with abercromby in egypt
(1801)
farewell to lochaber, farewell to my jean,
where heart-some wi’ her i ha’e mony a day been;
for lochaber no more, lochaber no more,
we’ll maybe return to lochaber no more.
those tears that i shed they are all for my dear;
and no for the dangers attending on weir;
tho’ borne on rough seas to a far distant shore,
maybe to return to lochaber no more.
highland burial march.
to return to the main centre of operations is to be confronted with the great figure of napoleon.
the french revolution gave birth to many things, but the greatest force that it created was that of napoleon bonaparte, who in his meteoric genius embodied the spirit of the age. he rose from a humble position in the army and of poor parentage in corsica, not only to be the greatest man in france, but one of the greatest men the world has ever seen. he took into his hands the reins of power that were already slipping from the leaders of the revolution. he organised the revolutionary armies and led them to victory; he brought out of the smoke of the reign of terror a france purged and renewed. before setting his eyes upon england itself, he determined to seize egypt, and from there to threaten the english power in india. apparently pitt, although he was acquainted with the preparations that were being put forward in the harbours of france, did not fully realise what was in the wind, so nelson was sent post-haste to the mediterranean to reconnoitre. but napoleon gave nelson the slip time and again, and reached egypt two days before the english arrived. on august 1, however, nelson came across a line of thirteen french battleships in aboukir bay. the french ships were lying close to the shore while night was already falling. nelson, having divided his fleet into two divisions, slipped down both flanks of the enemy’s line, suddenly opening a double fire. his victory was complete, only two french ships and two frigates evading his pursuit. this ‘battle of the nile,’ as it was called, shut up napoleon in egypt. it did more than that, it encouraged russia, austria, turkey, and naples to unite with england in the second coalition.
in 1799 napoleon, who was not satisfied to remain in a helpless position in egypt while the allies did what they liked in europe, set out across the desert to palestine, and after engagements at jaffa and acre—where he was beaten by sir sydney smith—he returned to egypt, and evading the english ships in the mediterranean reached france. once there he speedily drove the government out of power, took the control of affairs himself, with the title of first consul, and commenced his preparations for the conquest of england. england was outwitted, and the allies, who had been delighted to join a coalition while napoleon was isolated in egypt, hastened now to come to terms with france. and so england found herself faced by the masked opposition of europe and the threatening of a french invasion. her only hope upon land lay in the egyptian campaign which we are now going to enter upon.
on december 21, 1800, the fleet conveying the troops sailed in two divisions for marmorice on the coast of greece, where the turks, who at that time were our allies, were to provide a reinforcement. with abercromby were the black watch, the camerons, and the gordons. shortly afterwards the fleet anchored in aboukir bay, just where nelson had won his victory nearly three years before. unfortunately a violent gale sprang up, making it impossible to carry out the disembarkation of the soldiers. this delay enabled the french to prepare themselves to resist the landing, and had it not been for the remarkable qualities of the commanding officer, sir ralph abercromby, the troops might have been faced with overwhelming disaster. abercromby was as able as the british military secretary, dundas, was incompetent. despite every obstacle that the futility of dundas could place in his path, he succeeded where a catastrophe might have been judged unavoidable. the british troops were kept months upon the sea, reduced to a miserable state of health, and landed in the teeth of a strong force of the enemy, who, like the turks in the dardanelles, had had ample warning of the scheme of operations. well might abercromby, like many another british general, remark, “there are risks in a british warfare unknown in any other service.”
the enemy, who outnumbered him by two to one, already held all the fortified positions with a well-disciplined and acclimatised army, supported by excellent artillery. under these circumstances the french could hardly believe that the british would actually attempt to land. suddenly they saw the boats conveying the soldiers heading for the shore, when without delay they opened a terrific fire from their batteries, also from the castle at aboukir. at marmorice abercromby had practised his troops in the order of the attack. in the teeth of the enemy, the british troops managed to reach the beach, where they drove back the french, and, hastily assembling, began to rush the face of the hill. the enemy, utterly paralysed at the rapidity of the assault, fired without accuracy or discretion, even allowing the black watch to form up and send a volley into their midst.
in the meantime, while these hills were being assaulted, major-general moore (the future victor of corunna) had gained possession of the country in his front, though sustaining a heavy loss. beaten in two quarters, the enemy retired towards alexandria, leaving the british to complete their occupation of the shore, and the landing of their stores and ammunition.
during the time devoted to this task the french had managed to reinforce, being strongly posted, when, on the morning of the 13th, the british forces advanced to the attack. at the head of the first column was the 90th regiment with the gordon highlanders. far away behind the french lines could be seen the port of alexandria buried amidst its immemorial ruins. there was cleopatra’s needle, fated eventually to crumble upon the banks of the thames, arabian mosques and minarets, and over all that strange and timeless atmosphere, of which centuries of change have never been able to rob the east. as this was the first engagement of the gordon highlanders, and as we learn that its ranks were, for the most part, filled with young soldiers unacclimatised to the east, it is of interest to record that it conducted itself with as much distinction as any other battalion in the british army. “opposed to a tremendous fire,” wrote sir r. wilson, “and suffering severely from the french line, the regiment never receded a foot, but maintained the contest alone until the marines and the rest of the fine came up to its support.”
for some reason or another the action was ineffective. sir ralph abercromby was now faced with the task of reducing alexandria, and though his force had been so far successful, the advantage had been gained at some cost. to move artillery over a sandy desert requires a large number of horses, in which respect the british were very much inferior to the french. our sailors, always handy men, lent their assistance to the soldiers to drag the wheels out of the sand, and in this manner the british approached the entrenched position held by the french in front of the city. the position of the british army at this stage had few natural advantages beyond the sea upon the right flank, and lake maadieh upon the left. there were also some ruins supposed to have been the ancient palace of the ptolemies.
an hour before the dawn on the day of the 21st, the french troops were on the move, but the british were not taken by surprise, and awaited the enemy in absolute silence. the morning was very dark and cloudy. coming across the sand the tramp of the enemy was almost deadened. the french attack was made simultaneously upon the ruins, the redoubt, and the wing, held by the black watch, but was utterly repulsed. falling back, the enemy sent forward another column with a six-pounder, and so stealthily did they advance that they were between the left of the black watch and the right of the guards before they were seen. colonel stewart, who was in command of the highlanders, acted with promptitude, man?uvring the 42nd so cleverly that the enemy was caught between two fires. the desperate frenchmen rushed into the ruins, where they were received by a murderous fusillade. through this predicament the gallant but unfortunate body of ‘invincibles’ were forced to surrender after a very heavy loss.
hearing that the french were again attacking, general abercromby rode up, shouting, “my brave highlanders, remember your country, remember your forefathers,” at which the black watch, raising a cheer, charged the enemy. they cheered too soon, for at that moment the french cavalry cantered forward to cover the retreat of their infantry. immediately colonel stewart sent the order for the highlanders to fall back, but for some reason or another these directions were not received, and the ragged line of the advancing black watch was suddenly confronted by a charge of horse. it was a time when undisciplined troops might well have broken, but the highlanders stood firm, receiving the shock as coolly as the 93rd awaited the russian cavalry at balaclava. the french general, alarmed at the repulse of his troops, hurried forward a column of infantry, but this body also was beaten off by the highlanders. a second troop of cavalry advanced to meet with no better success, and shortly afterwards general stuart’s brigade reinforced the 42nd. it was now eight o’clock in the morning and nothing decisive had occurred, although the british had more than held their own. unfortunately their ammunition had given out, so they had to endure the unceasing cannonade of the french guns without being able to reply. the situation was enough to unman any troops. an eye-witness has recorded: “the army suffered exceedingly from their fire, particularly the highlanders and the right of general stuart’s brigade, who were exposed without cover to its full effect, being posted on a level piece of ground, over which the cannon shot rolled after striking the ground, and carried off a file of them at every successive rebound. this was more trying to the courage and discipline of the troops than the former attacks, but the trial was supported with perfect steadiness. not a man moved from his position, except to close up the opening made by the shot, when his right or left-hand man was struck down ... to stand in this manner with perfect firmness, exposed to a galling fire, without any object to engage the attention or occupy the mind, and without the power of making the smallest resistance, was a trial of the character of the british soldier, to which the enemy did full justice.”
at last the french, thoroughly disheartened with the morning’s encounter, retreated back to their position before alexandria, and the action was over. at the same moment sir ralph abercromby, being mortally wounded, retired from the field. he was carried on board the foudroyant, where he lay for some days, dying on the morning of the 28th. as a contemporary paper wrote of him, “his life was honourable, so his death was glorious. his memory will be recorded in the annals of his country, will be sacred to every british soldier and embalmed in the memory of a grateful posterity.”
the action had been a severe test of the endurance of the highlanders, and there were many who were buried in the desert sand never to see lochaber or the highland glens again. those of the black watch who survived the fierce engagement prided themselves upon the standard of the french invincibles and upon the word ‘egypt’ added for all time to their regimental honours. the camerons and gordons for conspicuous distinction also added ‘the sphinx’ to their regimental colours.
the command now fell upon general hutchinson, who remained for some time before alexandria, but very shortly proceeded to cairo, taking up his position four miles from that city on june 16. opposed to him was a force of 13,000 frenchmen. but the french commander was only too anxious to surrender, on condition that his army was sent to france with their arms, baggage, and effects. it is probable that he had received instructions that his force would prove of more service in europe.
only the fall of alexandria now remained to complete the conquest of egypt. the french, finding themselves surrounded on two sides by a british army of some 14,000 men, cut off from the sea, and unable to retire on the south, capitulated on september 2. the collapse of hostilities, as swift as it was decisive, terminated the service of the highland regiments in egypt.
