Dual Mission of Napoleon's Army in Egypt

Before Napoleon left for Syria, he ordered 30-year-old General Louis Desaix to subdue Upper Egypt, that is, the region upstream (or south) of Cairo, if need be all the way to the borders of Sedan. To do so, Desaix had to bring Murad Bey to heel. The wily Murad, however, followed a strategy of avoiding pitched battles and drawing the enemy away from his supply bases, slowly destroying him through attrition. The Frenchmen suffered, but they discovered the priceless treasures of Egyptian civilization, a world only dimly suspected to Europe. It was truly a modern epic.


An Unforgettable Expedition
Murad Bey's elusiveness caused Desaixs single division of 2,861 men (and two heavy guns) to march and countermarch three thousand miles. They suffered terribly from lack of shoes, eye disease, venereal disease, dysentery, and the heat. They stood up to bloody skirmishes similar to Sediman, where they held off five thousand charging Mameluke and Bedouin cavalry.