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

THE FERMENT OF THE MIND51so as to enjoy their surprise when they see such an explosion.” Bernoyer observeddrolly that the surprise was not long in coming, but issued from otherthan the expected quarter. The sailors suddenly caught sight of three of Murad’scannons hidden along the Nile and realized they were in their sights. The crewpanicked, with many throwing themselves in the water, rather than working togetherto sail the craft to the other shore and out of range. The cannons openedfire and smashed Yaounsky’s ship to smithereens.Seven Cairene gunboats appeared and engaged the French flotilla. The battlewas now joined on the Nile itself. The French naval officer Jean-BaptistePerrée, aboard the xebec Cerf, commanded the French flotilla. He had the shipsunder his command cast anchor and start blasting with their cannon. Al-Jabartiwrote that Commodore Halil Kürdlü, commander of the Nile navy, ripostedwith his own artillery. The victory remained in doubt for some time, but the Ottoman-Egyptianvessels appeared to have the upper hand. Perrée confessed toBourrienne, “The Turks were doing us more harm than we were doing them.”The Europeans were running out of ammunition and were still far from thearmy. Many of the passengers, scientists, and artists aboard ship found themselveshaving to take up arms to repulse the Egyptian sailors who attempted toboard them. “All the French,” Captain Say remarked, “were soldiers.” The OttomanEgyptians at one point seized the most powerful of the French brigs,along with several other vessels, and the sailors, Bourrienne said, “massacred thecrews before our eyes, and with barbarous ferocity showed us the heads of theslaughtered men.” It appeared that the French flotilla might well be destroyed,even though the main brig was recaptured in hard fighting.Two things happened next to forestall a disaster for Bonaparte’s river navy.First, al-Jabarti reported that at this point, the sail of Kürdlü’s flagship caughtfire. The flames spread to the hold where gunpowder was stored and caused itto explode, killing him and his sailors. Second, Perrée had managed, at considerablerisk, to get word to Bonaparte of the dire straits he faced, and the commanderin chief hurried the movement of his left flank along the Nile againstthe emirs and their slave soldiers, even though that ruined any chance for a pincermovement from the right flank that could have cut off and destroyed thecavalrymen, who therefore were enabled to flee. Bonaparte then undertook aforced march to rescue the flotilla. When the beylicate’s second-in-command onthe Nile saw the approach of the army, he weighed anchor and retreated towardCairo. The French boarded the Egyptian ships that did not escape. Bourrienneconfessed that the opposing navy “did us considerable injury, while on their partthey suffered but little.” Twenty Frenchmen were killed, and several wounded,