1798-1801Part I - Htstorlcal Introdsctlon

by Stephen Ede-Borrett

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN EGYPT

The reasons behind the French attack on Egypt in 1798 arevarious, complex, and not all of a mililary nature.

Bonapafte, hero of the victorious Italian campaigns, was seenby the Directors in Paris as a rival and thus to get him out of theway (and Egypt was pretty far out of the way!) seemed like agood idea. Coupled with this was the hope that if Turkey couldbe Dersuaded to enter the waron the French side then it wouldtake pressure off the French armies by diverting Aust an andRussian trcops to theTurkish fronl- These reasons alliedto theFrench "dream" ofa Middle Eastem Empire, (which went backto rhe Middle Ages - even Louis XIV had contemplated aninvasion of Egypt) was sufficient to persuade the ParisCovemment to give its blessing to Bonaparte's plans.

Since the Treaty ofCampo-Formio the veteran Army ofltalyhad been idle and it was from this Army that the Army of theOrient was chosen'.

The Commander-in-Chief was Bonaparte, with Berthier ashis Chief of Staff and his brother, Louis, and stepson, Eugenede Beauhamais, as his Aides. The Generals of Division wereVaubois, D'Hilliers, Desaix, Kl6ber, Menou, Reynier andDugua. The Generals of Brigade included Lannes, Davout andMurat and amongst the Colonels were Marmont, Junot,Bessidres and Lefebvre-Desnouettes. Truly this was aNapoleonic Army in the making.

Bonapa(e arrived in Toulon on May 9th and when the fleetsailed on May 19th it comprised 15 Ships of the Line, 15Frigates, 7 Corvettes, 30 asso(ed small lightly'armed vessels,and some 400 transports carrying between thirty'six and fortythousand men. The greatest shortage, however, was in horses -only 1230 were embarked, and of these 700 were reserved forthe use of the Staff!

On June 9th the fleet anived off Malta. There was next to noresistance and in thrce days the French had occupied the wholeisland. General Vaubois was aDDointed Governor and agarrison was installed'�. D'Hilliers_was sent back to Paris withthe captured trophies.

Admiral Brueys, the Fren€h Naval Commander, thenskiltully evaded the British squadron despatched to intercepthim (commanded by none other than Horatio Nelson) and sixweeks later on June 30th the fleet anchored safely off

On 2nd July the Divisions ofBon, Menou, andKleberled theassault ashore and immediately stormed the City's somewhatout of date defen€es. Within twenty-four hours the entire Citywas under French control.

Bonapane spent a few days resting his men after theirundoubtably uncomfortable voyage and it was thus not untilJuly 8th that the Army moved out towards Cairo. Kl6berremained as Governor of Alexandria, the French base for muchof the rest of the campaign.

It now became apparent that the Army was totally unpreparcd for the Egyprian summer - they were still in theirEuropean uniforms of heavy wool with bearskins and bicornes,neither of which offered any protection against the Egyptian

sun. Many discarded their coats only to Iind themselves freezingat night. The Army was unused to the exlremes of a desertclimate.

On July 13th at Shebreket the French had their first realencounterwith the Mamelukes'. The French deployed into sixgreat squares, six men deep with guns at the comers. TheMamelukes were brave if not lactically adept and launched aseries of headlong cavalry charges straight at the French. Theresult was almost a foregone conclusion, the attacks werecompletely broken by disciplined musketry and eventually theMamelukes were forced toretire from the field. The Fren€h hadlost thirty men, Mameluke losses are unknown.

Bonaparte pressed on towards Cairo and reached the Nile onJuly 21st and here in the shadow of the Pyramids theMamelukes had massed their army.

The best estimates put the Mamelukes at around 6-8000cavalry and, perhaps, 40,000 foot. These latter mostly thesemi-feudal Egyptian fellaheen.

Before the battle began Bonaparte is alleged to have giventhe speech with its famous "Soldiels, forty c€nturies of hhtorylook down on you" content. whether this is anecdotal or not itprobably expresses Bonaparte's feelings for there can havebe€n fewer more spectacular backdrops for a battle than thePyramids of Giza.

Again French tactics were simple - the Divisions formed hugesquares and awaitedthe Mameluke ondaught. The Mamelukesobliged the invaders and lalnched, as at Shebreket, a series ofmassed cavalry charges straight at the French squares. Theinfantry were left within their hastily thrown-up defences andignored.

Predictably the experienced French infantry kept their nerveand mo*ed down the Mameluke attacks, iust as the Britishwere to do to the French cavalry al Waterloo 17 years later.

Eventually the Mamelukes were forced to break off theiraction - it seems doubtful if the Maneluke infantry had evenbeen engaged. Murad Beyled halfofthe Mameluke army southwhilst Ibrahim Bey, who had spent much of the battle on thewrong (or at least saJest) bank of the Nile - the east, took hisforces south-west towards Sinai.

French casualties were less than five hundred (Mamelukecasualties are again unknown) and by nightfall they were inpossesion of Cairo. Bonaparte had halted only long enough tofight the battle and bury his few dead.

ln Cairo Bonapa(e now set about organizing a form ofself-government for the Egt?tian people - whether they wanted

Meanwhile, but outside the scope of this article, Nelson hadatlastfoundthe French fleet at anchorinAboukirBay, and, inadaring attack, known as th€ Battle of the Nile, comPletelydestroyed it - and with it Bonaparte's communications with

In mid-August the Turks declared war on France. The wholeFrench stmtegy was falling apart. There was a revolt in Cairowhich BonaDarte. no doubt with memodes of the Pads mob,

suppressed btoodily.Desaix had been despatched into Upper Egypt in punuit of

Murad Bey. Following the course ofthe Nile, the main arterialroute of Egypt, Desaix pursued Murad Bey as far as the firstcataract supported by a flotilla of gunboats. The Mamelukecommander had leamt from his two battles against the Frenchhowever and retused to fight a third, contenting himself withhit-and-run tactics and a guerilla war.

Ibrahim Bey had by now reached Palestine and, afterrecruiting his army from locally purchased slaves, (who provedto be good soldiers!) Bonaparte followed in January 1799. Bynow the French were also leaming and had water-bottles"issued" and had adopted cotton uniforms and a lightweighthelmet with neck coverr.

The invasion went well. By the end of February the Turkishfon at El Arish had fall€n to the French - all survivors of thegarrison were put to the sword, in an attempt to cow otherTurkish garrisons into submisson. Gaz a fell three days later andon March 4th the French army was before Jaffa. Three days ofbombardment and an assault and this town too fell- BonaDarte'scommunique ro rhe Direclory giv€s 1200 of rhe garriron asexecuted after the storm.

The next objective was Acre, but here a British squadronunder Sir Sidney Smith aided the defence. This stiffening,coupled with the loss ofthe sieg€ train, captured by the Britishfleet, was enough to keep out the French.

The Siege ofAcre lasted 62 days and included 40 assaults and26 sallies by the garrison. Eventually on l4th May with aTurkish relief Army approaching it was abandoned and theArmy retreated to Egypt.

ln Egypt neanwhile an Anglo-Russian fleet was landing aTurkish Army of 18,000 nen underMustaphaPasha. The Turksstormed the Fort at Aboukir and drove out Marmont\ sarrison.Inexplicablv Musrapha rhen did nolhing but warL for rh; Frenchcounter-attack. He did not wait long-on July 25th Bonaparteattacked with 12,000 men. Murat led a massed cavlary chargewhichsmashed through the Turkish defences and he personallycaptured Mustapha Pasha. The subsequent infantry assaultthrew rhe Turks back into the sea with heavy losses.

Seeing the w ting on the wall Bonaparte decided at this pointthat there was no more Glory in Egypt and returned to Francewith his "Slaff'. Kl€ber assumed command ofthe ArmyoftheOrient. On 9th O€tober 1799 BonaDarte was back in France.

The Army ofthe Orient was now in an unenviable position,although some supplieswere being shipped in (when theycouldrun the Royal Navy blockade of France) by direct order of FintConsul Bonaparte.

On March 7th 1800 Kl€ber, with 12,000 men, defeatedanother Mameluke/Turkish Arny of 70.000 men ar Heliopolis;but Kl€ber hinself was assassinated in Cairo shorrly after-Command of the army devolved onto Menou, a goodadmjnistrator but an incompetent field commander.

On March 4th, however, a British army under Sir RalphAbercromby had stormed ashore at AboukirBay, albeit againststiff opposition from the French garlison there, and was nowfirmly emplaced in Eglpr and in KIeber< rear.

Kldberrapidly returned to Alexandria where, on Mar€h 13th,Abercromby attacked him. The British troops foughr with theirusual courage but could make no headway against the Frenchpositions. In lhe early hours of the next morning the Frenchcounter-attacked and the resultant hard,fought battle was aBritish victory, albeitthat Abercromby was mortally wounded.The casualties were 1,376 British and around 2,500 French.

Intelligence now reached Menou that an Anglolndian Armyunder General Baird had landed in Upper Egypt from the RedSea and was marching north, whilst the Turks were againmoving towards Cairo from th€ east.

Menou's position was hopeless, but he held out for as long ashewas able until in September, with only Alexandria left underFrench control, the Army capitulated wholesale- The termsw€re g€nerous (which may demonstrate how much of a threatthe French still represented) and, although all horses were tobehanded over, the men and their weapons were to be transportedback to France, along with the rno(al remains of GeneralKl6ber.

(Although militarily for France the expedition had been acomplete failure the great number of archaeologists andscientists who accompanied Bonaparte contributed enormouslyto the study of Eglpt's ancient past and gave us the RosettaStone.)

ORDERS OF BATTLE OFTHE FRENCH ARMY

The Army of the Ori€nt, Jurc 3{hh 1798.Commander in Chief: General Napoleon BonapaneChief of Staff: General of Division BerthierCommander o{ Engineers: Ceneral Cafarelli-DufalgaCommand€r ot Ani l le 'y. Ceneral Dommani l

Headquners:Mounted Guides5 (3 troops 120 men), commanded byBessiaresFoot Guides (3 coys - 300 men?), commanded by BessieresFoot Artillery (888 men)Horse Artillery (485 men)Sappers (776 men)Miners (192 men)Balloonists (25 men)Ensineers (164 men)Naval Lesion'(3 bns c.3000 men)

Adyafted currd:General of Divhion DesaixBrigadiers: Belliard & Frianl6lst Deni-Bngade de Bataille ( 3 bns - 1800 men)88th Demi-Brigade de Bataille ( 3 bns - 1500 men)2lst Demi'Brigade L€gare (3 bns - 2000 men)

Right Wing: General of Division ReynierBrigadie^: Damas & Verdier9th Derni-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1509 men)85th DemFBrigade de Barai l le (J bns - 1720 men)Mahese trgron' (2 bns - 1500 men)

Cenlre: General of Division KtdberBrigadiers: Lann€s & Lanusse25th DemiBrigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1530 m€n)75th DemiBrigade de Bataille (3bns - 1700 men)2nd Demi-Brigade L€gare (3 bns - 1368 men)

Left Wing: General of Division MenouBrigadiers: Vial & Mireur13th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns 2430 men)69th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns 1500 men)22nd Demi-Brigade Lesere (3 bns - l0l9 nen)

R€s€rvc General of Division BonBrigadiers: Rampon & Murat18th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns 1550 men)32nd Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns 1850 men)4th Demi-Brieade L6gdre (3 bns - 1016 men)

Lavatt l : - uenerar or DrvBrigadiers: Leclerc & Zayonszeck3rd Dragoons (2 sqns 360 men)

32

14th Dragoons (3 sqns 600 nen)15th Dragoons (2 sqns 200 nen)18th Dragoons (4 sqns 400 nen)20th Dragoons (2 sqns - 350 men)7th bis Hussan (3 sqns 600 men)22nd Chasseuree-Cheval (3 sqns - 250 men)This organisation changed as casualties occurred and garrisons

The Army of the Orient, lSth August 1798,lst Divisiorr General DagauBrigadiers: Damas, Verdier & Destaing25th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1296 men)75th Deni-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns 1692 men)2nd Demi-Brigade L6gCre (3 bns - 1194 nen)Artillery (51 men)Sappers (41 men)

2nd Division: General BonBrigadiers: Rampon & Marmont18th DemiBrigade de Bataille (3 bns 1271 nen)32nd Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1450 rnen)4th Demi-Brigade L6scre (3 bns - 973 men)6th Coy, 4th Foot Artillery (59 men)Part of 8th Horse Artillery (27 men)Pan of 5th Sappers (44 men)

3rd Division: Genenl ReynierBrigadier: Lagrange9th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1430 men)85th Deni-Bdgade de Bataille (3 bns - 2627 men)Part of 4th Foot Artilery (22 nen)Part of 4th Horse Anillery (42 nen)4 coys of 5th Sappers (249 men)

4th Divkion General DesaixBdgadiers: Friant & Belliard61st Demi-Brigade de Bataine (3 bns 1690 men)88th Demi-Brigade de Bataile (3 bns 11f'4 men)21st Demi-Brigade Llgere (3 bns - 1629 men)llth coy, lst Foot Artillery (65 men)5th coy, 1st Hone Anillery (67 men)Sappen (49 rnen)

5th Divisionr General LannesBrigadier: Veaux13th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1580 men)21st Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns - 1123 rnen)3rd coy, 4th Holse Artillery (73 nen)5th coy, 6th Sappers (49 men)

C.vrliy Division: General DumasBrigadiers: Davout, Leclerc, Mumt and Zayonszeck3rd Dragoons (2 sqns 239 men)14th Dragoons (3 sqns - 436 men)15th Dragoons (2 sqns - 205 men)18th Dmgoons (4 sqns - 197 men)20th Dragoons (2 sqns - 225 men)7th bis Hussars (3 sqns - 222 nen)22nd Chasseurs-d-Cheval (3 sqns - 179 men)

Gaffison of Alex.n&ia: General Kleber69th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (3 bns 1497 men)Anilery (126 nen)

The lack of reliable communications with France as a sourcefor recruiis and replacements plus continuing losses forced theFrench to rarse a number of "Forcign l-egions"8 which seem to

have served mainly as police, ganisons, and lines of com_munication guards, rather than as part of the Field ArnyFoper. Amongst these auxiliaries were:The Grcek Legion Formed in April 1799 as two battalions.Reached a peak of 1200 nen, but by March 1800 had beenreduced to only 850 men as a combined battalion with theCoDtic Leeion.fti copci rrgion formed in September 1799 at a strength oftwo battalions, each of five companies, plus one company ofgrenadiers which in March 1800was, at a strengthofl00men, ina combined Grenadier Brigade of the Field Army.The SJrian Cavarry Fonned early in 1799 (?), reached a strengthof two companies and seems to have been merged into theMamelukes sometime after March 1800.The Turkish Guards Formed 1799 or 1800 and used as a form ofCamp Police.

The Janirsary Company Fomed in 1799 or 1800 and comman'ded by one Captain Omar, used mainly as guides.The Comprny ofMameluk€s ofthe Republic Formed in 1799 andlater to become the famous Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard.

Nonetheless the strength of the French Army declinedinexorably despite, as mentioned above, some recruits fromFrance and the wholesale recruitment of Egyptians and

The Arlny of the Orient, lsr March 1800(Note: figures for inJantry are fit for seFice/men in depots,garrisons, sick, etc. Figures for cavalry are men/horses).Commander in Chief: General Kl€ber

Division: Gercml ReynierBdsade: General Robin9th-Demi-Brigade de Bataille (794155), + 2 x 4 P&s21st Demi-Brisade L6gare (800/102), + 2 x 4 pdrsBrigade: General Baudot13th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (841/66), + 2 x 4 pdls85rh Demi-Bdgade de Bataille (890/86), + 2 x 4 pdrsArtillery:1 coy of 4 x 8 pdrs and 2 howitzen

Division: Gen€ral FrianaBrigade: General zayonszeck25th Deni-Brigade de Bataille (910/50), + 2 x 4 pdrs22nd Demi-Brigade Legare (?8'4183)Bdgade: General Delegorgue61st DeniBdgade de Bataille (950/130), + 2 x 4 pdrs75th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (930/50), t 2 x 4 pdlsArtilery:1 €oy of 4 x 8 pdls and 2 howitzerc

Division: G€neral LenusseBrigade: General Silly18th Demi-Brigade de Bataille (794155), + 2 x 4 P&s4th Demi-Brigade Lfgere (790,44), + 2x4pdlsBrisade: Genenl Valentin69th Demi-Bdgade de Bataile (895/30), + 2 x 4 pdrs88th DemiBrigade d€ Bataille (843/45), + 2 x 4 pdrsAnillery:I company

Divisiotr: Gener.l RamponBdsade: General Morand32nd Deni-Brigade de Bataille (773160), plus artillery2nd Demi-Brigade kgire (771150), plus adlleryAnilery:1 company

Cavalry Division: Gen€ral RoizeBrigade: General Bon?th bis Hussars (2701240)22nd Chasseurs-a-Cheval (2791230)Marnelukes & Syrian Cavalry (2s3lr38)Brigade: General Boussart3rd Drasoons (255225)14th Dragoons (322245)15th Dragoons (l8Ul29)18th Dragoons (190/115)20th Dragoons (2931233)Artillery:I Horse Artillery coy of 4 x 4 pdrs and 2 howitzers

Additionally "availabl€" at this date we.e:Naval Legion 1940 InenGreek & Coptic Legions 850 men1st and 2nd lnvalid Bns 604 menSappers 516Artillery c.500 menCorps of Dromedades 253 menHeadquarters Guides 150 infantry & 80 cavalry

The Regiment ofDrornedaires had been forned in April 1799from picked grenadiers of the Demi,Bdgades. It absorbedother small camel mounted elemenrs of the 85th and 88thDemi-Brigades de Bataille, and of rh€ 2lst DemiBrigadeL€gare and eventually reached a peak of over 700 men. Itssuccess was due in part to the fact that the French had apermanent problem with the scarcity of remounts and camelswere an easily available substitute. By the time of rhecapitulation the strength ofrhe Regimenr had shrunktojust 140officers and men-Footnote on str€nglbs:

Except if specified otherwise all strengths are based onofficial returns of the date given and erclude officers.Nonetheless even these figures are operl to some laxity since it israrely cl€ar even what is meanr by "fit for duty".Next nonth: Pa.t II Uniforms of the F.ench in trgypt.

1. Of the French Reginents employed in Egypt only the l4thDragoons had not served with Bonaparte in 1797.2. The garrison allored to Vaubois consisted of:19rh Demi-Brigade de Bataille, 2nd & 3rd Baualions.A detachment of the 6rh Derni-Brigade de Bataille.A deta€hment of the 41st Demi-Brigade de Bataille.A detachment of the 80th DemiBrigade de Bataille.I battalion of the 7th Demi-Brigade L€gbre.The Carabinier Company of.he 23rd DemiBrigade L€gtre.The Artillery detachments of rhe 19th, 30th, and 69rhDeni-Brigades de Bataille, and of the 4th Demi-BrigadeLdgare.18th Conpany of.he 6th Foot Artillery.13th Company of Artillery "Arti?ans".In all anounting to about 3,500 men. It seems that Bonapa(etook this opponunity to divest himself of part Demi-Brigades,odd compani€s, etc.

Henceforward these troops were notconsideredto be part ofThe Army of the Orient, but as "Lines of Communications"

N.B. The term Demi-Brigade came inro use bythe Revolution-aryAnnies in 1793 and equates, roughly, to a Regimentofrhreebattalions,3- The Mamelukes had orginally been Kurdish slaves bur hadbecome converted to Islam and were, by now, fanari€al in theservice ofAllah- They were to all intents and purposes rulers ofEglpl and paid onl) l ip service ro rhe Turkish viceroy.

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4. The cotton uniform was not a great success- This and theother uniform details will be covered in Part IL5. How much of this "cavalry" had hones at this time can beseen ftom the fact thatthere were only 530 horses on board fora.ll regiments. A shortage of horses was to plague the Frenchcommand throughout the campaign.6. Th€ Naval Legion was formed, obviously fron the sailon ofthe fleet their abs€nces from the shios mav have connibuted tothe French defeat at Aboukir Bay. After ihat battle the sailorscontinued to serve, mainly as ganisons.7. The Maltese Legion was formed inJunefrom the Knights ofSt. John, nany of whom were of French oriein, and from theKnights' own regular regiments. It disappean quite early in th€campa'8n.8. Remarkably a number of these Foriegn kgion troopsrelumed to France after the capitulation of 1801.

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30

CAVALRY

INFANTRY(Each Derni-Brigade comprised nine €ompanies - eight 'cen,tre , fusiliers for de Bataille and chasseurs for de L€gare, andone '6lite . grenadiers or carabiniers respectively.)

Demi-B.igades de Bataill€:All ranks wore a dark blue coat with red collarand cuffs. DiDedin u hi le. whi le lapeh and turnbackr. piped in red. blue shouldelstraps piped in red for the fusiliers and red epauleues for thegrenadiers. Most deni-brigades had the simple 1791 cuffopening- essentially a straight 'cut' piped red -but some mayhave had dark blue piped red cuffflaps, as would become usualduing the Empire. All buttons were brass.

Headwear was. officially an).xay, the 'Tarleton helmet ofblack leather with black crest and national cockade on the leftside it is highly unlikely that any of the units in Egypt wore thishowever. In its Dlace was worn the almost universal blackbicorne with national cockade and, possibly, company porn-pom above it. Although the beankin had proved to beprohibitivelyexpensive for the Republic nany units did manageto retain their old issueswith brass plates on the front and at theback patch ofa white €ross on a red field. (Although some unitsare known to have used alternate red/blue grounds.)

Legwear should have been breeches and black gaiters - inpractice trousers were more usually worn, in white. grey, darkblue or even tricolour stripes."

Grenadiers officially carried the sabre br?uer over the rightshoulder, but many units did not have sabres and somegrenadiers may therefore have carried their bayonets on rhecartridge box strap in the nanner of fusiliers.

Demi-Brigades l,€gare:The coat was of a similar style to the de Balaille but with darkblue turnbacks and lapels piped white. The collarand cuffs arealso sometimes shown as blue, piped white. Shoulder strapswere blue piped white for the Chasseurs;the Carabiniers woreredepaulettes. The de Bataille white waistcoat was usually (butnot always) replaced by blue and officially the breeches werealso blue, but again trousers were more normally worn.

Headwear was sometimes the bicorne but often. whenavailable, one of a number oftypes ofshako. These were mostolten of one ofthe cylindrical forms and I have seen notes thatsome units in Italy had even worn a form of the Hussars'mirleton. Carabiniers wore the bearskin without front plate.

Officen wore essentially the same uniform as their men butwith gold rank epaulettes and, of course, with differefltequipment. Boots should have been worn in lhe field, butshortages forced many officers to weargaiters and/or trousers.

Dragoorls;Dark green coat with the various units differing inlapel, collar,cuffcolour (see Table l for the regiments in Egypt). White, ormore usual ly buFI. $ai \rcoat and breeches. Again. on campaigntrousers or overalls of any of a number of grey/brown hu€s couldbe worn. Brass helmet with a black peak and horsehair mane.The Horse fumiture was dark green with edging in theregimental facing colorr Gee Table 1).

Cbass€urs:Dark green coat with regimental facings (see Table 1).Netherwear should have been dark green, but becaus€ ofshortages, Iike that of the dragoons, could have been almost anydull colour instead or as well within the same company.Headwear was the black shako. usually cylindrical and in someregiments of the mirleton type (regretably I don't know whatthe 22nd were wearing).

Hussars:Only the 7lh bis were in Egypt and, as usual with Hussars, theirunitbrm was quite unique.

The 7th bh', ex Hussars de la Liberte, uniformwas a mid-bluepelisse and red dolnan with mid,blue collar and cuffs. Allbraiding on both was yellow. The breeches were nid-blue,pip€d in yellow. The mirleton shako had a red wing and plume(if and when wom in the latter case). All buttons were brass-Hors€ furniiure was a white sheepskin edged in blue;rhe valise

Officers wore generally the same uniform as th€ir men butwith gold or silver in place ofthe mens'yellow or white buttonsand lace. Dragoon and Chasseur officers wore epaulettes likethe Infantry, Hussar officers had a complex system of everincreasing amounts of gold lace on the breeches and cuffs.

CHANGESThe first changes which took place were to replace rheimpractical headwear of the infantry with a new leather helmetwhich had a cover lor the neck. Each demi-brisade had adrf ferenr colour crer( on i ls helmer. tsee Table l l . )

About the same time new uniforms were issued to all theintantry to replace those which had become ragged since theinvasion. The newuniformswere to be ofthe samedarkblue asthe usualpattern, but were ofa slightly different cut and, moreimportantly, were to be in €oiton. (Orders dated 6th August1798. confirmed 14th October 1798.)

The new uniforms were. obviously, made locally and this mayaccount for the differencein style that is sometimes commentedon basically the new style ofcoat seems to have been similartothe later turtouf, that is single breasted, withour lapels andwith simple, shorl tails.''

Offic€rs and some units, however, managed to retainuniforms of the old style although in rh€ new cut. Whether thischange affected the cavalry I have not been able to discover.

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN EGYPT, 1798.1801PART II - The Uniforms of the French Army

by Stephen Ede-Borrett

When the French army landed in Egypt in July 1798 it was stillwearing the European uniform not just in colour and style but.moreimpodantly, incloth andheadwear and this was to provea great problem for the French command (see Part I in lastmo h's Warsanes luustnted\.

3I

The new cotton uniforms were not a great success and in theAutumn of 1799 General Bonaparte, before his departure forFrance, gave order for a more drastic solution - the result isusually known as the 'Kl6ber Ordinan€e'.

The basic problen facing the French was that not enoughcloth was available ofsuitable quality toclothe the whole armyin thecorectcolour(which, afterall, wasmainly dark blue nota popular colour in a semi-tropical clinate). Therefore it wasdecided to clothe the army in the colour that was available.Dark blue was r€served for the Artillery, Sapperc, etc. TheDragoons still managed to hang on to their traditional darkgreen-

The new uni{orm was made without lapels and with shorttumbacks (looking rather like the Austrian coat of c1805),except for the Dragoons, Horse Artillery, and Officers whoretained the same cur as the old coat. if not the colour.

The result was a veritable rainbow of uniform colours withevery DemiBrigade dressed diff€rently (see Table III).Officers dressed in the same colour as their men and seemalmost to have vied with each orher in sarrorial splendour. Eachofficer had been given two 'aunes' of his unit's cloth to dresshimselland a profusion of lace and braid appearsto have been

The Dragoo.s, as mentioned above, managed to retain thetraditional dark green. apparendy with facings as in Table I.The Chasseurs were re-equipped in a Hussar type uniform oflight gr€en dolman and dark green pelisse (and br€eches ?),presumably with white lacings and steel bulrons. The Hussanretained their previous uniform since such colours of cloth werenot in short supply."

I don't have any notes on the uniforms ofthe more ooscureunits except lhat the Mounted Guides wore dark green and theott'quoted Dromedary Unit whose unifom was a sky bluehussar-typ€ dolman with a scarlet kaftan worn over it.r2

All of this is very neat, but there are a great number ofvariations recorded for all demi-brigades. These variaiions.however, are usually in facing colour rather than actual coatcolour, so Table III is a good guide, since to attempt to covereven a small number of these recorded variations wouldrake allofthis issu€ of IyI and nost ofthe next one as well - somethinsthat I don't think the Editor will allowl

TABLtr I

Facings of the Cavalry Regiments in EgyptRect. Lapels &no. Turnback

3 scadet14 pink15 pink18 pink20 yellow

Piping"

pink'"pinkpink

yellow

greenpinkpnKgrcen

greenprnkgrcengreen

22 Ereer, orange orange orange

Note: In dragoon regiments facing colour collar, cuffs, etc.were piped dark green and vice versa, the shoulder straps werealways in dark green and piped. The 22nd Chasseurs had darkgreen shoulder straps piped orange, and green piping to thecollar or1y, the lapeh may have been green piped orange.

'90\c

Examples of the lT98patternhelmet- Black leatherwith leatherorcotton neck cover and colouredwoollen crest (see Table II).After Marrion & Fosten.

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DemnBrigade9th de Bataill€l 31 819326 l697585882me L6gere4 green & while21 green & yellow22 green & redGuideeA-Pied lricoloured

Notei Bi coloured crests could be divided equally one colourabove the other, or in altemate bands along the length.

32

Demi-Brigad€

9 Bataille

13

1 8

2532

61

69

85882 Leqare4zl22

Coat

rr.greenrr.greensky bluesky blue

TABLE III

The Kldber Ordinance of October 1799

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Send 9l.50 for lsmm somple or contoctlSimon Choreswodh on 0656 768556 for detoils.

14 Co9 Ffynnon, Brqcklq, BrldgendMld Glqmorgon, CF3l 2HO

IllDstration IIExample of the Kl6ber Ordinance patiern coat. The 1798 issuecotton coat was probably often similar. After Rigo.

NOTES:

TABLE II

Crests of the Demi-BrigadesS€ptemb€r 1798

Cr€st

blueblack

blue & whiteblack & whiteyellow & whiteblue & redyellow & redyellow & bluegreen

Collar Cuffs Turnback PipingCreen green green whrteblue white white red

dk.blue puce puce greenyellow yellow yellow whitescarlet blue blue blueblue blue blu€ white

scarlet lt.orange lt.orange whitedk.blue dk.blue dk.blue yellowdk.blue lt.green ll-green whiteyellow lt.green ll.green 1scarlet white whiie white

sky blue sky blue sky blue whitescarlet yellow yellow whiteblue green green white

dk.blue dk.blue dk.blue whitecrimson crimson crimson whiteIt.orange lt.orange red whitecrirnson crimson crimson white

Io{tArtillery blue

Miners blueBalloonists blueEngineers blue

red red redyellow yellow yellowblack black bluegreen red bluerecl green green

9. Striped trousers are often shown in contemporary pdnts, ina number of hues. I have even seen one print of an Officer inItaly wearing trousers with altemate red and blue ioops on awhite ground.

red 10. The buttons on these coals (and on those made {or thev. ^r Kldber Ordinance) $ere clorh co\ered lor al l e\cepr Olf ice$

red brttons, but ;s brass buttons were in use iocally as a form ofred curren€y it seems unlikely that such would have stayed on th€

white coat for long.

Note: Piping was on the collar, cuffs, turnbacks and, for somedemi-brigades, down the front opening of the coat.

Wheretwosetsof€oloursaregiven(gth, 18th)orthree(61st)then authorities differ and I have no firm evidence in favour ofone or the other. Possibly both uniforms existed side by side,but it is also worth considering how colours change in brightsunlight for example ir the 6lst, crimson can appear as brownif grubby or badly dyed, and blue fades to green after prolongedexDosure to sunlisht.

11. Although one source after the Kleber Ordinance gives theblue as 'dark blue'.12. This unit's uniforms have been the source of many articlesby many authorities, most of whom do not agree in detail. ltseem,lhar a number of, l ighr ly di f fenng unitonn, were in u.e arthe same time, likewise the headwear was ofa number of formsfrom czapska to rurban to shako.13. When uniforms were issued in Egypt in October 1798 thepiping may not have been present.14. Rigo (see Sourcet shows this as a very dark pink.

22

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN EGY?T I798.I8OIPART lll - The Stondords & Colours of ihe French Army

by Stephen

Th€ regin€nts which General Bonapane took with him to Egjpt in1798 were all ftom the 17ql "Amy of Italy", except for th€ 14thDmgoons. Thus, except for this last rcgiment, all were carrying the1797 pattem Army of Italy standards and colous.

TIIE CAVALRY STANDARDSEach squa&on in a rcgiinent 17 caried a standard. Thes€ were aIidentical except for two points:1. The revers€ canied the squadron number. (s€e L m)2. The field of the standard djffercd ftom squadron to squadron,

viz:rst Squadrcn - rcd2nd Squadron - blue&d Squadron - gr€en4lh Squadrcn - ye owAll embroidery, ftinge, etc was gold except for the Phrygian cap

and the straF around the fasces which were red. The staff wasmid-blue with a gold staple and point. The s.3d was tricoloured.

For som€ reason the squadron coloun ofthe Army of the Orientpattem issued to the 14ih Dragoons in 1799 and to the Reeinent ofDromedaries in the same year were different, vi:

1st Squadron - tricolour2nd Squadron - r€d3rd Squadron - sky blue4th Squa&on - green

Sadly, unlike the information available for the inJanuy (seebelow) dlat for d|e cavaLy is remarkable only for ils paucity, lhefollowing however is what I have to date.

All Regin€nts caded standards (the aclual 17ql orde$ oftenrefer to "Guidons" which nay, or may not, be significant) of asimilar design. Probably lhis was little different to the actualpattem of lhe "Army of lhe Orienf' (se€ in.Itr). The size of ihestandads wEs 5G55cm by 52-53c:trl, exduding ftinge. Th€ revers€caried, like ih€ infantry colous, the nanes of the batd€s in whichlhe regiment had distinguished itsefi, sadly ev€n Piere charie hasftiled to discover exactly what lhes€ honoun were for ihe cavalry.

The mounted Guid€s however, who c€rried ihe Army of Italypattem, had the following on the reve$e of their standards:REPIJBUQUE FRANC{SECOMP' DES GIJIDES. . . ESCADRONB. DE LODIB. DE BORGIfiITOC. DE INNATOB. DE CASTIGLIONEB. DE BASSANOB. DE SA]NT.GEORGEB. D'ARCOLEB. DE RIVOLIPAS DE I,{ PIAVAPAS: DU TAGLIAMENTO

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The squadron colours are lst - red (necessitating the Phrygiancap to be gold); 2nd sky blue; 3rd light geen; 4th - yelow.

THE INFANIRY COLOURSIll.IV shors the basic 1797 Army of Italy pattem which had beenissued to all tbe demi-bdgader pres€nt in Eglpt. There were,however, some variations, but they were only slight.

The obv€rs€ of this pattem carried the names of the battl€s atwhich the demi-brigades had been present in Italy and, as timepass€d, the names of the Eglptian victories werc added while thecolous were still in use.

Each banalion carried one colour, only the sleeve beuaying thebattalion:1st battalion - white2nd battalion - red3rd battalion - blue

The revers€ of some coloun did, however, c,Iry "p" B"",the top dght ad bottom leftmmers,

with the demi-bigade number in the other two comels, but thiswas NOT univ€Isal.

The gen€ral d€sign of the reverse was essentially the same as theobveNe (iI.9, excrpt that the central square bore the lasces andPbrygian cap and the legend "REPIJBLIQIJE FRANCAIS"above the square and "DISSPLINE ET SOUMISSION AIlxLOIS MILITAIRES" below.

The Demi-brigades Egere carried the same pattem of colour,but with a hom in the centre of the laurels on the obverse.

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To give a full list of battle honours here would serve littlepurpose and I doubt that many wargamers would aclually paintthem onto their Regiments' mlours any\rvay, If you are interestedin any particllar deni-bigade then I can thoroughly recommendthe works cited und€r "sources".

17. How mariy squadrons of each regiment were in E$T't is set outin Part Il (sEe Waryame: I t rrar€d Nr.lt, although whichsquadrons were present I do not know - can anyone help?

SOURCESClw]?tr'ie, Pie,Je Dtupeaux et EEndatA de la rcyolaion et deL'Enpirct Paft 198r''.Ede-Borrett, S.L. "lnfantry Coloun of tbe Army of Iialy'' inMililtry Modc ing for No.enber 1983; p.848.Marrion, R. & Fosten, D. "The Uniforms and equipment of

the French Army in ESpt,l1 -1N1" i\TtudnionN6A,43&47;L don r97?.Nafiiger, George The Frcnch Amt: Royd, Repubtban &Inpeial, Palts I, ll & m; keds 1987 & 1988.Nafriger, Georg€ Various itens ftom the Col.l"crlo, material.Rigofl, Plumet Unifom plates Nos 201, 209, & 216.Rigob Plumet "J'Etais EtrltalieEtEnErypte" in TraditionNo.11; Paris 1987; pplc21.Rigonaud, Albert "The 88th Demi-Brigade of the FrenchArmy In Eglpt, S€ptember 1801" id Trrdrto, No.57; London196?, pp2-8.Plus various notes on the French Republican Armies collectedftom numerous sources ovef many years.

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