Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-07-25
NAPOLEON IN EGYPT.
aardshIps of His soldiers at the B.tt,. -
the Pyrxmida

dardships or HIS Soldiers at the Battle Of
the Pyramtds.
The march through Egypt from Alex.
andria to Cairo was an awful trial to
the French soldiers. The skv was
brass, their feet sank in the hot. sand
and mounted guerrillas tormeuted
them from behind the low hillocks on
each side of their line of march. No
enemy more redoubtable than a few
half-naked fellaheen disputed their
progress; but even when. on july IN
they came in sight of the Nile and
their sufterings were about mitipated.
it was in vain that their general sought
to silence their bitter cries of disheart-
ened anger. Three days later thew
were attacked at Shebreket bv the
mounted outposts of the Mamelukes.
under Murad, chief hey of the force.
The irregular and individual attacks
of the well-armed and gorgeously-
equipped cavalry broke harmlessly
against the serried ranks of the French
veterans, and the desultory firing of the
Turkish artillery was quickly silenced:
the rusty cannon, though aimed point
blank at the gunboat f1otilla which was
ascending the river, did little Or no
damage. The enemies withdrew and
concentrated their forces for a final
stand before Cairo. behind the lines Of
Emba beh.
On July 81 Bonaparte ordered his
troops in squares six men deep, as be-
fore. They were to advance so as to
cut off the enemy's retreat southwark.
and were to halt only to receive a
charge. Soldiers" cried the general,
,frrr-
from the summit of the pvramids,"
The resistance was scarcely worthy of
the name. Five thousand horsemen
and as many fellaheen were behind the
weak ramparts. Murad and his men
dashed forward with desperate courage
against the phalanx of Desaix, but only
to rebound from its iron sides against
the equally impressive lines of Reynier
and Dugua- Ibrahim. the other Name
luke leader. fed eastward across the
river, and Murad toward the south;
the undisciplined infantry scattered
and ran like frightened sheep. Cairo
was in the hands of the French.
This so-called battle of the Pyramids
will ever have fictitious and romantic
fame. Its results were temporarily i'm
portant. The idea that east and west
were fighting under the shadow of
those monuments which, now hoary
with age, were among the first achieve
ments of civilized human intelligence,
thrilled the great nation" and added
new luster to Bonaparte's laurels in
the minds Of a people which revels in
great conceptions: and yet but thirty
French soldiers were killed, and only
one hundred and twenty were wound
ed. 1t was skirmish, much more
decisive than that at Shebreket, to be
sure, and somewhat more bloody, but
only a skirmish. Both awere repre-
sented to the directory as great battles,
the five Mamelukes killed in the first
being magni6ed to three hundred.
The camp at Embabeh furnished rich
spoils to the victorious leaders, but the
tabled wealth of Cairo. destined for
the soldiery, proved to be like apples
of SodoDn. The army had been angry
and disheartened; deprived of its ac-
customed booty. it became sullen and
mutinous. There was no news from
home. Oriental apathy long defied
even Bonaparte's administrative pow
ers. Egypt was subdued, but the stu
ton of the general and of his troops
was apparently desperate.
Nothing daunted by what would
have broken a feebler spirit. the disil-
lusioned conqueror turned to the con-
quest of another world. Africa had
failed him. but Asia was near, and a
revolution might be effected there.
The maltreatment of French mer-
chants in Syria had been one of
the Directory's original grounds of
complaint; it must serve another turn.
and if the sultan were sufficiently
humbled, he might be compelled to an
alliance against the menacing league
of Russia and Austria.-Prof. Sloane,
in Century.