Difference between revisions of "Battle of the Pyramids" - New World Encyclopedia
(copy, credit) |
({{Contracted}}) |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
− | {{Claimed}} | + | {{Claimed}}{{Contracted}} |
{{Infobox Military Conflict | {{Infobox Military Conflict | ||
|conflict=Battle of the Pyramids | |conflict=Battle of the Pyramids |
Revision as of 22:14, 2 March 2007
Battle of the Pyramids | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
Battle of the Pyramids by Wojciech Kossak | |||||||
| |||||||
Combatants | |||||||
France | Mamluks | ||||||
Commanders | |||||||
Napoleon Bonaparte | Murad Bey, Ibrahim Bey | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
25,000 men | 50,000-75,000 men | ||||||
Casualties | |||||||
300 dead | 4000-6000 dead or wounded |
Template:Campaignbox Egypt-Syria
The Battle of the Pyramids was a battle fought on July 21, 1798 between the French army in Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte and local Mamluk forces. It was the battle where Bonaparte put into use one of his significant contributions to tactics, the massive divisional square.
In July of 1798, Napoleon was marching from Alexandria toward Cairo after invading and capturing the former. He met two forces of the ruling Mamluks 15 kilometers from the Pyramids, and only 4 miles from Cairo. The Mamluke forces were commanded by Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey and had a powerful and highly developed cavalry.
Napoleon realized that the only Egyptian troops of any worth on the battlefield were the cavalry. He had little cavalry of his own and was outnumbered by a factor of two or three to one. He was thus forced to go on the defensive, and organized his army into hollow "squares" with artillery, cavalry and baggage at the center of each square, and so dispersed sustained charges of Mameluke cavalry with supporting artillery fire. He then stormed the Egyptian camp in the village of Embebeh, routing the disorganized Egyptian infantry and scattering their army.
The battle won Cairo and Lower Egypt for France. Upon hearing news of the defeat of their legendary cavalry, the waiting Mamluk armies in Cairo dispersed to Syria to reorganize. The Battle also signalled the final chapter of 700 years of Mamluk rule in Egypt. Despite this auspicious beginning, Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory in the Battle of the Nile ten days later ended Bonaparte's hopes for a glorious conquest of the Middle East.
See also
- The Egyptian expedition of 1798–1799
- History of Ottoman Egypt
de:Schlacht bei den Pyramiden es:Batalla de las Pirámides fr:Bataille des Pyramides it:Battaglia delle piramidi nl:Slag bij de piramiden pl:Bitwa pod piramidami pt:Batalha das Pirâmides
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.