the prisoners
two days before, within a mile of gaza (which means in arabic "treasure" and in hebrew "strong")—the same gaza whose gates were carried away by samson, who died with three thousand philistines beneath the ruins of the temple which he had overthrown—they had met abdallah, pasha of damascus.
he was at the head of his cavalry. that pertained to murat's department. murat took a hundred men from the thousand which he commanded, and with his riding-whip in his hand—for when opposed to the mussulman, arab, and maugrabin cavalry he rarely deigned to draw his sabre—he charged them vigorously. abdallah turned and fled toward the town. the army followed him and took up its position on the opposite side.
they arrived at ramleh the day after this skirmish.[pg 578] from ramleh they marched upon jaffa. to the soldiers' great satisfaction, the clouds gathered above their heads for the second time, and the rain fell. a deputation was sent to bonaparte in the name of the army, asking that they be allowed to take a bath. bonaparte granted the permission and ordered a halt. then each soldier pulled off his clothes and revelled in the luxury of feeling the cool rain upon his burning body. then the army started again, refreshed and joyous, and singing the "marseillaise" with one accord.
abdallah's mamelukes and cavalry no more dared wait for the french than they had dared wait at gaza. they returned to their city firm in their belief that every mussulman is safe so long as he is behind a wall. this garrison of jaffa was composed of a singular medley, who, drunk with fanaticism, were now about to set the best army in the world at defiance.
there were representatives there from all parts of the east—from the extreme end of africa to the uttermost confines of asia. there were maugrabins with their long white coats. there were albanians, with their long guns mounted in silver and inlaid with coral. there were kurds, with their long lances ornamented with ostrich plumes. there were aleppians, who all wore, either on one cheek or the other, the mark of the famous button of aleppo. there were men of damascus with curved swords of such finely tempered steel that they could cut a silk handkerchief floating in the air. there were nataloians, karamanians, and negroes.
on the 3d they arrived before the walls of jaffa, and on the 4th the city was invested. on the same day murat made a reconnoissance around the ramparts to determine on which side it would be best to attack. on the 7th everything was in readiness to bombard the city.
bonaparte desired to try conciliatory measures before beginning the bombardment. he knew the meaning of a struggle against such a population, even were he victorious.
[pg 579]
he dictated the following summons:
god is merciful and pitiful.
general bonaparte, whom the arabs have surnamed the "sultan of fire," charges me to tell you that djezzar pasha commenced hostilities in egypt by taking the fortress of el-arich; that god, who is always on the side of justice, gave the victory to the french army, who recaptured the fortress, from which he desires to drive the troops of djezzar pasha, who ought never to have entered it; that jaffa is surrounded on all sides; that the batteries will begin in two hours to batter down the walls with shot and shell, and destroy the defences; that his heart is touched by the thought of the harm that would befall the city and its inhabitants should it be taken by assault; that he offers a safe-conduct and protection to the garrison and the inhabitants of the city, and that he will consequently postpone the bombardment until seven o'clock in the morning.
the summons was addressed to abou-saib, the governor of jaffa. roland held out his hand to take it.
"what are you doing?" asked bonaparte.
"do you not need a messenger?" replied the young man, laughing; "it may as well be i as any one else."
"no," replied bonaparte; "on the contrary, it had better be any one else than you, and better a mussulman than a christian."
"why so, general?"
"because while abou-saib may perhaps cut off the head of a mussulman, he would most certainly cut off that of a christian."
"all the more reason," replied roland, shrugging his shoulders.
"enough," said bonaparte: "i do not wish it."
roland went off into a corner pouting like a spoiled child.
then bonaparte said to his dragoman: "ask whether there is any turk or arab, in short any mussulman, who will undertake to deliver this despatch."
the dragoman repeated the question aloud.
a mameluke from the dromedary corps came forward.
"i will," said he.
[pg 580]
the dragoman looked at bonaparte.
"tell him what he risks," said the general-in-chief.
"the sultan of fire wishes you to know that you risk your life in taking this message."
"what is written is written," replied the mussulman, and he held out his hand.
he was given a white flag and a trumpeter. they approached the town on horseback, and the gates opened to receive them. ten minutes later there was a great commotion on the ramparts just in front of the general's camp. the trumpeter appeared, dragged roughly along by two albanians. they ordered him to sound his trumpet to attract the attention of the french army.
he sounded the call. just as all eyes were fixed upon the walls, a man approached holding in his hand a severed head wearing a turban. he extended his arm over the ramparts; the turban fell off, and the head dropped at the foot of the wall. it belonged to the mussulman who had carried the summons. ten minutes later the trumpeter came out of the same gate through which he had entered, but he was alone.
the next morning at seven o'clock, as bonaparte had said, six pieces began to thunder one after the other. at four o'clock the breach was practicable, and bonaparte ordered the assault. he looked around for roland to give him the command of one of the regiments which were to enter the breach. roland was not there.
the carabineers of the twenty-second light brigade and the chasseurs of the same brigade, supported by the artillery and the engineers, rushed forward to the assault, commanded by general rambeau, adjutant-general nethervood, and vernois. they all mounted to the breach; and in spite of the fusillade which met them in front, and the showers of grape from the few cannon which had not been silenced, and which took them from behind, they waged a terrible fight over the fallen tower.
the struggle lasted for a quarter of an hour, and the[pg 581] besiegers had not been able to enter the breach, nor had the besieged succeeded in forcing them back. all the efforts on both sides seemed to be concentrated on the spot, when suddenly roland appeared upon the dismantled tower holding a turkish standard and followed by some fifty men. he waved the standard crying: "the city is taken!"
this is what had happened: that morning about six o'clock, the hour of dawn in the east, roland had gone down to his bath in the sea, and there had discovered a sort of breach in the angle made by a wall and a tower. he had assured himself that the breach led into the city; then he took his bath and returned to the army just as the bombardment had begun. there, as he was well known to be one of bonaparte's privileged favorites, and at the same time one of the most recklessly daring officers in the army, cries of "captain roland! captain roland!" resounded on all sides.
roland knew what that meant. it meant, "haven't you something impossible to attempt? here we are."
"fifty volunteers!" he cried.
a hundred offered themselves.
"fifty!" he repeated.
and he selected the fifty, taking every other man in order not to hurt their feelings. then he took two trumpeters and two drummers, and leading the way himself, he conducted them through the hole he had found into the city. his fifty men followed him.
they met a party of about one hundred men carrying a flag. they fell upon them and harried them with their bayonets. roland seized the flag, and it was that one which he had waved from the ramparts. he was hailed by shouts from the whole army; but he thought the time had now come to use his drums and trumpets.
the whole garrison was at the breach, not expecting any rear attack, when they suddenly heard the drums beside them and the french trumpets behind them. at the same time, two discharges of musketry and a hailstorm of bullets[pg 582] fell among the besieged. they turned, only to see gun-barrels reflecting the rays of the sun and tri-colored plumes waving in the wind in every direction. the smoke drifting toward them on the sea-breeze concealed the small number of the french rear attacking party. they believed that they had been betrayed. a frightful panic ensued, and they deserted the breach.
but roland had sent ten of his men to open one of the gates. general lannes's division poured in, and the besieged found french bayonets where they had thought to find the road clear for flight. by a reaction common to ferocious people, who, never giving quarter, never expect any, they seized their arms with renewed fury, and the combat began again with all the appearance of a massacre. bonaparte, being ignorant of what was happening within the walls—seeing the smoke rising along the ramparts and hearing the rattle of musketry, while no one returned, not even the wounded—sent eugene de beauharnais and croisier to see what was going on, bidding them to return and report at once.
they both wore the emblem of their rank, the aide-de-camp's scarf, on their arm. they had been impatiently awaiting the word which would permit of their taking part in the fight. they entered the town at a run and penetrated to the very heart of the carnage. they were recognized as envoys of the commander-in-chief, and as they were supposed to be the bearers of a message the firing ceased for a minute. a few of the albanians could speak french. one of them cried: "if our lives are spared we will surrender at once. if not, we will fight until the last one of us is killed."
the two aides-de-camp had no means of knowing bonaparte's secrets. they were young and they were actuated by sentiments of humanity. without authority they promised the poor fellows that their lives should be spared. the firing ceased, and the prisoners were taken to the camp. there were four thousand of them.
[pg 583]
as for the soldiers, they knew their rights. the town had been taken by assault. after the massacre came the pillage.
