Egypt, was to be favored by a powerful diversion towards the mouth of the Nile, and by the operations of a corps under Murad Bey.
In the meanwhile, Buonaparte having intelligence that the arrival of Commodore Smith would be the signal for commencing offensive operations, determined to destroy the preparations of the Pasha before they could be brought into combined action with the other forces. The French army destined for this expedition consisted of 12,895 men. The train of artillery, which could only be conveyed by sea, was ordered by the republican General to be shipped at Alexandria; and Rear-Admiral Perrée, with three frigates, were sent to convoy the flotilla, having orders to cruise off Jaffa[1].
Sir W. Sidney Smith having been apprised of the enemy’s views, left Constantinople in the Tigre, on the 19th Feb. 1799; and after concerting measures with Hassan Bey, the Ottoman Governor of Rhodes, who was an old sea Captain, sailed from that island, and on the 3rd March arrived off Alexandria, where he relieved Captain Troubridge, the senior officer on that station, and despatched his friend and late fellow captive, Lieutenant Wright[2], to St. Jean d’ Acre, to arrange ulterior measures with the commander of that fortress.
After bombarding Alexandria with the hope of arresting the progress of Buonaparte towards Acre, which was not then sufficiently prepared to oppose him, our officer sailed for the latter place, where he anchored on the loth March, and immediately proceeded to inspect the fortifications, which he found to be in a very ruinous, dilapidated condition, and almost destitute of artillery.
- ↑ Jaffa was stormed by the French troops on the 7th March, and the Turkish garrison put to the sword. The assault, however, cost the enemy about 1200 men. It has been said that Buonaparte, in this expedition into Palestine, had purposed to take possession of Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, restore the Jews, and thus give the lie to the prophecies of the Divine Founder of the Christian Religion.
- ↑ Lieutenant Wright, who received a severe wound in the defence of Acre, was afterwards promoted to the rank of Commander, and died a prisoner in France, where he had been subjected to a long and rigorous confinement. It is generally supposed that he was assassinated by order of Buonaparte. His old friend and commander has, since the peace, caused a handsome monument to be erected at Paris to his memory.
