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 l8o HISTORY OF FRANCE. [CHAr. parte for freeing Egypt from the dominion of the Mem- looks, allied himself with the English, and began to fit out an army in Syria. Against this Buonaparte marched, and entering Palestine laid siege to Jii^c, which was taken by assault. A frightful butche7y~7ollowed, in- cluding the slaughter of 2000 soldiers, who had been promised their lives by his step-son, Eugene Beaiiharnais, but whom Buonaparte could neither guard nor send back to Cairo, and therefore shot down on the sea-shore. This deed inspired the garrison of St. John D'Acre to hold out desperately, and they were directed by Philippeaux, a French emigrant engineer, and an English naval officer, 6Vr Sidney Smith, who had sailed into their harbour with two ships. For sixty days the French attacked in vain, and then had to fight a great battle with the Syrian army at Afot/nt Tabor, in which they were victorious. Return- ing to the siege, and finding that Philippeaux had died of fever, Buonaparte ordered a general assault, but was beaten off with terrible loss, and, as the plague had broken out in his army, he was forced to raise the siege. It was his first check, and overthrew all his eastern schemes. He ascribed it to Smith, and long after was wont to say, " That man made me miss my destiny." The army had a miserable march back to Egypt through the desert, many dropping on the way to die of the plague ; and in the mean time the English ships brought to Egypt 9000 Janissaries and an ecjual number of other troops, com- manded by Mustafa Pasha. Over these Buonaparte gained one of his most splendid victories at Aboukir, in great part owing to the great cavalry charge of Joac/tini Miirat, known as le beau Sabreur. There was afterwards an exchange of prisoners, and with his flag of truce Sir Sidney Smith sent a file of newspapers, the first tidings Buonaparte had received since the battle of the Nile. They made him decide on at once returning home, and. contriv- ing to elude the English fleet, he left the army of Egypt to Kleber, in September, 1799, ^^''^^ large promises of rein- forcements ; but these he was never able to send, and in 1801 an English army coming out under Sir Ralph Aber- cromby, totally defeated the French under the walls of Alexandria, which they then besieged. The French anny capitulated, the English undertaking to carry them back to France. 18. Reaction in Europe, lyg g. — In 1798 the Directory ordered an invnsion of Switzerland in order to obtain