Glasgow & District Wargaming Society

Battle of Heliopolis 20 March 1800

Background

In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte persuaded the ruling Directory of France to invade Egypt. In truth the Directory were pleased to see the famous young General go. Napoleon’s successful Italian campaign had made him a popular figure in revolutionary France, a potential threat to the rule of the Directory.

In 1798 Egypt was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire and ruled by a puppet Pasha representing the Ottoman Sultan Selim III. In practice it was ruled by the Mamelukes, warrior slaves mostly originating from the Caucasus region commanded by Murad Bey.

Campaigns in Egypt

Napoleon landed near Alexandria on 1 July and immediately began the advance towards Cairo. The first major battle of the campaign took place four miles from Cairo near the Pyramids on 21 July. The Mameluke cavalry hurled itself at the French but the divisional "squares" held firm. Bon's division deployed into attack columns and captured the fortified village of Embabeh. Napoleon reported a loss of 29 killed and 260 wounded and  Murad's, perhaps as many as 3,000. Murad escaped to Upper Egypt, where he carried on an active guerilla campaign before being run to earth by Desaix in late 1799.

Syrian Campaign

Early in 1799 Napoleon decided to invade Syria (included modern day Palestine, Jordan and Isreal) with an army of 13,000 men. The fortress at El Arish was captured on 20 February followed by Jaffa on 7 March and by 17 March the French occupied Haifa. Next stop was Acre defended by the Ottoman governor Ahmed Pasha el-Djezzar (known as the ‘Butcher’) supported by Sir Sidney Smith who improved the natural defences of the city that stood on a peninsular. After partial breaches he organised nine major assaults between 28 March and 10 May 1799 without success.

In April the Pasha of Damascus sought to relieve the siege with an army of 30,000 men joined by more than 7,000 mountain men from Nablus and Arab volunteers. General Kleber at Nazareth received intelligence that the Army of Damascus was encamped below Mount Tabor and marched to meet them. Kleber’s division of some 2000 men arrived too late for his planned surprise attack and instead found themselves surrounded. Meanwhile Napoleon judged that Kleber had taken on too much so marched to his relief. Forming into three squares he swept through the Ottoman camp causing panic. At this moment Kleber counterattacked and the Army of Damascus fled.

With the failure of the the final assault at Acre and news of a planned invasion of Egypt from Rhodes, Napoleon withdrew from Acre on 14 May. After a grinding march back across the Sinai Desert he arrived back in Cairo on 14 June. The campaign cost the French 4,500 casualties from action or disease.

Napoleon Leaves Egypt

The Ottomans followed up the Syrian campaign with a landing at Aboukir in July 1799. After defeating the small French garrison they entrenched about 8000 infantry. Napoleon attacked with around 10000 men and after several infantry attacks Murat’s cavalry entered the defences and cut down the garrison.

Having heard of the political turmoil in France Napoleon decided to return to France in August 1799 together with Lannes, Marmont and Murat. He left a furious Kleber in command without even meeting him. Kleber is reported to have said “that bastard has left us with his breeches full of shit. We’ll go back to Europe and rub them in his face”.

Kleber had no intention of staying in Egypt and following Ottoman landings at Damiette and a invasion from Syria he began negotiations with the British and the Grand Vizier. However, the draft convention was not approved by the governments and the Grand Vizier refused to halt his advance.

Battle of Helipolis

Having received an insulting note from the British rejecting peace Kelber moved swiftly. He formed up an army of around 10000 men and marched out of Cairo on the morning of 20 March. The French army formed into  squares commanded by Friant, Reynier on the Plain of Koubbe near the ruins of ancient Heliopolis. Kleber commanded the cavalry. The Grand Vizier had an army of 40000 men and the Janissaries followed by horsemen attacked the the French squares. The line held and the routing Ottomans were pursued by the French capturing their camp.

In the meantime a separate Ottoman force commanded by Nassif Pasha outflanked the French and entered Cairo. After the battle Kleber had to return to Cairo and put down the uprising. He then pacified the country but was assassinated on 14 June.

Menou took over command and a British intervention force landed at Aboukir in March 1801. After battles at Mandora, Alexandria and Rahmanieh a convention was negotiated with the remains of the French army quitting Egypt on 14 September 1801.

The Armies

The French Army of the Orient was organised as the standard revolutionary army with infantry in 15 Demi-Brigades of around 1700 men supported by two regiments of light cavalry and five of Dragoons. Artillery included a siege train, 72 field guns and 24 howitzers. On embarkation the army was equipped in the uniforms of the period but conditions in Egypt soon forced changes. These included a black leather peaked cap for the infantry called the "petits-casquettes" together with lightweight cotton or linen tunics. These changes were confirmed in the Kleber Ordance of 1799 that resulted in a variety of colourful uniforms. Specialist units included the Regiment de Dromedaires and locally raised forces from the Greek and Coptic communities together with some Mamelukes and even Janissaries.

The chief opponents of the French were the Mamelukes. These included the flamboyant Mameluke horse, together with local Ottoman forces including Janissaries and Sipahis. They would be supported by Bedouin Arabs from the desert tribes and mobs of fellahin some armed with little more than clubs. Ottoman invasion forces included the usual Sipahis horse and Janissaries together with Albanian and Moroccan infantry. 

The Wargame

The wargame figures in this display game are 28mm figures mostly from the Old Glory and Dixon ranges. Other figures are from Trent Miniatures and a new range from Britannia. The rules are Principles of War. We use the brigade scale in the Napoleonic version for the larger battles such as the Pyramids. For smaller actions each unit becomes a battalion or even a company.

Further Reading

The two must have titles both for the narrative and Bob Marrion's wonderful colour plates is Charles Grant's two volume Napoleon's Campaign in Egypt. There are a number of useful Ospreys including:

Napoleon's Egyptian Campaigns 1798-1801  MAA 79

French Soldier in Egypt 1798 - 1801 Warrior 77

Armies of the Ottoman Empire 1775 - 1820 MAA 314

For a history of the campaign there is the recently published Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern, and for the Syrian campaign, Nathan Schur's Napoleon in the Holy Land. Plus the story of the French officer Captain Moiret in Memoirs of Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition 1798-1801.

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Last modified: 09/21/09