Napoleon in Egypt (80 page)

2. This and the following quotes are from Napoleon’s instructions:
Correspondance
, Vol. 5, pp. 573, 575.
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3.
Kléber et Menou en Égypte depuis le départ de Bonaparte
, pp. 78–80.
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4. Ibid., p. 8.
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5. El-Djabarti,
Merveilles biographiques et historiques, ou Chroniques
, Vol. 6, p. 231.
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6. Ibid., p. 250.
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7. This and the following quotes are from François,
Journal du Capitaine François, dit le Dromadaire d’Égypte
, pp. 441–2.
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8. This and the following quotes are from Malus,
Souvenirs de L’Expédition de l’Égypte
, p. 218.
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9. Gourgaud,
Journal de Sainte-Hélène
, Vol. 1, p. 63.
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10. Las Cases,
Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène
, Vol. 1, p. 131.
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11. Napoleon,
Correspondance
, Vol. 29, pp. 429–30.
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12. Bourrienne,
Mémoires
, Vol. 2, p. 330.
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Chapter XXIX: Aftermath

1. Cited in Pocock,
Thirst for Glory: The Life of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith
, p.237; source Las Cases,
Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène
.
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2. Cited in Foreman,
Napoleon’s Lost Fleet
, p. 156; also in Bourrienne,
Mémoires
, and others.
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3. Cited in Russell,
The Discovery of Egypt
, p. 258.
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4. Duverger,
Mes aventures dans la campagne du Russie
, p. 1. This and the following are cited by Zamoyski,
1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow
, p. 102.
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5. Meerheimb,
Erlebnisse eines Veteranen der grossen Armee während des Feldzugs in Russland 1812
, p. 7.
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6. Cited in Bainville,
Bonaparte
, p. 557.
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Select Bibliography

There is a vast literature on almost every aspect and every period of Napoleon’s life. As far as possible I have made use of firsthand or contemporary sources. Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign was one of the first in history to produce a rash of memoirs from all sections of those who took part in it. This was encouraged by the exotic locale as well as the spread of education in post-revolutionary France. These firsthand reports range from the memoirs of generals to the recollections of sergeants and privates, from the journals of savants to the histories written by contemporary Egyptians. As ever, the reliability of such memoirs is subject to individual memory and motive.

There are certain comprehensive sources that promise a greater degree of reliability, though without always living up to such promise. Amongst these, the most obvious is Napoleon’s
Correspondance
, whose thirty-two volumes were published in Paris between 1858 and 1870, i.e., around forty years after his death, on the orders of Napoleon III. Volumes 4–6 cover the period of the Egyptian expedition, and include everything from Napoleon’s orders of the day and his correspondence, to his communications with his generals, the Egyptian authorities and the British fleet, his proclamations to his soldiers, the Egyptian people and others, official reports to the Directory, as well as his attempts to communicate with France, the sultan, the Porte and the French representative in Constantinople, and so forth. These give a day-to-day picture, and are largely accurate as they stand, though it is known that Napoleon removed certain documents during his time as ruler. Other obvious inaccuracies are indicated in my text, such as when his secretary Bourrienne states that Napoleon’s proclamation to his troops after the siege of Acre “from beginning to end mutilated the truth.” Less reliable are Napoleon’s memoirs of the expedition, which occupy Volumes 29–30. For these he certainly draws on official documents and his own correspondence, and although his picture is fairly accurate it must be remembered that he was at the time on St. Helena and wished to paint a picture of history as he saw it. Any use of this source has to be measured against other firsthand sources.

Another comprehensive source is provided by C. de La Jonquière’s excellent five-volume
L’Expédition en Égypte
, which makes wide use of firsthand sources in the official archives, a few of which remain unavailable to the public. Any historian of this campaign must remain indebted to La Jonquière. I also made use of X. Saintine and L. Reybaud’s ten-volume
Histoire scientifique et militaire de l’Expédition Française en Égypte
(Paris, 1830–4), which includes work by several generals and savants. Anyone wishing to research the findings of the expedition must of course consult the sumptuous twenty-volume
Description de l’Égypte
, which was edited by the savant E. F. Jomard and was published between 1809 and 1828 under the auspices of Napoleon himself (the last volumes appeared posthumously).

What follows is a selected bibliography of the sources I consulted more fully during the course of writing this book:

Anon,
Siege of Acre
(London, 1801)

Dominique Arago,
Biographie de Gaspard Monge
(Paris, 1853)

Archives du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Paris: correspondance consulaire, Le Caire, lettres de consul Mure, 1776–7

Archives historiques du Ministère de la Guerre: correspondance de l’armée d’Égypte: mémoires historiques

Robert Asprey,
The Rise of Napoleon
(London, 2000)

Paul Aubry,
Monge
(Paris, 1954)

Jacques Bainville,
Bonaparte
(Paris, 1931)

Paul Barras,
Mémoires
(Paris, 1895–6)

John Barrow,
Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith
, 2 vols. (London, 1848)

E. T. Bell,
Men of Mathematics
(London, 1937)

J. G. P. M. Benoist-Méchin,
Bonaparte en Égypte
(Lausanne, 1966)

François Bernoyer,
Avec Bonaparte en Égypte
(published posthumously, Abbeville, 1976)

Louis-Alexandre Berthier,
Relation des campagnes du général Bonaparte en Égypte et en Syrie
(Milan, Year 8, i.e., probably 1800)

Biographie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne
(Paris, 1852)

T. C. W. Blanning,
The French Revolutionary Wars
(London, 1996)

Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne,
Mémoires
, 10 vols. (Paris, 1831)

Jean-Joël Brégeon,
L’Égypte de Bonaparte
(Paris, 1991)

F. Charles-Roux,
Bonaparte gouverneur d’Égypte
(Paris, 1935)

F. Charles-Roux,
Les Origines de l’Expédition d’Égypte
(Paris, 1910)

A. Chuquet,
Dugommier
(Paris, 1904)

Copies of Original Letters from the Army of General Buonaparte
[sic]
in Egypt, intercepted by the Fleet under the Command of Admiral Lord Nelson
(London, 1799)

Correspondance de l’armée française en Égypte
(Paris, Year VII, i.e., 1799)

F. Coston,
Biographie des Premières Années de Napoléon Bonaparte
(Paris, 1840)

Le Courier de l’Égypte
(Cairo, 1798–9)

Anthony Cronin,
Napoleon
(London, 1971)

La Décade
(Cairo, 1798–9)

Vivant Denon,
Voyages dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte pendant les campagnes de Bonaparte
, 2 vols. (London, 1807)

Vivant Denon,
Travels in Lower and Upper Egypt
(trans. E. A. Kendal), 2 vols. (London, 1802; reprinted 1986)

Le Départ du trompette de cuirassiers:
chanson militaire (Paris, 1825?)

René-Nicolas Desgenettes,
Souvenirs de la fin du XVIIIe. siècle
(published posthumously, Paris, 1835)

René-Nicolas Desgenettes,
Histoire médicale de l’armée d’Orient
(Paris, 1802)

Nicolas-Philibert Desvernois,
Mémoires
(published posthumously, Paris, 1898)

Dictionary of Scientific Biography
, ed. C. C. Gillispie, 16 vols. (New York, 1970–80)

La Diplomatie du Directoire et Bonaparte
(Paris, 1951)

Jean-Pierre Doguereau,
Journal de L’Expédition d’Égypte
(published posthumously, Paris, 1904)

F. Doppet,
Mémoires politiques et militaires
(Carouge, 1797)

Pierre-Jean Doublet,
Mémoires Historiques sur l’invasion et l’occupation de Malte en 1798
(published posthumously, Paris, 1883)

B. T. Duverger,
Mes aventures dans la campagne du Russie
(Paris, n.d.)

El-Djabarti,
Merveilles biographiques et historiques, ou Chroniques
, 9 vols., translated from the Arabic (Cairo, 1888–96)

Lt Col. P. G. Elgood,
Bonaparte’s Adventure in Egypt
(London, 1936)

Laura Foreman,
Napoleon’s Lost Fleet
(London, 1999)

C. François,
Journal du Capitaine François, dit le Dromadaire d’Égypte
, 2 vols. (published posthumously, Paris, 1903)

Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire,
Lettres écrites d’Égypte
(published posthumously, Paris, 1901)

Shafik Ghorbal,
The Beginnings of the Egyptian Question
(London, 1928)

Gaspard Gourgaud,
Journal de Sainte-Hélène, 1815–1818
, 2 vols. (Paris, 1899)

Lieutenant Laval Grandjean,
Journaux sur l’Expédition de l’Égypte
(published posthumously, 2000, Paris)

Philip Guedalla,
Napoleon in Palestine
(London, 1925)

Louis Hastier,
Le Grand Amour de Joséphine
(Paris, 1955)

J. Christopher Herold,
Bonaparte in Egypt
(London, 1962)

J. Christopher Herold,
The Mind of Napoleon
(New York, 1955)

Histoire de Saint Louis par Jean de Joinville
(reprinted Paris, 1874)

E. E. Jomard,
Souvenirs sur Gaspard Monge
(Paris, 1853)

Journal d’Abdurrahman Gabarti
[El-Djabarti]
pendant l’occupation française en Egypte
(trans. A. Cardin), (Paris, 1838)

Laure Junot, Duchesse d’Abrantès,
Mémoires
, 18 vols. (Paris, 1831–5)

Kléber et Menou en Egypte depuis le départ de Bonaparte
(documents), ed. François Rousseau (Paris, 1900)

C. de La Jonquière,
L’Expédition en Égypte 1798–1801
, 5 vols. (Paris, 1899–1907)

Louise-Marie Larevellière-Lépaux,
Mémoires
, 3 vols. (Paris, 1873)

Emmanuel Las Cases,
Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène
, 2 vols. (corrected edition, Paris, 1935)

Count Lavallette,
Mémoires
, 2 vols. (published posthumously, Paris, 1831)

Sir John Theophilus Lee,
Memoirs
(London, 1836)

André Malraux,
Vie de Napoleon par lui-même
(Paris, 1930)

L’Agenda de Malus,
Souvenirs de l’Expédition de l’Égypte
(published posthumously, Paris, 1892)

P. Martin,
Histoire de l’expédition française en Égypte
, 2 vols. (Paris, 1815)

Frank McLynn,
Napoleon
(London, 1997)

Franz Meerheimb,
Erlebnisse eines Veteranen der grossen Armee während des Feldzugs in Russland 1812
(Dresden, 1860)

Mémoires de General Baron Thiébault, publiés sous les auspices de sa fille
(Paris, 1893)

Mémoires et Correspondance du Roi Joseph
[Bonaparte], ed. Du Casse, 10 vols. (Paris 1855)

Pierre Millet,
Souvenirs de la campagne d’Égypte
(published posthumously, Paris, 1903)

J.-F. Miot,
Mémoires . . . des expéditions en Égypte et Syrie
(Paris, 1814)

Alan Moorehead,
The Blue Nile
(London, 1962)

Napoleon Bonaparte,
Correspondance inédite, officielle et confidentielle:
Égypte
, 3 vols. (Paris, 1819–20)

Napoleon Bonaparte,
Correspondance inédite, officielle et confidentielle
, 7 vols. (Paris, 1819–20)

Napoleon Lettres D’Amour à Josephine, présentées par Jean Tulard
(Paris, 1981)

Horatio Nelson,
Letters and Despatches
, ed. J. K. Laughton (London, 1886)

Horatio Nelson,
Despatches and Letters 1798–1800 by Lord Nelson
(London, 1913)

John Nicol,
The Life and Adventures of John Nicol
(Edinburgh, 1822)

Barry O’Meara,
Napoleon in Exile
, 2 vols. (London, 1823)

Tom Pocock,
Thirst for Glory: The Life of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith
(London, 1996)