Thursday, June 26, 2008

Las Cases: Bonaparte on Officer Mutinies in Egypt

The Count de Las Cases, Memorial de Sainte Helene: Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon at Saint Helena, Vol. I, Part the First (London: Henry Colburn & Co., 1823), pp. 204-207

As I am on the subject of Egypt, I will here note
down all the information I collected in my detached
conversations, and which may possibly not be
found in the Campaign of Egypt, dictated by Napoleon
to the Grand Marshal.

The campaign of Italy exhibits all the most
brilliant and decisive results to which military
genius and conception ever gave birth. Diplomatic
views, administrative talents, legislative measures,
are there uniformly blended in harmony
with the prodigies of war. But the most striking
and the finishing touch in the picture, is the sudden and irresistible ascendancy which the young
General acquired: — the anarchy of equality — the
jealousy of republican principles — every thing
vanished before him: there was not a power,
even to the ridiculous sovereignty of the Directory,
which was not immediately suspended. The Directory
required no accounts from the General-in-
chief of the army of Italy; it was left to himself
to send them : no plan, no system was prescribed
to him; but accounts of victories, and conclusions
of armistices, of the destruction of old states,
and the creation of new ones, were constantly
received from him.

In the expedition of Egypt may be retraced all
that is admired in the campaign of Italy. The
reflecting observer will even perceive, that in
the Egyptian expedition, the points of resemblance
are of a more important nature, from the difficulties of every kind which gave character to
the campaign, and required greater genius and
resources on the part of its conductor. In
Egypt, a new order of things appeared : climate,
country, inhabitants, religion, manners, and
mode of fighting, all were different.

1st. The expedition of Egypt was undertaken
at the earnest and mutual desire of the Directory
and the General-in-chief.

2d. The taking of Malta was not the consequence
of a private understanding, but of the wisdom
of the General-in-chief. " It was in Mantua"
that I took Malta," said the Emperor one day;"
it was the generous treatment observed towards "
Wurmser, that secured to me the submission of "
the Grand Master and his Knights."

3d. The conquest of Egypt was calculated
with as much judgment as it was executed with skill. If Saint Jean d'Acre had surrendered to
the French army, a great revolution would have •
taken place in the east; the General-in-chief
would have established an empire there, and the
destinies of France would have taken a different
turn.

4th. On its return from the campaign of Syria,
the French army had scarcely sustained any loss :
it remained in the most formidable and prosperous
condition.

5th. The departure of the General-in-chief for
France was the result of a grand and magnanimous
plan. How ridiculous is the imbecility of
those who consider that departure as an evasion
or a desertion.

6th. Kleber fell a victim to Musulmanic fanaticism.
There is not the slightest foundation for
the absurd calumny which would have attributed
this catastrophe to the policy of his predecessor,
or to the intrigues of his successor.

7th, and lastly. It is pretty well proved that
Egypt would have remained for ever a French
province, if any other but Menou had been appointed
for her defence ; nothing but the gross
errors of that general could have lost us the possession of Egypt.

The Emperor said, that no army in the world
was less fit for the Egyptian expedition than that
which he led there — the army of Italy. It would
be difficult to describe the disgust, the discontent, the melancholy, the despair of that army, on its first arrival in Egypt. The Emperor himself saw two dragoons run out of the ranks and throw themselves into the Nile. Bertrand had seen the most distinguished generals, such as Lannes, and
Murat, in momentary fits of rage, throw their
laced hats on the sand and trample on them in
the presence of the soldiers. The Emperor explained
these feelings surprisingly well. " This
army," said he, "had fulfilled its career. All the "
individuals belonging to it were satiated with"
wealth, rank, pleasure, and consideration; they"
were not fit for the Deserts and the fatigues of"
Egypt ; and, "continued he, "had that army"
been placed in other hands than mine, it is dif-"
ficult to say what excesses might not have "
been committed."

More than one conspiracy was formed to carry
away the flags to Alexandria, and other things
of the same sort. The influence, the character,
and the glory of the General, could alone restrain
the troops. One day Napoleon, losing his temper
in his turn, rushed among a group of discontented
generals, and addressing himself to the
tallest, " You have held mutinous language," said
he, with vehemence, "take care that I do not "
fulfil my duty; your five foot ten* should not "
save you from being shot in a couple of hours." [*French feet are of course here alluded to.]

23 comments:

James praker said...

Hi !
i read your blog and specially this post and feel that you have good information so its a nice work and you must keep you r good work!i am a Web Designing expert and your blog gave me a new dimension of doing work!
Thanks you for sharing your knowledge!

Unknown said...

HI

A great information and some points you have mentioned in this post and I agree with these points.

- J.
Web Solutions

NedaD承蓁 said...

在莫非定律中有項笨蛋定律:「一個組織中的笨蛋,恆大於等於三分之二。」...........................................................................

Sushiman said...

I love Egyptian Mythology. I am getting an Ankh Tattoo

Sushiman said...

I love Egyptian Mythology. I am getting an Ankh Tattoo

Bobby Hall said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bobby Hall said...

Nice post to hang on..I really loved it the way of the stuff provided in this article..This has given very useful information.
Chicago cleaning

Khaoshai Longoulam said...

great job...!!it bought back memories of reading Robert Browning..

peter north said...

Chinese spammers all round. :p

Poker Party

peter north said...

Your writing style is epic.

Party Casino Bonus

peter north said...

Very informative. Worth reading it.

rushmore casino

peter north said...

Keep posting dear. Your blog is very nice.

pokerstars marketing code

catriona said...

Very informative and impressive article. unique information.






ipad casino

catriona said...

Nice post love your blog.This blog is awesome full of use full information that i was in dire need of. Thanks for this post. Keep it up.






iphone poker

catriona said...

Wow. Fantastic article, it’s so nice and your blog is very good.... I like this very much.....




ipad bingo

catriona said...

Really nice blog, very informative. Thanks dude for wonderful posting. Keep it up in the future as well. keep it sharing.....


ipad slots

catriona said...

Nice post! Your content is very valuable to me and just make it as my reference. Keep blogging with new post! Unique and useful to follower.




ipad roulette

sabreena said...

Hi
I really loved this post.Its very useful to everyone.


--------------

iphone blackjack

sabreena said...

Nice post! Your content is very valuable to me and just make it as my reference. Keep blogging with new post! Unique and useful to follower.


-------------------

Online slots

saqib hussian said...

Great words by you i like these...

iphone roulette

Michael Woodward said...

Is the 5' 10" officer alluded to at the end of the passage Alexandre Dumas (the first one)?

Unknown said...


full board Packages tour in Nepal as
Kathmandu heritage tour,
Chitwan Jungle Safari and
Kathmandu chitwan lumbini tour in Nepal.

Biography & Facts said...


Nice article, thank you for sharing a wonderful full blog post

Also check out - Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte in Hindi