General Kléber was appointed the new commander-in-chief of the Army of Egypt, and was left holding the bag, so to speak. The army was surrounded by the Royal Navy and some 80,000 approaching Turkish regulars, not to mention the Bedouins and the Marmelukes. Faced with this hopeless situation, he wrote a letter to Sir Sydney Smith suing for peace. Kléber didnt really have much longer to suffer in Egypt, as he was assassinated on April 22nd by a religious fanatic from Aleppo who claimed he did it for the glory of God. Enraged, the French soldiers took the mans right hand (the one with which he had done the deed) and roasted it over a bed of hot coals. At the same time they planted a stake through his body, into the ground, and waited for him to bleed to death. He took four hours to die in this manner. (Fregosi, 171) Ah, the glorious, romantic past. On this happy note I will conclude my study of the Egyptian Campaign.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 05:01:11 +0000
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