On September 4, Napoleon wrote a letter to Bruise's father:
His Excellency's son was unfortunately hit by a cannonball while commanding the naval battle on the rear deck. It is with a sad heart that I inform the General (Bruise's father is also a Vice Admiral) of the news of your son's death. But he had died painlessly and gloriously-that was the only thing that could console his grieving father. All the soldiers of our expeditionary army might suffer the same fate. Those who died on the battlefield were lucky. They would live forever in the memories of future generations.
It was a rare moment of mourning for Napoleon, but it soon dissipated because he had more difficult things to deal with. He had to extricate himself from the catastrophe that he had caused in Egypt.
The Shadow of Failure
The French expeditionary force was completely isolated in Egypt. The British cruisers swaggered through Egyptian waters and sealed off Alexandria, as if reminding the French at any time: Their situation in Egypt had changed dramatically. The possibility of France sending another fleet to rescue them was getting smaller and smaller. No one knew this situation better than General Kléber, the commander of the garrison of Alexandria.
"We must abandon any further attempts to contact France by sea, Your Excellency," he told General Menou at Rosetta on the 15th of August,"unless the British Fleet leaves... Therefore, close your ports and wait patiently for the situation to change in our favor... We may be bombarded here at any moment." Rosetta was one of the two estuaries of the Nile River and an important supply point for the navy and army. Without the protection of the French fleet, there were only 600 defenders. They had neither artillery, ammunition, nor money. This important place was obviously in danger. In this situation, General Menu was sitting on pins and needles, extremely anxious. He begged to be allowed to return to his division and leave this hellish place that drove him crazy. However, even so, Menu, who later changed his name to Abu Muslim, still did not care about his own safety. He cheered for Kreiber, who was in Alexandria Port, facing the threat of the British fleet and was in a more difficult situation. In his letter of August 4, he wrote: You must keep your spirits up and not be overwhelmed by the problem.
The disobedience that had prevailed in the Fleet before the Battle of Abu Kir had now spread to the Army. On August 18th, when Bertier ordered Menou to hand over the gunboats and warships under his command to the newly promoted rear admiral, Menou loudly retorted to his superior," I have nothing left here, and now you want me to hand over the only gunboats and warships I can use for self-defense... I formally refuse.
Napoleon's headquarters in Cairo did their best to keep the severity of the situation and the extent of the damage to the Expeditionary Force a secret. Shortly after learning that Bruise's fleet had been defeated, Napoleon wrote a letter to General Chabot, the French governor in the Corfu Strait, ordering him to assist Major General Villeneuve (whom Napoleon believed had successfully fled to the Corfu Strait) to set up a new fleet to rescue the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. At the same time, he told the governor as if nothing had happened,"Everything was fine here.
After his victory in Cairo on July 22, Napoleon immediately set out to form a new Egyptian government and administration, including appointing military governors in the newly conquered provinces. Napoleon lived in the palace of Elfe and directed the formation of the new Egyptian government. The palace had a garden of tropical plants, a mosaic fountain pool, and an exquisite Turkish veranda. The high walls of the palace were as strong as a castle, and its backyard extended to the banks of the Nile River. The palace was located in the most strategic position in the Cairo area. There were many buildings around the palace, and Bertier and Napoleon's elite guards were stationed around the palace.
As the leader of the occupation army, Napoleon decided to rule the country in three ways: They would use military means to pacify the areas that had yet to be conquered, and then rely on the military governor to consolidate them. manage local and religious affairs through religious and Muslim leaders; It was directly managed by the French administration controlled by Napoleon.
The most difficult part of this was to subdue the Arabs. Napoleon single-handedly established the Egyptian State Council, also known as the Administrative Council, composed of nine Muslim elders. It dealt with the daily administrative affairs of the capital, Cairo, and the public order, taxation, public health, and food supply issues of the 300,000 population. This made the Cairoians feel that they were dealing with their own affairs.
The Cairo Administrative Council held an oath of allegiance to the French at 3 p. m. on July 25, the third day after the French army entered Cairo, promising not to do anything detrimental to the interests of the army. Napoleon repeatedly stressed the need to respect Egyptian religious beliefs and establish good public relations. The administrative meeting immediately began. From then on, there would be daily work meetings every afternoon. The new garrison commander of Cairo, General Dupy, was assisted by the Turks to take charge of the security of the city's streets and markets. The Egyptian security agency was gradually established in the newly conquered provinces of the country. The difference was that in fact, an Egyptian Christian supervisor was appointed to assist the military governor in managing the Egyptians and collecting taxes. Then, a French substitute was appointed as his assistant so that he could one day replace the military governor. There were sixteen such provincial inspectors working under the Inspector General of Cairo, who was directly under the control of the French.
In addition to military control of the country, Napoleon established a powerful three-man administrative committee in Cairo, composed of Monge, Bertolet, and Charles Magalon. They were responsible for seizing Mamluk property and collecting national taxes. At the same time, Napoleon gave them the power to appoint officials and commissions at all levels, including the Superintendent. All three of them received special rewards for this time-consuming work. In addition to this work, Monge was also responsible for the establishment of the Academy of Sciences and the work of the Dean of the Academy of Sciences. The committee was very effective in the management of organizations and property, as well as the appointment and removal of supervisors.
The French occupation forces confiscated the Mamluks 'property, including their tens of thousands of slaves, and treated them as state property. Napoleon convinced the Egyptian people that his policy was to respect Egypt's religion and history, including its traditional civil court system; He also promised that their private property would be respected, but they would make some necessary improvements.
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