Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 21 July 1798
- It is interesting that among Napoleon's subordinate commanders in that battle was also the famous Auguste de Marmont, later Marshal of France, Duke of Ragusa and Governor of Dalmatia.
On this day in 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte achieved a military victory near the Egyptian pyramids not far from Cairo.
It was his Egyptian expedition, during which he tried to conquer Egypt, Palestine and some other parts of the Middle East for France. At that time Napoleon was not yet the ruler of France, but only a senior military commander with the rank of a general. It was only after his return from the expedition that he seized power in France, first as a consul and then as Emperor of the French.
Not far from the Egyptian pyramids, General Bonaparte met the forces of the Mamluk army (Mamluks ruled Egypt at that time under Ottoman sultans). Comparing their weapons and equipment, the distribution of power was highly unequal. The French were armed with modern firearms and equipped according to European standards, and even possessed modern artillery.
It is interesting that among Napoleon’s subordinate commanders in that battle was also the famous Auguste de Marmont, later Marshal of France, Duke of Ragusa and Governor of Dalmatia. The pyramids at Giza were visible from the battlefield and on the eve of the battle, Bonaparte reportedly told his soldiers to remember that forty centuries of history look down upon them from the pyramids.
