Other sources place this event as occurring in Alexandria, Egypt during the Egyptian campaign against the Ottoman Empire. This variant may have been inspired by Napoleon's letter to General Auguste de Marmont just prior to the 1799 Battle of Abukir when Marmont was in Alexandria. It urged Marmont to provide an attack warning system by securing "a large quantity of dogs which can be made use of by posting them in front of your fortifications". After this event, the Colonel of the grenadier regiment is said to have formally placed Moustache on the roll as a grenadier and gave him a collar bearing the regiment's name. Additionally, he ordered that Moustache receive the field rations entitled to a grenadier and that he be combed by the unit's barber once per week.