vanished dreams
napoleon, speaking of saint-jean-d'acre at saint helena, said: "that paltry town held the destiny of the east. if saint-jean-d'acre had fallen, i would have changed the face of the world."
this regret, expressed some twenty years later, gives an idea of the poignancy of what bonaparte must have suffered at the time, when he realized the impossibility of taking saint-jean-d'acre, and published the following order in all the divisions of the army.
as usual, bourrienne wrote at his dictation:
soldiers! you have crossed the desert which separates africa from asia with more rapidity than an army of arabs.
the army, which was on its way to invade egypt, is destroyed. you have taken its general, its camp baggage, its supplies and its camels.
you have captured all the strongholds which defend the wells of the desert. on the fields of mount tabor you have dispersed the cloud of men which had gathered from all parts of asia in the hope of pillaging egypt.
finally, after having maintained the war with a handful of men in the heart of syria for more than three months, taken forty pieces of artillery, fifty flags, six thousand prisoners, levelled the fortifications of gaza, jaffa, ka?ffa, and acre, we are about to return to egypt; the season of disembarkation calls me back.
a few days more and we might hope to take the pasha in his own palace; but at this season the price of the castle of acre is not worth the loss of a few days, and the brave men whom i should lose are now necessary to me for other operations.
soldiers, we have a season of fatigue and danger before us. having made it impossible for the east to do anything against us during the forthcoming campaign, we shall perhaps be forced to repulse the attack of a part of the west.
you will find new opportunities for glory; and if in so many battles, every day is marked with the loss of a brave[pg 649] man, other brave men must be made every day, and take their places among the little band who set the example of daring in times of danger, and who make victory easy.
as he finished dictating this bulletin to bourrienne, bonaparte rose and went out of his tent as if to breathe more freely. bourrienne followed him uneasily; events seldom left such a deep impression upon that heart of bronze.
bonaparte climbed the little hill which overlooked the camp, seated himself upon a stone, and remained for a long time staring at the partially demolished fortress and the ocean which lay before him in its immensity. finally he said: "the men who will write my life will not understand why i was so anxious to take this wretched little place. ah, if i had taken it as i hoped!"
he let his head fall upon his hands.
"and if you had taken it?" asked bourrienne.
"if i had taken it," replied bonaparte, seizing his hand, "i should have found the treasures of the pasha in the city and arms for three hundred thousand men; i would have aroused and armed all syria; i would have marched upon damascus and aleppo; i would have swelled my army with all the malcontents; i would have announced the abolition of servitude and the tyrannical rule of the pashas to the people; i would have reached constantinople with my armed hordes; i would have overthrown the turkish empire; i would have founded a new and vast empire in the orient which would have fixed my place in history; and perhaps i should have returned to paris by way of adrianople and vienna, after having humbled the house of austria."
this, as will be seen, was nothing more nor less than c?sar's project when he fell beneath the assassin's knife; it was his war among the parthians which was to end only in germany. as far as was the man of the 13th vendémiaire from the conqueror of italy, so far was the conqueror of italy that day from the conqueror of egypt.
proclaimed throughout europe the greatest of living generals, he sought, on the shores where alexander, hanni[pg 650]bal and c?sar had fought, to equal if not surpass the names of these captains of antiquity; and he did surpass them, since he tried to do what they only dreamed of.
"what would have become of europe," said pascal, speaking of cromwell's death from calculus, "if that grain of sand had not entered his entrails?"
what would have become of bonaparte's fortunes if saint-jean-d'acre had not stood in the way?
he was dreaming of this great mystery of the unknown when his eye was attracted by a black speck between the mountains of the carmel chain which was gradually growing larger. as it drew nearer he recognized a soldier of that dromedary corps which he had created "to pursue the fugitives more swiftly after the battle."
bonaparte drew his glass from his pocket, and, after taking a good look, he said: "good! now we shall have some news from egypt."
and he stood up. the messenger also recognized him; he promptly turned his dromedary, which was edging toward the camp, somewhat out of the direct line toward the hill. bonaparte descended the hill. the soldier, who seemed to be an excellent rider, put his dromedary to a gallop. he wore the uniform of a quartermaster-general.
"where do you come from?" called bonaparte as soon as the man could hear him.
"from upper egypt," was the answer.
"what news?"——"bad, general."
bonaparte stamped his foot. "come here," he said.
the man reached bonaparte in a few moments. the dromedary knelt down and the man slid to the ground.
"here, citizen-general," he said, and he handed him a despatch. bonaparte passed it to bourrienne, saying: "read it." bourrienne read:
to the commander-in-chief, bonaparte:
i do not know whether this despatch will reach you, general, or whether, if it does, you will be in a position to remedy the disaster with which i am threatened.
[pg 651]
while general desaix was pursuing the mamelukes from the coast of syout, the flotilla composed of the "italie," and several other armed ships, which carried almost all of the supplies of the division, some artillery, and the sick and wounded, was detained off the coast of beyrout by the wind.
the flotilla was attacked within a quarter of an hour by the sherif hassan and three or four thousand men. we are not in any condition to resist but we shall do so.
but we cannot escape death save by a miracle.
i am preparing this despatch, to which i shall add the details of the battle as it progresses.
hassan attacks us with a sharp fusillade; i have ordered his fire to be returned. it is two o'clock in the afternoon.
three o'clock—the arabs are returning to the charge for the third time, after suffering terrible havoc from our artillery. i have lost a third of my men.
four o'clock—the arabs have thrown themselves into the river and taken the small boats. i have only a dozen men, all the rest are dead or wounded. i shall wait until the arabs have crowded aboard the "italie," and then i shall blow her up with myself and them.
i am sending this despatch by a brave and clever man, who has promised me that, unless he is killed, he will find you wherever you are. in ten minutes all will be over.
captain morandi.
"and then?" asked bonaparte.
"that is all."
"but captain morandi?"
"blew himself up, general," replied the messenger.
"and you?"
"oh, i did not wait until he blew himself up; i blew away before that, after carefully concealing my despatch in my tobacco-box. then i swam under water to a place where i hid in the tall grass. when it was dark i came out from under the water, and crawled on all fours to the camp where i came upon a sleeping arab. i put a dagger into him, and taking his dromedary i started off at a gallop."
"and you have come from beyrout?"
"yes, citizen-general."
"without accident?"
"if you call shots fired at or by me accidents, then i have[pg 652] had plenty and my camel also. between us we have been hit four times. he three times in the side, and i once in the shoulder. we have been hungry and thirsty; he has eaten nothing at all, and i have eaten horseflesh. but here we are. you are well, citizen-general; that is all that is necessary."
"but morandi?" asked bonaparte.
"the deuce! as he put the match to the powder himself, i rather think that it would be difficult to find any of him, even a piece as big as a nut."
"and the 'italie'?"
"there is not enough of the 'italie' left to make matches."
"you were right, my friend; this is indeed bad news. bourrienne, you will say that i am superstitious; but did you notice the name of the vessel?"
"the 'italie.'"
"well, now listen, bourrienne. italy is lost to france; that is beyond doubt; my presentiments never deceive me."
bourrienne shrugged his shoulders. "what connection do you find between a ship which is blown up twenty-four hundred miles from france, on the nile, and italy?"
"i have said it," replied bonaparte with a prophetic accent, "and you will see." then, after a moment's silence, he said, pointing to the messenger: "take this good fellow with you, bourrienne; give him thirty talaris, and get him to tell you the story of the battle of beyrout."
