Читать книгу The Collected Works of Napoleon Bonaparte - Charles Downer Hazen, Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne - Страница 106

"On the 3d, at dawn, we encountered their vanguard, which we drove from village to village. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon we arrived before their intrenchments and found ourselves in the presence of the enemy.

"I ordered the divisions of Generals Desaix and Reynier to take up their position on the right, between Gyseh and Embâbeh, in such a manner as to cut off the enemy's communication with upper Egypt, which is their natural retreat. The position of the army was the same as at Battle of Chobiâkhyt.

"No sooner had Mourad-Bey perceived General Desaix's movements, than he resolved to charge him. He despatched one of his bravest beys with a corps of picked men, who, with lightning rapidity, charged the two divisions. They were allowed to get within fifty feet, then we greeted them with a shower of balls and grape-shot which left many of their number dead on the battle-field. They dashed into the space formed by the two divisions, where they were received by a double fire which completed their defeat.

"I seized the opportunity and ordered General Bon's division, which was on the Nile, to prepare for an attack on the enemy's intrenchments. I ordered General Menon's division, which was commanded by General Vial, to bear down between the corps that had just charged us and the intrenchments, in such a manner as to accomplish the triple end of,—

"Preventing this corps reëntering their intrenchments.

"Cutting off the retreat of those who occupied them.

"And finally, if necessary, of attacking the intrenchments on the left.

"Directly the generals, Vial and Bon, were in position, they ordered the first and third divisions of each battalion to draw up in columns of attack, while the second and fourth retained their former position, forming a square battalion, now only three deep, while they advanced to support the columns of attack.

"General Bon's columns of attack, commanded by the brave General Rampon, threw themselves upon the intrenchments with their usual impetuosity, in spite of the fire from a large quantity of artillery, when suddenly the Mamelukes made a charge. They emerged from their intrenchments on a full gallop, but our columns had time to come to a halt, to face all sides, and receive them on the points of their bayonets, or by a shower of balls. In an instant the field was strewn with the enemy.

"Our troops soon razed their intrenchments. The Mamelukes fled, precipitating themselves en masse upon their left, but General Vial was ready for them. They were obliged to pass within five feet of a battalion of our riflemen, and the butchery was awful. A large number threw themselves into the Nile and were drowned.

"After the numerous combats and battles that my troops have gained over superior forces, I should not think of praising their conduct and their sang-froid on this occasion, were it not that this new method of warfare has required, on their part, a patience which contrasts with French impetuosity. Had they given way to their ardor they could not have gained the victory, which was obtainable only by great coolness and patience.

"The Mamelukes' cavalry displayed great bravery; they defended their fortunes, and upon every one of them our soldiers found from three to five hundred louis.

"All the luxury of these people is in their horses and their accoutrements; their houses are pitiable.

"It would be difficult to find a land more fertile, and a people more miserable, more ignorant, more abject. They prefer one of our soldier's buttons to a six-franc piece.

"In the villages they do not even know the sight of a pair of scissors. Their houses are made of a little mud. Their sole furniture is a mat of straw and two or three earthen pots. They eat and burn very little as a general thing. They do not know the use of mills; consequently, we frequently bivouacked on stalks of wheat without being able to obtain any flour. We live on vegetables and cattle. The little grain they do use, they grind into flour with stones, and in some of the large villages they have mills turned by oxen.

"We are constantly annoyed by clouds of Arabs; they are the greatest robbers and the greatest rascals on the face of the earth, assassinating alike Turks and French, or any one who falls in their way.

"Brigadier-General Mireur and several aides-de-camp and officers of the staff have been assassinated by these wretches. They lie in ambush behind banks and ditches on their excellent little horses, and woe to him who ventures to wander a hundred feet from the columns.

"By a fatality that I have often observed to follow men whose last hour approaches. General Mireur went alone, in spite of the remonstrances of the main-guard, to a little elevation about two hundred feet from the camp. Behind it were stationed three Bedouins who murdered him.

"The Republic has met with a real loss. He was one of the bravest generals I have ever known.

"There is very little coin in this country, not enough to pay the army. There is plenty of wheat, rice, vegetables, and cattle. The Republic could not have a colony better suited to its needs, nor of a richer soil. The climate is very healthy, owing to the cool nights.

"In spite of fifteen days' march, and all kinds of fatigue, the absolute deprivation of wine, in fact, of everything that could alleviate fatigue, we have no one on the sick list. The soldiers have found a great resource in the postèques, a kind of watermelon that is very abundant here."