The siege of El Arish was a military engagement between the French garrison and the Ottoman army. The Ottomans attacked and invested in the fort, massacring the French garrison.
Background.
The Ottoman army, led by the Grand Vizier, Yusuf Pasha, arrived at Jaffa and began negotiations between the belligerents. The French general, Kléber, dispatched General Desaix and M. Poussielgue to negotiate on Sidney Smith's ship; however, after the appearance of the Ottomans, El Arish, it was important to carry the negotiations with them. However, an unexpected event threatened to prolong the conflict.
Siege.
El Arish was garrisoned by 300 French men led by Chef de Bataillon Louis-Joseph Elisabeth Cazals. The Ottoman army consisted of 14,000 men. They besieged the fort on December 23, 1799. The fort was isolated from the main force in Egypt, and the French troops were demoralized by Napoleon's departure of Egypt and wished to see their homeland again. The Colonel resolved to defend the fort; however, the French asked the Colonel to surrender the fort. Cazals ordered a captain to attack the Ottomans, who had built trenches around the fort; however, the troops refused to move. Having lost confidence, which created a sign to the Ottomans that they were ready to surrender. Some of the rebellious troops even pulled down the French flag. The Ottomans, finding that they were not defending, began scaling the walls, which was met with no opposition. The Ottoman prisoners learned of this and began throwing rocks to help the Ottomans enter the walls. The Ottomans then began massacring majority of the French troops. The sick and wounded were killed. Some of the French troops, realizing what happened, regrouped with the rest and defended themselves valiantly; however, all of them were almost massacred.
Aftermath.
In Gaza, news of the massacre reached. Kléber was resentful with what happened and complained to Sir Sidney about it. After lengthy discussion, Kléber admitted that the massacre was due to misunderstanding and allowed the negotiations to continue. On January 24, 1800, both sides signed the Convention of El Arish.
References.
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