Battle of the pyramids

In July 1798, Napoleon headed for Cairo after the conquest of Alexandria . French troops met the Mamluk forces 15 kilometers from the pyramids of Giza , and 6 kilometers from Cairo . The forces of the Mamluks commanded Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey .

According to Napoleon, the right flank of the Mamluk Bey troops was located in a fortified camp in front of village (Embabeh) and was made up of 20,000 Janissaries , Arabs and Cairo militias. The additional protection of the fortified camp was provided by 40 iron cannons on the marine carriages. The center of Murad Bey's troops included a cavalry corps of 12,000 Mamluks, aha , sheikhs and other privileged persons of Egypt. Each of these horsemen had at their disposal 3-4 foot servants - thus, in total in the center of the Egyptian position there were 50 thousand people. The left flank of Murad Bey was approaching the pyramids and consisted of 8 thousand Bedouin Arabs.

Editor of two scientific publishing houses ( Columbia University Press and Stanford University Press ^[4] ) and winner for the best non-fiction work (1959) ^[5] Jean Christopher Herold (1919-1964) in the book "Bonaparte in Egypt" ( Eng. Bonaparte in Egypt , 1962) suggested that the data on the number of Murad Bey troops in Napoleon’s memoirs are exorbitantly high. In particular, the historian notes that the cavalry corps located in the center of the Egyptian position could not consist of 12,000 Mamluks, since in 1798 there were not so many representatives of this military caste in all Egypt ^[6] . According to Herold, there is no doubt that before the start of the battle at the pyramids, the overwhelming numerical superiority was on the side of the French army, and not vice versa. In fact, the French advantage was even more significant, since the combat value of the Bedouins and infantrymen under the command of Murad Bey (minus the soldiers of the regular Ottoman army from Albania ) was virtually zero. In addition, on the side of the expeditionary army there was also a complete superiority in the tactics of combat, based on a high level of competence of commanders and military discipline ^[7] .

Napoleon knew that the best troops of the Egyptians were the Mamluk cavalry. Pointing to the pyramids, he told the troops:

In turn, the Mamluks were confident of their victory and determined to wipe the French off the face of the earth. Many people of Cairo of all ages gathered on the right bank of the Nile and prepared to watch the upcoming battle (there was a widespread opinion among these people that if the Mamluks and Ottomans were defeated, the infidels would turn all the inhabitants of Cairo into slaves).

Napoleon launched an offensive against Murad’s army. His army was divided into five parts ( square ), which had the appearance of hollow squares with cavalry and supplies in the center and artillery in the corners.

The left flank of the French was defended by Neil . Murad rested his flank in the Nile near Embaheh village, which was well fortified and included infantry and old artillery (40 artillery pieces ). His cavalry deployed on the other flank, in the desert. Ibrahim, at the head of the second army, watched the battle helplessly from the east bank of the Nile.

At about 3:30 pm the Mamluk cavalry launched an attack on the French positions. The French opened fire with muskets and artillery. The French car squares did a lot of damage in the disorderly ranks of the attackers, and those individual riders who still managed to break through to the French military formations, died on bayonets. In the midst of the battle, a squad of Mamluks, headed by the most decisive Bey , rushed on the square of General Louis Deze and with great losses broke through the battle order of the French, but the infantry Deze managed to quickly surround the Egyptian horsemen and stab them all with a bayonet. Mamluk cavalry was defeated. Nevertheless, she was able to organize and attack a small detachment of the French, but even there she was defeated. Three thousand of the Mamluks, along with Murad, rushed towards Giza , while the other horsemen headed towards the fortified camp.

Meanwhile, near the Nile, the French launched a counterattack on Embaheh village with the forces of the General Bon division . Bursting into the settlement, Napoleon's forces defeated the garrison. In turn, the French general Antoine-Guillaume Rampon at the head of two infantry battalions occupied the moat and dam, located between Embaheh and the city of Giza, thus cutting off the communication between the Murad squad and the other Mamluks. The soldiers of Bona managed to repel all the attacks of the Egyptian soldiers, who were in the area of ​​the fortified camp, after which the latter hurriedly headed towards Giza, hoping to join up with Murad, but this path was blocked by two battalions of Rampon and the approached Deze division. The Egyptians were surrounded. Many tried to swim across the river, but for the most part could not do it. Murad tried several times to reach Embaheh, but all his actions were resolutely stopped by the French. Closer to the night, Murad retreated, first ordering the Egyptian ships to be set on fire. Realizing that the Mamluk cavalry was crushed, and the battle was lost, the Egyptian foot soldiers crossed over to the opposite bank of the Nile, and the Bedouin horsemen disappeared into the desert. The French got artillery guns and the wagon train of the Egyptian troops. In addition, after the battle, the French soldiers were actively engaged in looting for several days, since the Mamluks had a custom to take their gold with them, hiding it in a belt (the French found 200-300 gold coins each on the bodies of Egyptian warriors).

Napoleon spoke of the loss of 29 killed and 260 wounded. Murad’s losses were very heavy, the Turkish-Egyptian army lost 7,000 soldiers from the Mamluk corps, as well as 3,000 Arabs , Janissaries , Azapov , etc., killed by the dead, wounded, drowned, or captured. guerrilla actions . Ibrahim, together with a group of 1,200 Mamluks, retreated to Syria .

In response to news of the defeat of their legendary cavalry, the Mamluks scattered across Egypt and Syria. The battle of the pyramids marked the completion of the 700-year reign of the Mamluks in Egypt.

On July 25, Napoleon moved to Cairo and stayed at the Elf Bey residence. Murad Bey was able to take advantage of the respite in the fighting in order to reshape the remnants of his troops in Lower Egypt .

In place of the battlefield are now the western suburbs of Cairo .

• History of Ottoman Egypt

• Napoleon Selected Works. - M .: Military Publishing , 1956. - 812 p.
• David Chandler. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York, Macmillan, 1966.
• Juan Cole . Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN 1-4039-6431-9
• J. Christopher Herold. Bonaparte in Egypt. - Tucson: Fireship Press, 2009. - 460 p. - (Historical Nonfiction). - ISBN 9781934757765 .
• J. Christopher Herold. The Age of Napoleon. New York, American Heritage, 1963.
• Alan Moorehead . The Blue Nile. New York, Harper & Row, 1962.
• Nakoula El-Turk. Histoire de l'expédition des français en Égypte. - M. Desgrandes Aîné.

• Battle of the Pyramids, July 21, 1798 (Neopr.) . The MET . The appeal date is August 31, 2018.