3a Egypt
(September, 1798). Napoleon, expecting only to have to
deal with Turkey, at once invaded Syria (March, 1799)
and marched on Constantinople. At Jaffa, the murder of
a French flag-of-truce and the massacre in reprisals of
many thousands of Turkish prisoners gave the campaign
a ferocity that contributed to the eventual failure of the
French. Jaffa was sacked, but had its revenge by in-
fecting the French army with plague. Acre was next
attacked, whence a Mameluke, Ahmed the Butcher, had
long terrorised Syria. But at this point British sea-
power intervened with the arrival of the squadron under
Sydney Smith that had been blockading Alexandria.
The ft Butcher/' at the end of his resources, was re-
victualled and his garrison reinforced with French emigrS
officers, who organised the defence. A Turkish army
simultaneously crossed the Jordan and threatened the
French rear. Whereupon Napoleon, with the help of
Kleber and Junot, destroyed the Turks at Mount Tabor,
and shortly after carried the walls of Acre by storm
(April, 1799).
But that was the nearest that Napoleon ever got to his
Empire of the East. Acre saw its only escape from the
fate of Jaffa in a desperate defence. Exhausted by street
fighting, the French were again expelled. Decimated by
the plague and threatened by another Turkish army,
after a last and fourteenth assault the siege was
abandoned* Napoleon was not only defeated but dis-*
credited. For, exasperated with the English, he ignored
Sydney Smith's offer to evacuate the twelve thousand
French wounded, and abandoned them to the Turks,
who massacred them to a man. It was his generals,
Larmes and Murat, who saved him by a brilliant victory
of six thousand French over eighteen thousand Janissaries
at Aboukir (July 14, 1799),