Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
Lucien Bonaparte (Paris. Charpentier, 1882), tome i. pp. 251-274.
It seems most probable that Napoleon was in occasional communication
with his family and with some of the Directors by way of Tunis and
Tripoli. It would not be his interest to let his army or perhaps
even Bourrienne know of the disasters in Italy till he found that
they were sure to hear of them through the English. This would
explain his affected ignorance till such a late date. On the 11th
of April Barras received a despatch by which Napoleon stated his
intention of returning to France if the news brought by Hamelin was
confirmed. On the 26th of May 1799 three of the Directors, Barras,
Rewbell, and La Révellière-Lepeaux, wrote to Napoleon that Admiral
Bruix had been ordered to attempt every means of bringing back his
army. On the 15th of July Napoleon seems to have received this and
other letters. On the 20th of July he warns Admiral Gantheaume to
be ready to start. On the 11th of September the Directors formally
approved the recall of the army from Egypt. Thus at the time
Napoleon landed in France (on the 8th October), his intended return
had been long known to and approved by the majority of the
Directors, and had at last been formally ordered by the Directory.
At the most he anticipated the order. He cannot be said to have
deserted his post. Lantrey (tome i. p. 411) remarks that the
existence and receipt of the letter from Joseph denied by Bourrienne
is proved by Miot (the commissary, the brother of Miot de Melito)
and by Joseph himself. Talleyrand thanks the French Consul at
Tripoli for sending news from Egypt, and for letting Bonaparte know
what passed in Europe. See also Ragusa (Marmont), tome i. p. 441,
writing on 24th December 1798: "I have found an Arab of whom I am
sure, and who shall start to-morrow for Derne. . . . This means
can be used to send a letter to Tripoli, for boats often go there."]
Almost all those who endeavour to avert from Bonaparte the reproach of
desertion quote a letter from the Directory, dated the 26th of May 1799.
This letter may certainly have been written, but it never reached its
destination. Why then should it be put upon record?
The circumstance I have stated above determined the resolution of
Bonaparte, and made him look upon Egypt as an exhausted field of glory,
which it was high time he had quitted, to play another part in France.
On his departure from Europe Bonaparte felt that his reputation was
tottering. He wished to do something to raise up his glory, and to fix
upon him the attention of the world. This object he had in great part
accomplished; for, in spite of serious disasters, the French flag waved
over the cataracts of the Nile and the ruins of Memphis, and the battles
of the Pyramids, and Aboukir were calculated in no small degree to
dazzle the imagination. Cairo and Alexandria too were ours. Finding
that the glory of his arms no longer supported the feeble power of
the Directory, he was anxious to see whether he could not share it, or
appropriate it to himself.
A great deal has been said about letters and secret communications from
the Directory, but Bonaparte needed no such thing. He could do what he
pleased: there was no power to check him; such had been the nature of
his arrangements on leaving France. He followed only the dictates of his
own will, and probably, had not the fleet been destroyed, he would have
departed from Egypt much sooner. To will and to do were with him one
and the same thing. The latitude he enjoyed was the result of his verbal
agreement with the Directory, whose instructions and plans he did not
wish should impede his operations.
Bonaparte left Alexandria on the 5th of August, and on the 10th arrived
at Cairo. He at first circulated the report of a journey to Upper Egypt.
This seemed so much the more reasonable, as he had really entertained
that design before he went to the Pyramids, and the fact was known to
the army and the inhabitants of Cairo. Up to this time our secret
had been studiously kept. However, General Lanusse, the commandant at
Menouf, where we arrived on the 20th of August, suspected it. "You
are going to France," said he to me. My negative reply confirmed his
suspicion. This almost induced me to believe the General-in-Chief had
been the first to make the disclosure. General Lanusse, though he envied
our good fortune, made no complaints. He expressed his sincere wishes
for our prosperous voyage, but never opened his mouth on the subject to
any one.
On the 21st of August we reached the wells of Birkett. The Arabs had
rendered the water unfit for use, but the General-in-Chief was resolved
to quench his thirst, and for this purpose squeezed the juice of several
lemons into a glass of the water; but he could not swallow it without
holding his nose and exhibiting strong feelings of disgust.
The next day we reached Alexandria, where the General informed all
those, who had accompanied him from Cairo that France was their
destination. At this announcement joy was pictured in every countenance.
General Kléber, to whose command Bonaparte had resigned the army,
was invited to come from Damietta to Rosetta to confer with the
General-in-Chief on affairs of extreme importance. Bonaparte, in making
an appointment which he never intended to keep, hoped to escape the
unwelcome freedom of Kléber's reproaches. He afterwards wrote to him all
he had to say; and the cause he assigned for not keeping his appointment
was, that his fear of being observed by the English cruisers had forced
him to depart three days earlier than he intended. But when he wrote
Bonaparte well knew that he would be at sea before Kléber could receive
his letter. Kléber, in his letter to the Directory, complained bitterly
of this deception. The singular fate that befell this letter will be
seen by and by.
CHAPTER XXI
1799.
Our departure from Egypt--Nocturnal embarkation--M. Parseval
Grandmaison--On course--Adverse winds--Fear of the English--
Favourable weather--Vingt-et-un--Chess--We land at Ajaccio--
Bonaparte's pretended relations--Family domains--Want of money--
Battle of Novi--Death of Joubert--Visionary schemes--Purchase of a
boat--Departure from Corsica--The English squadron--Our escape--
The roads of Fréjus--Our landing in France--The plague or the
Austrians--Joy of the people--The sanitary laws--Bonaparte falsely
accused.
We were now to return to our country--again to cross the sea, to us so
pregnant with danger--Caesar and his fortune were once more to embark.
But Caesar was not now advancing to the East to add Egypt to the
conquests of the Republic. He was revolving in his mind vast schemes,
unawed by the idea of venturing everything to chance in his own favour
the Government for which he had fought. The hope of conquering the most
celebrated country of the East no longer excited the imagination, as on
our departure from France. Our last visionary dream had vanished before
the walls of St. Jean d'Acre, and we were leaving on the burning sands
of Egypt most of our companions in arms. An inconceivable destiny seemed
to urge us on, and we were obliged to obey its decrees.
On the 23d of August we embarked on board two frigates, the 'Muiron'
--[Named after Bonaparte's aide de camp killed in the Italian
campaign]--
and 'Carrère'. Our number was between four and five hundred. Such was
our squadron, and such the formidable army with which Bonaparte had
resolved, as he wrote to the divan of Cairo, "to annihilate all his
enemies." This boasting might impose on those who did not see the real
state of things; but what were we to think of it? What Bonaparte himself
thought the day after.
The night was dark when we embarked in the frigates which lay at a
considerable distance from the port of Alexandria; but by the faint
light of the stars we perceived a corvette, which appeared to be
observing our silent nocturnal embarkation.
--[The horses of the escort had been left to run loose on the beach,
and all was perfect stillness in Alexandria, when the advanced posts
of the town were alarmed by the wild galloping of horses, which from
a natural instinct, were returning to Alexandria through the desert.
The picket ran to arms on seeing horses ready saddled and bridled,
which were soon discovered to belong to the regiment of guides.
They at first thought that a misfortune had happened to some
detachment in its pursuit of the Arabs. With these horses came also
those of the generals who had embarked with General Bonaparte; so
that Alexandria was for a time in considerable alarm. The cavalry
was ordered to proceed in all haste in the direction whence the
horses came, and every one was giving himself up to the most gloomy
conjectures, when the cavalry returned to the city with the Turkish
groom, who was bringing back General Bonaparte's horse to Alexandria
(Memoirs of the Duc de Rovigo, tome i. p. 182).]--
Next morning, just as we were on the point of setting sail, we saw,
coming from the port of Alexandria a boat, on board of which was M.
Parseval Grandmaison. This excellent man, who was beloved by all of
us, was not included among the persons whose return to France had been
determined by the General-in-Chief. In his anxiety to get off Bonaparte
would not hear of taking him on board. It will readily be conceived how
urgent were the entreaties of Parseval; but he would have sued in vain
had not Gantheaume, Monge, Berthollet, and I interceded for him. With
some difficulty we overcame Bonaparte's resistance, and our colleague of
the Egyptian Institute got on board after the wind had filled our sails.
It has been erroneously said that Admiral Gantheaume had full control of
the frigates, as if any one could command when Bonaparte was present. On
the contrary, Bonaparte declared to the admiral, in my hearing, that
he would not take the ordinary course and get into the open sea. "Keep
close along the coast of the Mediterranean," said he, "on the African
side, until you get south of Sardinia. I have here a handful of brave
fellows and a few pieces of artillery; if the English should appear I
will run ashore, and with my party, make my way by land to Oran, Tunis,
or some other port, whence we may find an opportunity of getting home."
This was his irrevocable determination.
For twenty-one days adverse winds, blowing from west or north-west,
drove us continually on the coast of Syria, or in the direction of
Alexandria. At one time it was even proposed that we should again put
into the port; but Bonaparte declared he would rather brave every danger
than do so. During the day we tacked to a certain distance northward,
and in the evening we stood towards Africa, until we came within sight
of the coast. Finally after no less than twenty-one days of impatience
and disappointment, a favourable east wind carried us past that point of
Africa on which Carthage formerly stood, and we soon doubled Sardinia.
We kept very near the western coast of that island, where Bonaparte had
determined to land in case of our falling in with the English squadron.
From thence his plan was to reach Corsica, and there to await a
favourable opportunity of returning to France.
Everything had contributed to render our voyage dull and monotonous;
and, besides, we were not entirely without uneasiness as to the steps
which might be taken by the Directory, for it was certain that the
publication of the intercepted correspondence must have occasioned
many unpleasant disclosures. Bonaparte used often to walk on deck to
superintend the execution of his orders. The smallest sail that appeared
in view excited his alarm.