Battle of Abukir (1799)

The French forces had just returned from a campaign to Syria, and the Turkish force had been transported to Egypt by Sidney Smith's British fleet to liberate Egypt from French rule.

Prelude

Seid Mustafa Pasha was an experienced commander who had fought against the Russians. He knew of the futility of cavalry charges against the French squares and so sought to avoid that by fortifying his beach head with two defensive lines. From this beach head Mustafa could carry out the invasion of Egypt.

Napoleon however immediately saw the flaw of such a tactic as it meant that the Turks had no where to run if routed.

Battle

The French attacked the Turkish positions and quickly broke through the first defensive line which had not been fully completed. The second line however proved tougher to defeat and the French withdrew for a while. As was customary of the Turkish in their previous battles against the French, the Turks came out of their positions and began finishing off the wounded and mutilating the dead. At this point, cavalry general Murat saw the opportunity and attacked with his cavalry, quickly routing the exposed Turks.

Murat's charge was so rapid he that he burst inside Mustafa's tent and captured the Turkish commander, severing two of the Turk's fingers with his sabre. In return, Mustafa had shot a pistol at Murat, hitting him in the jaw. Murat later mused that his lips were fortunately safe.

The Turkish army fled in panic. Many drowned futilely trying to swim to the British ships two miles out to sea while others fled to Abukir castle, which surrendered shortly thereafter. The Turks suffered about 8,000 casualties, while the French only 1,000.

News of the victory reached France before Napoleon arrived in October and helped make him even more popular, an important asset considering the troubles brewing in the Directory.

See also

• Battle of Abukir (1801)

References