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

GRAND CAIRO67ranks, the opposing cavalry could then have cut them down and attacked theother sides of the broken squares.Bonaparte had the division of General Dugua advance on the bulk of theOttoman-Egyptian army, placing his artillery between the Nile and Reynier.The commander in chief recalled, “We let them approach within 50 feet andthen greeted them with a hail of balls and grapeshot that caused a large numberof them to fall on the field of battle. They threw themselves into the gap betweenthe two divisions, where they took double fire that achieved their defeat.”Murad’s soldiers dropped like ripe dates from a shaken palm tree, either felledby the muskets of the squares or by the artillery. Those who survived the fusilladehastily retreated. Some 1500 Ottoman Egyptians and a similar number ofpeasants were still resisting in Imbaba proper.Bonaparte ordered the division of General Bon, then along the Nile, “totake itself off and attack the entrenchments” He had General Bon put his troopsbetween the emirs coming to make a charge, and those making a stand at Imbaba.His goal, he said, was “to prevent the cavalry from entering; to cut off theretreat of those at the retrenchment; and, if necessary, to attack the village fromthe left.” Bonaparte recalled that the first unit of each battalion “ranged themselvesin attack columns, while the second and third retained the same position,continuing to form infantry squares.” The latter advanced to support the attackcolumns. He said that the attack columns led by General Rampon “threw themselvesat the retrenchments with their usual impetuousness, despite taking agreat amount of artillery fire, while the Ottoman Egyptians made a charge.”The valiant warriors galloped out, their satin shirts iridescent. The Frenchabruptly halted, formed a front line, and received them with bayonets fixed tobarrels that let rip a cloud of balls. The defenders watched with alarm as theirroutes of communication were progressively cut off and they gradually lost eventhe possibility of a retreat. The French offered them the opportunity to surrender.The Ottoman Egyptians refused to answer, preferring death.The French officers had difficulty restraining their troops during the negotiations,and when the talks broke down, the enraged infantry rushed at Imbaba,first of all targeting the Ottoman-Egyptian artillerymen, bayonetingthem and capturing the cannon. The local soldiers fled and found themselvescut off by the French right flank, which met them with a vicious fusillade.Those who did not fall dead now threw themselves in the Nile, seeking toswim over to join Ibrahim’s forces. Many drowned or were shot in the waterby the French. The Europeans captured forty artillery pieces, numerouspieces of baggage, many munitions, and four hundred camels loaded with gold