The Death March of Bonaparte’s army of Orient to Damanhour on July 3-9, 1798

Occupation: Professor, Chief Researcher
Affiliation:
State Academic University for the Humanities
Institute of World History RAS
Address: Moscow, Russian Federation

Journal name

ISTORIYA

Edition

Abstract

The military historians of Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801 traditionally paid attention mainly to the fighting during this campaign. The author of the article suggests exploring also, in accordance with the latest approaches of military historical anthropology, events what happened at the same time “beyond the edge of the battlefield”. He analyzes the facts related to the first great march of Bonaparte’s Army of Orient across the desert from Alexandria to Damanhour on July 3–9, 1798, which became for French soldiers actually a “death march”. The first serious test for the Army of Orient revealed those fundamental problems for it, which, gradually worsening, would lead to the collapse of the entire expedition. It turned out that, the French were extremely poorly prepared for conducting military operations in desert conditions. Bonaparte, when deciding on the direction of movement of troops, was guided by purely ideological cliches about the willingness of the Egyptians to support the French as “liberators” from the yoke of the Mamluks and, believing the advice of representatives of local elites, sent the army along the most unfavorable route. The French soldiers demonstrated also utterly low readiness to act in extreme natural conditions: they quickly lost their morale and began to show disobedience to commanders. As a result of the combined impact of all these factors, the Army of Orient suffered during this march irretrievable non-combat losses, far exceeding its losses in the subsequent series of battles.

Keywords

military historical anthropology, Egyptian campaign 1798–1801, Napoleon Bonaparte

Acknowledgment

The study is sponsored by the Russian Science Foundation, project № 23–18–00011 “Popular Anti-Revolution in Mediterranean 1792–1814”.

Received

27.05.2024

Publication date

31.07.2024

Number of characters

46057

Cite

GOST	Tchoudinov A. The “Death March” of Bonaparte’s army of Orient to Damanhour on July 3-9, 1798 // ISTORIYA – 2024. – V. 15. – Issue 6 (140) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840031051-5-1 (circulation date: 22.07.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031051-5
MLA	Tchoudinov, Alexandre "The “Death March” of Bonaparte’s army of Orient to Damanhour on July 3-9, 1798." ISTORIYA 15.6 (140) (2024) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031051-5
APA	Tchoudinov A. (2024). The “Death March” of Bonaparte’s army of Orient to Damanhour on July 3-9, 1798. ISTORIYA 15(6 (140)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031051-5

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