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CHAPTER XXIV: Egypt
While these important military operations were occupying the armies in Europe, Bonaparte had reduced Egypt and formed the resolution of invading Syria. El-Arish, Gaza and Jaffa had surrendered; and, with the confidence of certain success, Acre was invested; but there, as in days of old, a British warrior was its defender. The courage and activity of Sir Sidney Smith resisted the repeated assaults of the French during a siege of sixty-nine days; and Bonaparte, though at the head of 12,000 veterans, was completely foiled in all his attempts, and was obliged to retreat into Egypt. He was afterwards successful in several encounters with the Turks, particularly at Aboukir; but foreseeing that the expedition would ultimately prove disastrous, he confided the command to general Kleber and secretly returned to France. Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt was considered as preparatory to an attempt on India; where, at the very time, the British arms were crowned with great success-Seringapatam having been taken and England's formidable enemy, Tippoo Sahib, being found among the slain.
Discord and anarchy reigned throughout France under the weak, yet arbitrary, administration of the directory; and the sudden appearance of Bonaparte was the signal for a new revolution in the government. At the head of the conspiracy was his brother Lucien, president of the council of five hundred, who was supported by Cambaceres Talleyrand, Siéyes, Fouché, etc. The directory was speedily overturned, a senate and three consuls were appointed and Bonaparte was chosen first consul. One of his first acts was that of making pacific overtures to England, which were rejected. He then put himself at the head of the army, crossed Mount St. Bernard and marched from victory to victory, till the memorable battle of Marengo decided the fate of Italy. The successes of the French in Germany were of a less decisive nature; but the defeat of the allies at Hohenlinden induced Francis II. to sign the treaty of Luneville, by which he ceded some of his possessions in Germany and transferred Tuscany to the duke of Parma.
At the beginning of 1801 England was without an ally, and had to contend with another formidable opponent in Paul I. of Russia, who had induced Sweden and Denmark to unite with him in forming an armed neutrality. To crush this northern confederacy in the bud, a large fleet was sent to the Baltic, under the command of Sir Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson; Copenhagen was attacked, and the whole of the Danish ships were either taken or destroyed. This victory gave a fatal blow to the northern confederacy, which was eventually annihilated by the death of Paul, and the accession of his son Alexander, who immediately released the British vessels detained in his ports, and otherwise showed his inclination to be on amicable terms with England.
In Egypt general Kleber had been assassinated, and the command of the French troops devolved on Menou. An English army, under Sir Ralph Abercombie, had now arrived; and a decisive victory was gained by them at Alexandria; but they had to lament the loss of their gallant commander, who fell in the action. Cairo, Rosetta and Alexandria soon after surrendered, and the French agreed to evacuate the country. The other events of the year 1801 were of minor importance; and in the spring of the following year peace was signed at Amiens. England consented to surrender all its conquests, with the exception of Ceylon and Trinidad; the Ionian islands were to form a republic; and Malta was to be restored to its original possessors.
A new constitution was given to France in 1802, by which Bonaparte was declared chief consul for life; the whole of the executive authority, and even the appointment of his two colleagues being vested in him. New constitutions were also given to Switzerland and the Italian republics. About this period Bonaparte sent a considerable force to reduce the island of St. Domingo, where Touissant L'Ouverture, a negro, had erected a republic. After an obstinate and sanguinary contest, the rebellious negroes submitted, and Touissant was treacherously seized and sent to France; but the French were unable fully to recover the island.