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The Battle of Abukir (or Aboukir)〔 was a battle in which Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Seid Mustafa Pasha's Ottoman army on 25 July 1799, during the French campaign in Egypt.〔Durant 1975, p. 113.〕 No sooner had the French forces returned from a campaign to Syria, than the Ottoman forces were transported to Egypt by Sidney Smith's British fleet to put an end to French rule in Egypt.〔〔McLynn 2002, p. 195.〕 Seid Mustafa Pasha was an experienced commander who had fought against the Russians. He knew that cavalry charges against the French squares was futile. So, he sought to avoid them by fortifying his beachhead with two defensive lines. From this beachhead Mustafa could carry out the invasion of Egypt. However, Napoleon immediately saw the flaw in the tactic as it meant that the Turks had nowhere to run if routed.〔McLynn 2002, p. 196.〕 The French attacked the Ottoman positions and quickly broke through the first defensive line before it was fully completed. The second line, however, proved tougher to defeat and the French withdrew for a while. At this point, cavalry general Murat saw his opportunity and attacked with his cavalry, quickly routing the exposed Turks.〔 Murat's charge was so rapid that he burst inside Mustafa's tent and captured the Turkish commander, severing two of the Turk's fingers with his sabre. In return, Mustafa shot Murat in the jaw. Immediately, Murat was operated on and resumed his duties the next day. The Turkish army fled in panic. Some Ottomans drowned trying to swim to the British ships two miles away from shore, while others fled to Abukir castle, but they surrendered shortly thereafter. The Turks suffered about 8,000 casualties and the French only 1,000.〔McLynn 2002, pp. 196–197.〕 News of the victory reached France before Napoleon arrived in October and this made him even more popular, an important asset considering the troubles brewing in the French Directory. This battle temporarily secured France's control over Egypt.〔McLynn 2002, p. 202.〕 ==Pre-battle and campaign issues== The Ottoman army led by Britain, declared war on France. Two armies were to attack Egypt: one carried by the British fleet, the other concentrated in north Syria. As usual, Bonaparte chose to take the initiative in February and conquered Gaza, El Arish and Jaffa but failed before the town of Saint-Jean-d'Acre after two months of siege. This city was defended by its governor, Djezzar Pasha and his former fellow student of the Ecole Militaire in Paris, Antoine de Phélippeaux, an excellent gunner. In addition, the city was continually replenished with men, food, water and other necessities by the British Navy. The French army being decimated by the plague, Napoleon ended his dreams of conquest in the East. He dreamed of taking Constantinople and then invading India to help the local insurgency against the British. He also dreamed that once in Constantinople, he could returned with his army to France through Vienna. On July 14, 1799, a British fleet of 60 ships landed with 16,000 men under the command of Mustapha Pasha, a veteran of the last Russo-Turkish war. They stormed the fortifications of the harbor and put 300 French troops under the command of Battalion Chief Godart, ''hors de combat''. The peninsula changed hands and Turkish flags fluttered on the bastions of the city. Proud of this success, Mustapha Pasha was in no hurry to march on Cairo and Murad Bey, who managed to escape and join him, said, "The French dreaded that you could not support the presence, I watch, and they are fleeing before me" and Murad replied, "Pasha, be glad that it suits the French to withdraw, because if they turned, you would disappear before them like dust before the north wind." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Abukir (1799)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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