Siege of Acre (1799)
Siege of Acre | |||||||
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Part of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria during the War of the Second Coalition | |||||||
Failed siege of Acre by French forces led by Napoleon | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire Great Britain |
French Republic | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Antoine de Phélippeaux | ) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Nizam-i Djedid (Garrison Force) Royal Navy | Armée d'Orient | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Garrison: 5,000 men[1][2] Relief army (Mt. Tabor): 35,000[3]–40,000[4] Support: 2 British ships of the line[2] | 12,000[1]–13,000[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2,000[1] (for the siege) |
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The siege of Acre of 1799 was an unsuccessful French
Background
Acre was a site of significant strategic importance due to its commanding position on the route between Egypt and Syria. Bonaparte wanted to capture it following his invasion of Egypt. He hoped to incite a Syrian rebellion against the Ottomans and threaten British India. After the siege of Jaffa, which was followed by two days and nights of massacre and rape by the French forces,[citation needed] the defenders of the citadel were even more determined to resist the French.
Siege
The French attempted to lay siege on 20 March using only their
However, the troops of the capable
A Royal Navy flotilla under Commodore Sidney Smith, commanding Tigre, helped to reinforce the Ottoman defences and supplied the city with additional cannon manned by sailors and marines. Smith used his command of the sea to capture the French siege artillery being sent by a flotilla of gunboats from Egypt and to bombard the coastal road from Jaffa.[6] The captured boats were:[7]
Name | Fate |
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Dangereuse | Sold 1801 |
Deux Frères | Lost in a gale in May 1799 |
Foudre | Sold 1801 |
Marie-Rose | Sold 1801 |
Negresse | Sold 1802 |
Torride | Last listed 1802 |
Vierge-de-Grâce | Recaptured and scuttled May 1799 |
An
Smith anchored the British ships Tigre and Theseus so their broadsides could assist the Ottoman defence. British gunboats, which were of shallower draft, could come in closer, and together they helped repel repeated French assaults.
On 16 April an Ottoman relief force was fought off at Mount Tabor. By early May, replacement French siege artillery had arrived overland and a breach was forced in the defences. At the culmination of the assault, the besieging forces managed to make a breach in the walls.[6]
However, after suffering many casualties to open this entry-point, Napoleon's soldiers found, on trying to penetrate the city, that Farhi and de Phélippeaux had, in the meantime, built a second wall, several feet deeper within the city where al-Jazzar's garden was. Discovery of this new construction convinced Napoleon and his men that the probability of them taking the city was minimal. Moreover, after the assault was again repelled, Ottoman reinforcements from Rhodes were able to land.[6]
Having underestimated the stubborn attitude of the defending forces combined with a British blockade of French supply harbours and harsh weather conditions, Napoleon's forces were left hungry, cold and damp. Plague had struck the French camp as a result of the desperate condition of the men, and had by now led to the deaths of about 2,000 soldiers.
Throughout the siege, both Napoleon and Jezzar sought in vain the assistance of the Shihab leader, Bashir—ruler of much of present-day Lebanon. Bashir remained neutral. As things turned out, it was the French which suffered most from the attitude of Bashir, whose intervention on their side might have turned the balance of power in their favour.
Finally, the siege was raised. Napoleon Bonaparte retreated two months later on 21 May after a failed final assault on 10 May, and withdrew to Egypt.[6]
Significance
This article possibly contains unsourced reliable published sources.(May 2023) ) |
In 1805, Napoleon asserted that if he had
been able to take Acre [in 1799], I would have put on a
Immortals. I would have finished the war against the Turks with Arabic, Greek, and Armenian troops. Instead of a battle in Moravia, I would have won a Battle of Issus, I would have made myself emperor of the East, and I would have returned to Paris by way of Constantinople.[8]
The allusions from
Whether or not Napoleon would have been able to carry out the above grand design, it is likely that had he taken Acre he might have remained a considerable further time in the East, would not have returned to France in 1799 and hence would not have carried out later that year the coup which established him in power as First Consul. He might have still taken power in France, later on and under different circumstances, or in his absence someone else might have overthrown the shaky rule of the Directorate. Either way, the later history of France and of Europe might have been substantially different. Also, whether or not Napoleon would have managed to make himself Emperor of the East and reach Constantinople, his energetically trying to do that would have certainly had a substantial effect on the Ottoman Empire's history.
Some hold[
Napoleon showed great interest in winning over the Jews during the campaign,
Legacy
In present-day Acre, the hill on which Napoleon set his camp, south-east of the city walls of Acre, is still known as "Napoleon's Hill" (גבעת נפוליון). Acre also has a Napoleon Bonaparte Street (רחוב נפוליון בונפרטה), the only city in Israel with such a street name.
Among the Arab population of the Old City of Acre, the knowledge of their forebears having successfully withstood the barrage of such a world-famous conqueror is a source of civic pride and local patriotism. In a folk tale circulated by Acre Arabs, Napoleon, upon lifting the siege of Acre, let a cannon shoot his hat into the city "so that at least a part of him would enter into Acre".[13]
Gallery
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The remains of the internal fortification line erected by Farhi andde Phélippeauxwithin the walls of Acre during Napoleon's siege, May 1799.
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The general outlook of Old Acre, seen here in a present-day view from above, has changed little since 1799
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Cemetery for Napoleon's soldiers in Acre, including the grave of General Caffarelli
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19th-century cannon, set in the wall of Acre near a sign commemorating Farhi. The Hebrew inscription on the sign reads: "Farhi vs. Napoleon. Jezzar's right hand in resisting Napoleon's harsh siege was the Jewish Haim Farhi, senior adviser and minister of finance"
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Bodart 1908, p. 334.
- ^ a b c d Gilbert 2022.
- ^ Smith, D. p.151
- ^ Guerre d'Orient: Campagnes de Égypte et de Syrie - page 82
- ^ Falk 2015, p. 185.
- ^ a b c d e Rickard 2006.
- ^ "No. 15149". The London Gazette. 18 June 1799. pp. 609–610.
- ^ Bonaparte 1955, p. 49.
- ^ Blond 1997, pp. 48, 103, 470.
- ^ Laurens 1999, p. 18.
- ^ Kobler 1975, p. 51.
- ^ Englund 2005, p. 133.
- ^ Kempinsky 1968.
References
- Gilbert, Adrian (2022). "Siege of Acre: Facts & Related Content". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
- ISBN 9781939578723.
- Bonaparte, Napoleon (1955). J. Christopher Herold (ed.). Mind of Napoleon: A Selection of His Written and Spoken Words. New York: Columbia University Press. On Religions.
- Blond, Georges (1997). La Grande Armée. Translated by May, Marshall. New York: Arms and Armor.
- Laurens, Henry (1999). La Question de Palestine: L'invention de la terre sainte, 1799-1922. Paris: Fayard.
- Kobler, Franz (1975). Napoleon and the Jews. Jerusalem: Masada Press.
- Englund, Steven (2005). Napoleon: A Political Life. Harvard University Press.
- Kempinsky, Mordechai (1968). Sipurey Hatzafon (הצפון סיפורי) (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Masada Press.
- Rickard, J. (2006). "French Invasion of Egypt, 1798-1801".
External links
- Media related to Siege of Acre (1799) at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by War of the Second Coalition |
French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Siege of Acre (1799) |
Succeeded by Battle of Ostrach |