The siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre is an episode of the Egyptian campaign, which began on March 20, 1799 and ended on May 21, 1799 with the withdrawal of French troops.
The Turkish besieged are commanded by Djezzar Pasha, are supported by a British fleet commanded by Admiral Sidney Smith.
Context
Of the 13,0002 men who entered Syria in Bonaparte's army, 1,000 were killed or wounded in the fighting in El-Arich, Gaza and Jaffa. 1,000 are sick in hospitals in Nazareth, Chafa-arm, Ramléh, Jaffa and Gaza. 2,000 men are needed to hold the positions of Katiéh, El-Arich, Gaza and Jaffa.
The French army lacks food and ammunition. The fleet which was to bring some was captured in front of Haifa by the English fleet.
Beginning of the siege
On March 18, the French army appeared in front of Saint-Jean-d'Acre. The city is built on a strip of land that juts out into the Mediterranean. Siege work begins on March 20.
On March 26, the besieged attempted an exit in vain. On the 28th, twelve field pieces and four howitzers fired on a tower. At 3 p.m., the breach seemed sufficient, the grenadiers rushed forward but found themselves in front of a ditch fifteen feet wide covered with a counterscarp ten feet high. As they descend into the ditch they are surprised by the artillery of the place and are forced to withdraw. This assault cost the lives of 25 men and left 87 wounded in the French ranks.
Every day, the garrison receives relief in men, food and ammunition from Cyprus and Tripoli. From April 5 to 6, the guns taken before Caïffa landed, as well as Colonel Phélippeaux, who had studied at the military school of Brienne at the same time as Bonaparte and who advantageously advised the artillerymen of Djezzar Pasha.
Proud of its resistance, the garrison attempted several sorties, all of which were repelled, but which considerably hampered the siege works. On April 7, on the advice of Phélippeaux, who foresaw an imminent attack, Djezzar Pasha ordered a sortie to destroy the mines. The attack is repelled in extremis, and costs the lives of 800 men in the camps of the besieged, including about sixty English.
In the plain of Fouli
Meanwhile, throughout Syria, Jezzar Pasha is raising a mighty army. Informed by the Christian tribes of Lebanon, Bonaparte sent 500 men on reconnaissance under the orders of General Junot. They are attacked by 3,000 cavalry, and fall back with 600 dead in the enemy ranks. Rushing to his aid, Kléber joined them in Nazareth. With this reinforcement, Junot went back on the attack but this time found himself in front of 8,000 men whom he managed to push back.
The region seems infested with enemy bands, Kléber encountered 30 to 35,000 in the plain of Fouli. Warned, Bonaparte decides to strike a decisive blow. Leaving only the Lannes and Reynier divisions in front of Saint-Jean-d'Acre, Bonaparte himself rushed up with the Bon division and the cavalry. Murat is sent to the Jordan with 1,000 men accompanied by a cannon to cut off the enemy's retreat.
When on April 16, Bonaparte arrived with the reinforcements on the heights which dominate the plain of Fouli, he saw at the foot of Mount Tabor the 2,000 men remaining from the Kléber division on the point of succumbing under the blows of 25,000 cavalry and 10 000 Ottoman infantry. The latter, under the charge of French reinforcements, were quick to disband in the greatest disorder towards the Jordan. They are stopped by Murat who occupies the Iacoub bridge. The fugitives then throw themselves into the river. Many drowned.
Back in front of Saint-Jean-d’Acre
The news of this victory and the arrival, on April 15 in the port of Jaffa, of Rear Admiral Perrée with three frigates loaded with guns and siege ammunition, filled the French with joy. But they must quickly be disillusioned by noting that the besieged are far from giving up. The frequent outings of the garrison, when they failed to destroy the siege works which required several days of work, greatly slowed down the progress. When the French finally come to the end of a fortification, it is to realize that a new one has just appeared behind the one that has just been shot down. The days pass, the ammunition begins to run out to the point that a bonus is offered to the soldiers for each projectile recovered5. General Caffarelli, who had already lost his left leg in 1797, was injured in the elbow and had to be amputated.
On May 7, Turkish ships in large numbers transport 12,000 men as reinforcements with food and ammunition. Having recognized the ships, Bonaparte quickly launched a general assault, before the reinforcements had time to disembark. The tower is taken at the cost of carnage. The night suspends the fighting. In the morning, artillery fire made a new breach. General Rambeaud rushes with two hundred grenadiers. From neighboring houses, barricades in the streets, a heavy fire started which forced the attackers to take refuge in a nearby mosque.
General Lannes rushes in his turn, but the Turks and the English sailors who had just landed cover the breach. Lannes is knocked down by a shot. His soldiers prevail. Every moment, the besieged receive new reinforcements. It is dark, the order is given to retreat. The grenadiers who had taken refuge in the mosque only escaped the fury of Djezzar Pasha's men thanks to the intervention of Admiral Sydney Smith, who took them prisoner.
Retirement
Bonaparte is well aware that the more the days pass, the more his forces diminish, while those of the adversary only grow. Yet he cannot bring himself to fail. On May 10 at 2 a.m., the grenadiers of the 75th and 19th demi-brigades and the riflemen of the 2nd light infantry attacked to surprise the besieged and try to establish themselves in the breach. The first posts are slaughtered, but the garrison holds firm. In a final assault, attempted the same evening, General Bon was mortally wounded, as were many officers of the staff.
Bonaparte finally resolves to lift the siege. While the rest of the ammunition is used up to cover their departure, the wounded are evacuated first. Having noted the preparations for retirement, Djezzar Pasha made numerous outings, all of which were postponed. On May 17, the general-in-chief finally announces the lifting of the siege to his men.
The retreat proceeds in good order. On May 20, General Lagrange postponed two more sorties. General Lannes leads the way, followed by the park and the Bon and Reynier divisions. General Kléber forms the rearguard, while General Junot covers the left flank. The sick and wounded and the rest of the artillery were embarked at Jaffa, but the three frigates soon fell into the hands of Admiral Sidney Smith. Throughout the night of May 21 to 22, the artillery continued to fire on the square. Having abandoned the sick in Jaffa, the French army returned to Cairo on June 14.
Consequences
Combat, but also illness, a quarter of the men engaged in this campaign perished, as well as a large number of officers:General Caffarelli died on April 27 from his wounds, as did General Rambeaud, on May 8 and General Bon on May 10. Jean Lannes, seriously injured in the neck on May 8, was saved by Doctor Larrey.
The plague breaks out in the camp of Acre. Before the French troops had abandoned the siege, around fifty men had already been reached. They will die in Jaffa where they are taken after the army, thus spreading the disease7. The plague does not only claim victims in the French ranks, a few days after the lifting of the siege, Phélippeaux succumbs to the disease.
In this case, the prestige of the British came out even higher and the collaboration of the Ottoman Empire was now acquired. In the ports of the island of Rhodes, Said Mustapha Pasha, gathers troops to attack Alexandria. Under his command, on July 14, 60 British ships landed 16,000 men who stormed the fortifications and seized the port of Aboukir.