"The Egyptian campaign of Napoleon" Topic

"The first great campaign of Napoleon as commander and general, was his expedition to Egypt. Although the French were not able to consolidate a stronghold and had to surrender to the British forces in 1801, Napoleon proved his skills in public relations and managed to create an image of himself of the victorious general who set foot on the Orient. Although the military significance was not that important, the cultural significance was enourmous. Artists and scientists started an era of orientalism.

One of the first battles of the campaign was the battle of the pyramids. After landing at Alexandria on 1 July 1798, Napoleon had to fight the Mamluks who reigned Egypt. The battle was fought on 20 July with the Mamluks having a cavalry based medieval army with infantry consisting of peasants weaponed with spears and clubs, and the French having gunpower with muskets and artillery. While defending in square position against the massive cavalry charges, the brave Mamluk cavalry was shot to pieces. While French losses only amounted to 30 soldiers, the death toll of the Egyptian forces was several thousands. Although the pyramids were barely visible from the battlegrounds, Napoleon realised the symbolic meaning and named this battle after the pyramids. Gros depicted this battle with Napoleon in a classic victorious pose. General Lejeune, soldier and painter himself (for more soldier-artists see the guided tour artists-at-war), gave a more realistic portrait of the battle in which the orderly square position of the French troops strongly contrasts with the chaotically dispersed Mamluk cavalry…"

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