At Aboukir and Acre: A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt Read online

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  "WELL, MY LAD, WHO ARE YOU?"

  _Page 124_]

  At Aboukir and Acre

  A Story of Napoleon's Invasionof Egypt

  BY

  G. A. HENTY

  Author of "The Dash for Khartoum" "By Right of Conquest""In Greek Waters" "St. Bartholomew's Eve" &c.

  _Illustrated_

  BLACKIE & SON LIMITEDLONDON AND GLASGOW

  BLACKIE & SON LIMITED50 Old Bailey, LONDON17 Stanhope Street, GLASGOW

  BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LIMITEDWarwick House, Fort Street, BOMBAY

  BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LIMITED1118 Bay Street, TORONTO

  _Printed in Great Britain byBlackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow_

  PREFACE

  With the general knowledge of geography now possessed we may well wonderat the wild notion entertained both by Bonaparte and the Frenchauthorities that it would be possible, after conquering Egypt, to marchan army through Syria, Persia, and the wild countries of the northernborders of India, and to drive the British altogether from that country.The march, even if unopposed, would have been a stupendous one, and thewarlike chiefs of Northern India, who, as yet, were not even threatenedby a British advance, would have united against an invading army fromthe north, and would, had it not been of prodigious strength, haveannihilated it. The French had enormously exaggerated the power ofTippoo Sahib, with whom they had opened negotiations, and even had theirfantastic designs succeeded, it is certain that the Tiger of Mysorewould, in a very short time, have felt as deep a hatred for them as hedid for the British.

  But even had such a march been possible, the extreme danger in which anarmy landed in Egypt would be placed of being cut off, by the superiorstrength of the British navy, from all communication with France, shouldalone have deterred them from so wild a project. The fate of thecampaign was indeed decided when the first gun was fired in the Bay ofAboukir, and the destruction of the French fleet sealed the fate ofNapoleon's army. The noble defence of Acre by Sir Sidney Smith was thefinal blow to Napoleon's projects, and from that moment it was but aquestion of time when the French army would be forced to lay down itsarms, and be conveyed, in British transports, back to France. The creditof the signal failure of the enterprise must be divided between Nelson,Sir Sidney Smith, and Sir Ralph Abercrombie.

  CONTENTS

  CHAP. Page

  I. MAKING A FRIEND 11

  II. A BEDOUIN TRIBE 31

  III. LEFT BEHIND 49

  IV. THE BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS 66

  V. A STREET ATTACK 86

  VI. THE RISING IN CAIRO 105

  VII. SAVED 122

  VIII. AN EGYPTIAN TOMB 142

  IX. SIR SIDNEY SMITH 162

  X. A SEA-FIGHT 182

  XI. ACRE 199

  XII. A DESPERATE SIEGE 217

  XIII. AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND 234

  XIV. A PIRATE HOLD 251

  XV. CRUISING 270

  XVI. A VISIT HOME 287

  XVII. ABERCROMBIE'S EXPEDITION 304

  XVIII. THE BATTLE OF ALEXANDRIA 322

  XIX. QUIET AND REST 340