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For reasons of secrecy, the president of the directorate wrote the order to Napoleon himself. It was stated that the expedition was to consist of 36,000 men from the old Italian army, officers and generals of his choice, various scientists and craftsmen. The Treasury was instructed to send Napoleon 1.5 million francs every decade.
Although the Neapolitan Prime Minister Sir John Acton had already passed on reports that the French were sailing for Egypt, Hamilton did not give the report to Nelson, possibly suspicious of disinformation. [54] Hamilton did however relay the information that Bonaparte's fleet had passed Sardinia and were probably sailing in the direction of Malta.
On 1 July, Napoleon, aboard the ship L'Orient en route to Egypt, wrote the following proclamation to the Muslim inhabitants of Alexandria: For too long the beys who govern Egypt have insulted the French nation and covered their traders in slanders. The hour of their punishment has come.
The military career of Napoleon spanned over 20 years. He led French armies in the French Revolutionary Wars and later, as emperor , in the Napoleonic Wars . Despite his rich war-winning record, Napoleon 's military career ended in defeat.
Napoleon invaded Syria from Egypt, but retreated after a failed siege of Acre, repelling a British-Turkish invasion. Alerted to the political and military crisis in France, he returned, leaving his army behind, and used his popularity and army support to mount a coup that made him First Consul , the head of the French government.
He also formed the Commission des Sciences et des Arts, a body of scientists and engineers intended to establish a French colony in Egypt. [9] Napoleon kept the destination of the expedition top secret—most of the army's officers did not know of its target, and Bonaparte did not publicly reveal his goal until the first stage of the expedition ...
At the time of Napoleon's invasion, travelers had long known of Alexandria, Cairo, and other parts of Lower Egypt. The Great Pyramids and the Sphinx were famous. But Upper Egypt wasn't as well known.
In the Battle of Abukir (or Aboukir or Abu Qir) [2] Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Seid Mustafa Pasha's Ottoman army on 25 July 1799, during the French campaign in Egypt. [6] It is considered the first pitched battle with this name, as there already had been a naval battle on 1 August 1798, the Battle of the Nile.