMENT OF THE MIND49saw Ottoman-Egyptian cavalrymen hiding in ambush behind the dikes, preparingto attack.One officer, Detroye, head of an engineering battalion, remembered thesight of the Ottoman-Egyptian forces. “Their troops, their banners, their baggage,covered the plain without any order. Their batteries and cannon-bearinglongboats were placed advantageously in a bend. . . .” 8 The right wing of theFrench army at Shubrakhit was supported by the Nile, the center turned itsback on it, and their left was behind the village of Shubrakhit. The commanderin chief passed in front of the five divisions that composed his force and recommendedthat the officers give precise orders and that the soldiers attempt tokeep silence until the cavalry charged in. Bonaparte ordered that the division ofDesaix occupy the village of Shubrakhit. He had the division of Reynier take theright and that of Bon the left, flanking the village. The divisions of Dugua andVial elongated the right of Reynier, stretching to the south toward the river.A column of local cavalrymen rode out of a palm grove, intending to engagethe left wing of the European army, forming a half-circle so as to envelop it.The Ottoman Egyptians called this maneuver “the circle.” 9 An officer, CaptainDeponthon, remembered, “Their numbers increased perceptibly, and they wereranged along a single line before the village of Shubrakhit, with their right supportedby the river and their left extending toward us in the countryside. Theyappeared to be around 12,000 or 13,000 men, but they only had 3,000 on horse.The rest were their slaves or peasants, some of them armed with muskets, butmost with staves.” 10 The French maintained their formation, hoping the emirswould attack, since that would have been to their advantage, but they only detacheda few cavalry units who came and pranced in front of the French untilthey attracted cannon fire. That went on until 8:00 A.M.Bonaparte ordered his divisions to form infantry squares “in which theyenclosed their equipment and the few cavalrymen the French possessed; theyarranged themselves in stepped formation, such that each division flanked theother. The artillery occupied the center.” 11 Vertray remembered, “We preparedourselves to receive on our bayonets that superb cavalry, the valor ofwhich was proverbial.” Bonaparte ordered the cannon to fire when the emirsand their slave soldiers had gotten within range. The bouncing cannon ballsterrified those at whom they were aimed, so that initially they dared notcharge. The French also fired some exploding shells, to which the OttomanEgyptians and their steeds were unaccustomed. Even when they recoveredtheir nerve in the face of the artillery barrages of unaccustomed ferocity, thelocal horsemen found it impossible to penetrate the infantry squares. “The