Battle of Heliopolis (1800)

The Battle of Heliopolis was a French victory by the armée d'Orient under General Kléber over the Ottoman army at Heliopolis[4] on 20 March 1800.

For the 7th-century battle, see Battle of Heliopolis.

Battle of Heliopolis
Part of the Egypt-Syria Campaign

Bataille d'Héliopolis, by Jean-Charles Langlois
Date20 March 1800
Location
Heliopolis
Result French victory
Belligerents
French Republic Ottoman Empire
Support:
Great Britain[1]
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Kléber Yussuf Pasha
Ibrahim Bey
Strength
10,000 men[2] 60,000 men[3]
Casualties and losses
600 dead or wounded 8,000-9,000 dead, wounded or captured

Kléber engaged in negotiations with both the British and Ottomans, with the aim of honourably evacuating the remains of the French force from Egypt to take part in operations in Europe. An accord (the Convention of El Arish) was concluded on 23 January 1800 allowing such a return to France, but it proved impossible to apply due to internal dissensions among the British and the dithering of the Sultan, and so the conflict in Egypt restarted.

Kléber was betrayed by the British Admiral Keith, who did not respect the El Arich convention. He therefore restarted hostilities, for he refused to surrender. The British and the Ottomans believed the armée d'Orient was now too weak to resist them, and so Yussuf Pasha marched on Cairo, where the local population obeyed his call to revolt against French rule.

Although he had no more than 10,000 men, Kléber attacked the British-supported Turkish force at Heliopolis. Against all expectations, the heavily outnumbered French defeat the Ottoman army and retake Cairo.[5]

  • Le général Kléber victorieux à Héliopolis, 20 mars 1800, by Philippe Grass. Public sculpture at Place Kléber, Strasbourg.

References
  1. Tucker, Spencer C. (23 December 2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. p. 1021. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.
  2. Tucker, Spencer C. (23 December 2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. p. 1021. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.
  3. Tucker, Spencer C. (23 December 2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. p. 1021. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.
  4. Charles River Editors (2018). Napoleon in Egypt: The History and Legacy of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria. Charles River Editors. ISBN 978-1718863620.
  5. Tucker, Spencer C. (23 December 2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. p. 1021. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.

Sources
  • Alexandre Tchoudinov, La bataille d’Héliopolis, ou la victoire oubliée in Napoleonica, Fondation Napoléon, n 3, 2015, pp. 5–47.


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