Lord Horatio Nelson Ridicules Napoleon, Savoring the Predicament He Created for the French Leader by His Victory Over the French at the Battle of the Nile

The recipient was Sir William Hamilton, husband of Nelson’s soon-to-be mistress, Emma Hamilton

 

This is only the second letter of Nelson mentioning Napoleon by name that we have had in all our decades in the field

In 1797, the young general Napoleon Bonaparte, fresh from the conquest of the substantial Austrian territories in the Netherlands and northern Italy, proposed to the Directory (the French government) an expedition to seize Egypt, then a province of the Ottoman Empire ruled by Mamluks. His purpose was to protect French trade interests, obtain influence in the Middle East, and undermine Britain’s access to its rich colony of India. The Directory, although troubled by the scope and cost of the enterprise, agreed to the plan in March 1798. Bonaparte moved quickly, and he ended up gathering an invasion force of 400 vessels, 55,000 men, over a thousand pieces of artillery, 567 vehicles and 700 horses. One famous and unusual aspect of the expedition was that it included a group of 167 academics, who were to form the nucleus of a new Acadamy Egypt. This would lead to the founding of the field of Egyptology.

Napoleon set sail on May 19, captured Malta on June 11, and landed in Alexandria on July 1, soundly defeating the Ottoman and Mamluk army a week later at the Battle of the Pyramids. The French entered Cairo on July 25. Mamluk Murad Bey fled to Upper Egypt while Ibrahim Bey and the Ottoman viceroy went to Syria. Mamluk rule in Egypt collapsed. Nevertheless, Napoleon’s position in Egypt was precarious. The French controlled only the Delta and Cairo; Upper Egypt was the preserve of the Mamluks and the bedouins. In addition, Britain and the Ottoman government joined forces in an attempt to defeat Napoleon and drive him out of Egypt. On August 1, 1798, the British fleet under Lord Nelson annihilated the French ships as they lay at anchor at Abu Qir, thus isolating Napoleon’s forces in Egypt. Then the British, with the help of their Portuguese, Russian, and Ottoman allies, set up a blockade. Now, for the French, there would be no easy way to leave and no supplies coming in from France.

Conditions were not good for the French soldiers in Egypt. They wore a thick wool uniform, and the stifling Egyptian summer heat made life very uncomfortable. Sand got everywhere: in clothes, bags and hair. Water was very difficult to find, and even when sources were found, the water from them was often undrinkable. The doctors who accompanied the troops on the expedition were quickly over-run as the men were struck down by illnesses and diseases brought about by the climate. Sunstroke, diarrhea and eye problems that led rapidly to blindness were common. The doctors were forced to use camels to transport the sick and wounded.

On September 11, Ottoman Sultan Selim III declared war on France. Meanwhile, Napoleon set about installing governance and organization in Egypt and also began a campaign of cultural influence. But by October there was unrest in Cairo due to Napoleon laying taxes on Egypt, and on October 21 the people of Cairo would riot against the French, whom they regarded as occupying strangers, not as liberators.

Sir William Hamilton was British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, and Nelson’s fleet arrived in the Bay of Naples after defeating the French Fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Nelson was a guest of the 68 year old Hamilton and his young wife Emma, and there Nelson developed an affection for Emma that resulted in an affair that lasted until his death. By 1800 the relationship between Hamilton, Emma and Nelson would already be causing a scandal. Nelson enjoyed ridiculing and indeed mocking Napoleon, sometimes calling him the Corsican and at others sneering at the predicaments in which Napoleon found himself because of Nelson’s victories. Here Nelson writes Hamilton, rather joyfully proclaiming that French troops in Egypt were out of supplies and so fed up they were ready to mutiny.

Autograph Letter Signed, Bay of Naples, October 16, 1798, to Hamilton, claiming Napoleon was in trouble. “As I send you on Capt. Hoods letters &c. I shall refer you to Capt. Waller for particulars, he will tell you of the mutiny in Bonaparte’s army and of the distress for provisions at Alexandria. God Bless you my Dear Sir William and believe me your oblig’d & affectionate -Horatio Nelson.” Captain Hood was Samuel Hood, later knighted and given command of the British Navy in the West Indies. Captain Waller was Thomas Waller, who captained one of the ships in Nelson’s fleet.

This is only the second letter of Nelson mentioning Napoleon by name that we have had in all our decades in the field.

But Napoleon kept his disaffected troops busy and no widespread mutiny broke out. In 1799, the Sultan of Turkey joined England and declared war on the French. Napoleon countered with a preemptive strike into Syria. From March 18 through May 20, he laid siege to the entrenched Ottoman garrison at Acre, and though his initial forays into Palestine had been successful, he was eventually forced to fall back into Egypt. Still, he had defeated part of the Ottoman army and returned on June 14 to Cairo as a partial success. But the Ottomans were not defeated yet and Napoleon tried to equip his army for a coming counter-invasion by them. Meanwhile, there was political turmoil in France, and seeing an opportunity for himself, on August 22, 1799, with a very small company, Napoleon secretly left Egypt for France, leaving his troops behind at the mercy of the Ottomans and British. The opportunity was there, and on November 9, 1799, Napoleon successfully took over France in a coup d’Etat in which the Directory was replaced by a three member Consulate, with Napoleon as First Consul. The French forces in Cairo finally surrendered on June 18, 1801.