Battle of Aboukir

“ The scene from the shore was intensely exciting. In each fleet there were thirteen battle-ships, but the French ships were the larger and more heavily armed. They carried forty-six more guns, and the weight of their broadside was 14,029 pounds to 10,695 pounds, while they carried 2300 more men, and were 5000 tons heavier. They had, too, in addition, four frigates, besides the mortar vessels, gun-boats, and the battery on the island of Aboukir. Soon after six o'clock, the two leading vessels of the British fleet being within range, the French opened fire, as did the guns [Pg 83] of the battery. ”

“ In the pocket of General Roiz, who had been killed in the battle, was found a letter from General Menou, expressing fear that the English would cut the Canal of Alexandria and let the waters of it and Lake Aboukir into the old bed of Lake Mareotis. It was evident that an immense advantage would be gained by this. Our own left would be secure against attack. The French would be nearly cut off from the interior, and the British army be enabled to undertake fresh operations. General Hutchinson, however, hesitated for a long time before taking the step. ”

“ Since that great battle of the Nile has been told in poetry and in the cool precision of naval historians, shall a mere romancer attempt the middle, the impossible course? Better leave it immense, vague, majestic, half hidden in the smoke of guns and drowned in their uproar. It is a battle of the Titans, the foes of centuries at death-grips for the mastery of the world: the old and new worlds tremble in the balance; the American continent, the ancient glories of the Moguls in India, are all at stake in Aboukir Bay ”

“ They continued carrying sail; and standing in for the enemy's fleet, in close line of battle. As all the officers of the squadron were totally unacquainted with Aboukir Bay, each ship kept sounding as she stood in.
"The enemy appeared to be moored in a strong and compact line of battle, close in with the shore; their line describing an obtuse angle in it's form, flanked by numerous gun-boats, four frigates, and a battery of guns and mortars on an island in their van. This situation of the enemy seemed to secure to them the most decided advantages ”

“ To be successful, such a rising should have been prompt. They should have wasted no time in killing tradesmen and plundering their shops. They should have hurled themselves at once upon the troops and cut them to pieces before they had time to recover from their surprise. Had they acted thus they might have succeeded. Now they have allowed the whole of the French to gather, with their guns, and after what happened in the battle, I fear there can be little doubt of what will occur when we attack them ”

“ Twelve guns were posted on the sand-hills, and the Castle of Aboukir was able to assist with the fire of its guns. So strong was the position that the French had hardly deemed it possible that the British would decide to attack them here; but as the boats dashed forward, every man rowing as if his life depended upon his efforts, they could no longer doubt the intentions of the British, and a tremendous fire of grape and musketry, shot and shell, was opened. ”

“ The greater part of the troops being gathered at Alexandria, on the 18th August, preparations were made as if an attack on Aboukir was intended. Troops were re-embarked, and sailed under convoy of the fleet, at noon on the 19th, anchoring in Aboukir Bay the same afternoon. After dark, while demonstrations of bombarding the Aboukir forts were made, the transports weighed anchor, entered the Canal, and commenced landing at Ismailia on the 20th. The movement was unexpected by the enemy, and no resistance was experienced. ”

“ In the first few weeks of the war, when the navies of the world were still at open warfare, during a sharp engagement off the Hook of Holland in the North Sea the British warships “Aboukir”, “Cressy” and “Hogue” fell victims to the enemy. This sketch shows the “Aboukir” after a German torpedo had found its mark in her hull. ”

“ On the afternoon following the capture of Aboukir Castle, an Arab was seen riding at full speed towards the British left. He was pursued by some French cavalry, and another party endeavoured to cut him off. The general happened to be at the time watching the troops at work completing the batteries on that flank. [Pg 323]
"That Arab is well mounted," he said, as he and those around him watched the chase. "I believe he will get through if he is not shot," for, at this moment, the cavalry behind him, seeing that he was leaving them fast, began to use their carbines. ”

“ The army advanced some little distance the next day, and established itself on the narrow strip of land between the sea and the Lake of Aboukir; while the stores were brought ashore and a hospital established on the beach. On the 12th the force moved four miles farther, and on the following day marched to attack the French, who were encamped on a ridge. They had received reinforcements from Cairo, bringing up their strength to 6000 men. They had some thirty guns, and the ground, which sloped regularly and smoothly down, afforded a natural glacis, which would be swept by their fire. ”

“ There can be little doubt that the French generals were hampered by the intense longing among the troops to return to France. Their disasters in Syria had to some extent been retrieved by the defeat of the Turks at Aboukir, but the appearance of the great fleet of men-of-war and transports on the coast, followed by the failure of Menou to drive, as was confidently expected, his assailants back to their ships, produced a profound effect. ”

“ Nothing was then talked of in Paris but his obstinate defence, and his humorous reply when summoned by the Russians to surrender;—“Give me back my leg, and I will give up my fortress.”
The French soldiers acquired extraordinary reputation in Egypt, and not without cause; they had dispersed and dismayed the celebrated Mamelucks, the most formidable militia of the East. After the retreat from Syria, a Turkish army landed at Aboukir: Murat-Bey, the most powerful and brave of the Mamelucks, left Upper Egypt, whither he had fled for safety, and reached the Turkish camp by a circuitous route. ”

“ The report that Aboukir was to be bombarded duly reached Arabi, who sent large reinforcements to the threatened forts. The Egyptians believed that the Delta was the object of the British attack, and consequently had concentrated the greater part of their army at the mouths of the Nile, with a body of 12,000 men at Tel-el-Kebir, a post in the eastern desert thirty-three miles to the westward of Ismailia. To this flank guard was allotted the duty of defending the Delta against an enemy based on the canal, and of guarding Zag-a-zig, the most important junction in the railway system of Egypt. ”

“ On the 15th of July they landed, attacked the redoubt and castle of Aboukir with great pluck, and carried it by assault. A week later, we heard that Bonaparte was at Ramanieh, and had no doubt that the Turks would soon have him on them. Sir Sidney tried hard to get them to erect a strong line of works across the spit of ground on which the fort stands.
"Had they done so they could, with the assistance of our boats and their own gun-boats, have maintained their ground. The chief set to work at once to endeavour to get things into shape. ”

“ Citizen minister, these are the flags of the Ottoman army, destroyed before your eyes at Aboukir. The army of Egypt, after crossing burning deserts, surviving thirst and hunger, found itself before an enemy proud of his numbers and his victories, and believing that he saw an easy prey in our troops, exhausted by their march and incessant combats. He had yet to learn that the French soldier is greater because he knows how to suffer than because he knows how to vanquish, and that his courage rises and augments in danger. ”

“ The report that Alexandria had been almost cut off from the rest of Egypt by the inundation of Lake Mareotis, and that to regain the city an army would have to force its way along the narrow neck of land between the lakes Mareotis and Aboukir, seemed to diminish still further their hope of ever getting away. ”

“ The debarkation of the British army on the coast of Egypt, having been effected under cover of the Fury, Tartarus, &c. &c. Captain Curry took a position for bombarding the castle of Aboukir, which at length surrendered on the 18th March 1801. In it were found 12 guns, abundance of ammunition, and a garrison of 190 men. ”

“ Then they agreed to travel together and Aboukir said to Abousir, ‘O my neighbour, we are become brethren and there is no difference between us, so it behoves us to recite the first chapter of the Koran [in token of agreement] that he of us who gets work shall of his profit feed him who is out of work, and whatever is left, we will lay in a chest; and when we come back to Alexandria we will divide it fairly and equally.’ ‘So be it,’ answered Abousir, and they repeated the first chapter of the Koran on this understanding. ”

“ Under the direction of their officers, the ‘Ajax’ artificers superintended the construction of batteries for eleven guns and three mortars in front of Aboukir, laying all the platforms themselves, and restoring, when damaged by the enemy’s fire, the cheeks of the embrasures which were formed by a double row of sand-bags backed or strengthened by a row of casks filled with earth, a plan suggested by Major M‘Kerras, royal engineers, previously to his being killed ”

“ If he leave no son, we abide wanting one, and if he leave two sons, we teach one of them the craft, and if he die, we teach his brother. This our craft is straitly ordered and we know not how to dye aught but blue.’
Then said Aboukir, ‘Know that I also am a dyer and know how to dye all colours; and I would have thee take me into thy service on hire, and I will teach thee my art, so thou mayst glory therein over all the company of dyers.’ But the dyer answered, ‘We never admit a stranger into our craft.’ ‘And what if I open a dyery for myself?’ asked Aboukir. ”

“ The Mussulman who embarks in a ship where the cross is flying, he who every day hears the one only God blasphemed, is worse than an infidel.”
Confident of victory over an undisciplined enemy, he commenced his preparations; and having augmented his cavalry with a number of fleet Arabian horses, set out to meet him. On the llth July the Turkish army landed at Aboukir, the fort of which they took, and put the garrison to the sword, in retaliation of the massacre at Jaffa. ”

“ Every man who left the ranks or lagged behind was killed. The Arabs were seldom seen, but they lay concealed behind every inequality of the ground, every clump of bushes. Occasionally, when there seemed to be an opening, a horde of Arabs would sweep down, but these always recoiled from the steady fire of the French infantry, and on the 10th of July the leading French division, that commanded by Desaix, reached Ramanieh, on the Nile. Here, after their terrible march, the French troops were seized with a delirium of pleasure at seeing the verdure on the banks of the river, and the water. ”

“ An open enemy one can fight, but there is no discovering who these fellows are in a large population like this, and it would be of no use inflicting a fine on the city for every French soldier killed; that would affect only the richer class and the traders. There is no doubt, too, that the news that our fleet has been completely destroyed has dispirited the soldiers, who feel that for the present, an any rate, they are completely cut off from France. ”

“ The fate of the campaign was indeed decided when the first gun was [Pg vi] fired in the Bay of Aboukir, and the destruction of the French fleet sealed the fate of Napoleon's army. The noble defence of Acre by Sir Sidney Smith was the final blow to Napoleon's projects, and from that moment it was but a question of time when the French army would be forced to lay down its arms, and be conveyed, in British transports, back to France. The credit of the signal failure of the enterprise must be divided between Nelson, Sir Sidney Smith, and Sir Ralph Abercrombie. ”

“ It was already midnight before “the reconnoissance” was effected, and the party returned to the ship, well acquainted with the formidable preparations of the enemy, and all the hazard that awaited the hardy enterprise. The only part of the coast approachable by boats was a low line of beach, stretching away to the left, from the castle of Aboukir, and about a mile in extent; and this was commanded by a semicircular range of sand-hills, on which the French batteries were posted, and whose crest now glittered with the bivouac fires of a numerous army. ”

“ They were, however, assailed by so heavy a fire of musketry from the Turks that the leading party were literally swept away. In spite of the heavy weather, the ships joined their fire to that of the batteries, and a storm of shot and shell was rained upon the trenches, and the 2000 men who had been seen to advance in readiness for the assault, finding it impossible to issue from their shelter, retired to their camp. The marines of the two men-of-war had manned the new works, and their fire contributed much to the repulse of the French. ”

“ Sir Ralph Abercromby landed only about ten thousand in effective order, but these were men full of ardour and disciplined to perfection. On the 8th of March they landed in face of the French, five thousand being put on shore at once, these returning no single shot whilst in the boats, though assailed by fifteen pieces of artillery from the opposite hill, and by grape-shot from Aboukir Castle. ”

“ The French fleet having been discovered by Captain Samuel Flood, the action commenced at sunset. The shores of the Bay of Aboukir were lined with spectators, who beheld the approach of the English and the terrible conflict which ensued, in silent and awe-stricken astonishment. A brisk fire was opened by the Vanguard, which ship covered the approach of those in the rear; in a few minutes every man stationed at the first six guns in her fore part were all down, killed or wounded. ”