Chapter Summaries

Joseph agreed to let Desiree Clary visit Napoleon on Elba Island, while planning to send Napoleon to Louisiana rather than allow his return to Europe. In Egypt, Massena landed at Aboukir Bay and cautiously advanced toward Alexandria, which he spotted by noon the next day.

• Desiree asked Joseph to let her visit her exiled fiancé, Napoleon, and Joseph granted her three days on Elba Island.
• Leroy arranged for Desiree to support the New Primary School, and five days later Gariel escorted her to Marseille, where she boarded the frigate Confidence for Elba.
• On April 15, 1797, Massena hurried French troops ashore at Aboukir Bay and ordered them to form up and march toward Alexandria.
• Massena learned that a transport ship had struck reefs near Marabout Bay, confirming the danger of landing there.
• Massena sent scouts ahead through the waterways and swamps, and by noon the next day his troops could see Alexandria's gun towers.

Massena’s French army advanced through Egypt with Ottoman support and reached the Nile near Cairo, where Massena waited rather than crossing immediately. After Ibrahim’s Mamluks defeated the Ottoman army and joined Murad on the western bank, they prepared to attack the French, whose scouts reported the approaching cavalry.

• Massena captured Alexandria and advanced south along the Nile, finding little resistance or need to fight for Damanhur.
• Massena reached the Pyramids and refused Marmont’s suggestion to cross the Nile, instead ordering artillery to fire toward Cairo to draw out the Mamluks.
• Murad learned that Ibrahim had routed the Ottoman army and was bringing reinforcements across the Nile to face the French.
• Ibrahim ordered Abdullah to form a defensive line near Embaba while he led the Mamluk cavalry in a frontal attack.
• A signalman told Massena that Mamluk cavalry had closed to within three kilometers, with forces gathering ahead and circling the French left flank.

Massena and Muhammad Ali coordinated a trap against the Mamluk cavalry using signals relayed by a hot-air balloon. The chapter ended with Ibrahim's charge meeting French hollow-square formations protected by bayonets and grapeshot.

• Massena withdrew southwest while Ibrahim found the French camp deserted and pursued them.
• Muhammad Ali marched independently toward Cairo, sent the agreed signal with a ring of fire, and ordered his troops to rest before attacking.
• A hot-air-balloon scout spotted the signal and relayed Muhammad Ali's position to Massena, who ordered the French counterattack.
• French artillery used aerial reports to bombard Ibrahim's advancing cavalry, killing hundreds despite his efforts to keep the men in formation.
• Ibrahim ordered a charge, but the Mamluk cavalry ran into four French hollow squares whose bayonets and grapeshot blocked their advance.

Chaumont and the French forces held off repeated Mamluk cavalry charges with disciplined rifle fire, while Ibrahim’s attackers suffered heavy losses. Ibrahim planned a new assault, but Murad’s attempt to circle around the French flank was blocked by organized infantry and desert terrain.

• Chaumont and the Honor Representatives urged the French soldiers to hold their Hollow Square Formation as Mamluk cavalry charged.
• French rifle volleys killed hundreds of Mamluk cavalrymen and forced Hajid’s battered force to retreat toward Ibrahim.
• Murad returned after French Cuirassiers and cannon defeated his flank attack, leaving Ibrahim with fewer than five thousand cavalrymen.
• Ibrahim ordered Abdullah to face the French head-on and sent Murad south to circle around and attack their rear.
• Murad advanced for nearly four kilometers but found French infantry still guarding the flank, and desert blocked his route.

The French Army broke the Mamluk forces at Embaba using coordinated formations, skirmishers, artillery, and cavalry, capturing Ibrahim and killing Murad. Across the Nile, Muhammad Ali continued his attack on Cairo, confident that Ibrahim would not return.

• Murad ordered the Mamluk cavalry to attack, but withdrew after the French formed hollow squares and turned north.
• Davout’s French troops and artillery routed Abdullah’s Halqa Infantry and drove thousands into Embaba Village.
• Murad led the returning cavalry in an assault, but French Cuirassiers struck their flank as Ibrahim’s forces neared destruction.
• The battle ended with more than 13,000 Mamluks surrendering, Ibrahim captured, and Murad killed by a cannonball.
• Marmont offered Ibrahim a chance, while Muhammad Ali pressed his attack on Cairo and dismissed his officer’s warning that Ibrahim might return.

Muhammad Ali took Cairo with French backing, while Abdullah led Mamluk cavalry toward Obo under Ibrahim’s orders to support him as governor. Raif hurried his Ottoman army toward Cairo, only to encounter Abdullah’s ambush at the Harazuni River.

• As the defenders fled, Muhammad Ali held his troops outside Cairo until a French messenger brought General Massena’s instructions, then ordered his men to enter the city peacefully.
• Cairo’s Mamluk nobles and officials welcomed Muhammad Ali at the Governor’s Mansion with gifts and a celebratory banquet.
• Abdullah crossed the Nile with nearly four thousand Mamluk cavalrymen, received supplies from Cairo, and marched toward Obo after recalling Ibrahim’s plan to support Muhammad Ali.
• Abdullah’s cavalry ambushed near the Harazuni River while Raif, alarmed that Muhammad Ali had captured Cairo, ordered the Ottoman army to march there in haste.
• Raif’s vanguard crossed the river and saw Mamluk cavalry approaching, prompting him to shout for his troops to form ranks.

Muhammad Ali helped drive Raif’s Ottoman forces from Egypt, then consolidated his position in Cairo while Joseph expected him to rebel against Ottoman rule. In Constantinople, Selim III considered appointing Nadin Khurshid Governor of Egypt and rewarding Ali, but new reports from Cairo interrupted the discussion.

• Ibrahim routed the Ottoman vanguard at the Harazuni River, while Muhammad Ali’s Albanian Corps protected the surviving troops and drove off the Mamluk cavalry.
• Abdullah pursued Raif’s survivors toward Suez, and Massena’s army entered Cairo before withdrawing from Egypt through Alexandria.
• Muhammad Ali pardoned the Mamluks, won the support of influential Imams, and lowered taxes to build support in Cairo.
• Selim III decided to appoint Nadin Khurshid Governor of Egypt and discussed how to reward Muhammad Ali with Izzet.
• The Palace Steward delivered reports from Egypt signed by Cairo’s Imams and more than a hundred Mamluk nobles.

Selim III appointed Muhammad Ali to Egypt’s top financial post, leaving him effectively in control, while he aligned Egyptian policy with France. As the British prepared to resupply besieged Gibraltar, Pike received orders to head for Egypt after learning that French troops had landed at Alexandria.

• Selim III accepted Izzet’s advice and appointed Muhammad Ali as Egypt’s Defterdar, giving him effective civil and military authority.
• Muhammad Ali raised tariffs on English textiles, promised favorable sales of Egyptian goods to the Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company, and protected French scientists and surveyors.
• Pike reviewed Gibraltar’s dire situation, including French artillery damage guided by Hot Air Balloons and the fortress’s dwindling ammunition supplies.
• Pike and Curtis prepared a British naval operation to resupply Gibraltar while suppressing Franco-Spanish artillery positions.
• Pike received orders to go to Egypt after resupplying Gibraltar, following news that the French Army had landed at Alexandria nine days earlier.

Pike’s fleet delivered supplies to Gibraltar under heavy French bombardment, while Joseph’s forces continued a strategy of wearing down the fortress rather than storming it. Pike then sailed toward Egypt, only to learn that the French Army had already withdrawn and the Ottoman Sultan had regained control.

• Pike watched British troops attempt to seize the Allied artillery positions near Gibraltar, but Jäger Rifle fire drove them back with heavy losses.
• Colonel Curtis ordered a retreat after the supplies reached Gibraltar, and the British completed the delivery of roughly four months’ food and ammunition.
• Joseph relied on distant howitzer bombardment and pressure on British supply convoys to exhaust Gibraltar’s defenders rather than launch a frontal assault.
• Pike sailed for Egypt at dawn, hoping to intercept the French landing fleet and recover from the losses at Gibraltar.
• British merchant ships near Malta reported to Pike that the French had left Egypt four days earlier, the Mamluks had been defeated, and the Ottoman Sultan had regained control.

Brigadier General Pike’s English fleet encountered the Franco-Spanish Joint Fleet in the Gulf of Gabes and prepared to engage it. The French Steam Warships drew the English fast fleet into pursuit, and Colonel Russell ordered ships to cut off their escape as the English prepared to fire.

• Nelson urged Pike to sail toward Alexandria and seek a confrontation with the French, but Pike hesitated because the French Army had already withdrawn from Egypt.
• English lookouts spotted French and Spanish warships northwest of the fleet, and Pike ordered his ships into battle formations.
• The French Steam Warships turned to attack the English fast fleet, and Pike ordered James Russell to engage them.
• The English Steam Warships pursued the French, whose repeated sharp turns failed to shake them.
• Russell ordered Comet, Golden Bream, and Gravel to block the French windward route while the other ships prepared to fire.

Colonel Russell’s British fast fleet suffered widespread mechanical failures as French ships used sharp turns and hit-and-run tactics to cripple and destroy them. The surviving British ships reached the main fleet, which began moving east to rescue the disabled vessels.

• Russell discovered that Taiga and Shield had stopped, then several British ships suffered axle failures and Grey Loach exploded during the pursuit.
• Russell halted the chase and ordered Quicksand to seek help while the other ships gathered to tow the disabled vessels.
• Dumaro split the French ships into small teams, which harassed the British fleet and attacked its disabled ships.
• Golden Bream exploded after bombardment, Foxhound was abandoned after its mast was hit, and Russell’s flagship Cyclone lost power during the retreat.
• The sixteen surviving British fast ships reached their battleships, and Pike ordered the main fleet east to rescue the disabled vessels.

Pike’s British Mediterranean Fleet suffered devastating losses to Bruix’s Franco-Spanish Joint Fleet and retreated to Gibraltar, while the French captured the Cyclone and Colonel Russell. The victory strengthened French control of the Mediterranean and prompted debate in Britain over whether to keep building Steam Warships.

• Pike’s fleet found wreckage and rescued sailors, learning that several British Steam Warships had sunk, while the Two-handed Sword escaped with damage.
• French Steam Frigates attacked the British rescue effort, and a British ship’s Ship Axle failed during the pursuit, forcing Pike to order the fast fleet to retreat behind the battle line.
• Pike’s fleet rescued three Steam Warships with broken Ship Axles but could not find the Cyclone, so he ordered the fleet back to Gibraltar.
• Bruix’s Steam Warships harried the retreating British for days, sinking the Pennant and damaging the rest of the fleet before Pike reached Gibraltar.
• Jervis read that the French had captured the Cyclone and Colonel Russell, while Duncan and Parker proposed halting Steam Warship construction.

Jervis learned that the Steam Warships had suffered widespread axle failures and that Chatham Shipyard and its engine supplier were implicated in extensive corruption, so he ordered the wider investigation suppressed. Meanwhile, Grenville faced an almost certain no-confidence vote and urged Pitt the Younger to form a new Cabinet.

• McPherson reported broken and cracked Steam Warship axles and detailed widespread embezzlement and suspicious dealings at Chatham Shipyard and the Steam Engine Company.
• Jervis suspended the investigations into the shipyard and engine company, ordering investigators to focus only on the axle failures.
• Jervis decided to visit 10 Downing Street as the consequences of the Mediterranean Fleet's defeat threatened to expose the scandal.
• Grenville and Pitt the Younger discussed the Cabinet's impending no-confidence vote and the political damage caused by Britain's military and financial crises.
• Grenville urged Pitt to use his royal support and divisions between Fox and Burke to form a Cabinet and lead the Empire through the crisis.

Lord Duncan and Admiral Jervis clashed before Prime Minister Grenville over corruption at Chatham Shipyard and the failure of its steam warships. Duncan argued that Portsmouth’s improved sailing ships could challenge steam vessels, and Grenville ended the dispute by promising an investigation.

• Duncan told Grenville that corruption at Chatham Shipyard had caused failures in the steam fleet and that the Investigation Committee had found evidence of extensive embezzlement.
• Jervis interrupted Duncan and insisted Chatham Shipyard should be protected, blaming Sir Hope and the Steam Engine Company rather than naval officials or the investment fund.
• Duncan argued that steam warships were unreliable and that their cost could instead have funded a large fleet of battleships to blockade Toulon.
• Duncan described Portsmouth Shipyard’s improved gun carriages, standardized cannon, sails, hull design, and iron water tanks, leaving Jervis shaken by the possibility that the ships could compete with steam warships.
• Grenville stopped the argument and said he would investigate Chatham Shipyard and discuss the matter with the Navy Committee.

Grenville used Anna’s connection to the Temple family to seek political support, while Duncan forced Jervis to accept responsibility for the Mediterranean defeat and leave his post. After George III summoned Pitt the Younger and asked him to form a cabinet, Pitt prepared to challenge Fox in a general election, which began to go smoothly after Whig infighting and Temple support.

• Anna told Grenville that Lady Melville had discussed Portsmouth Shipyard’s new battleship, and Grenville asked her to seek the Temple family’s support for his position.
• Sir Hope’s body was found with a suicide note, and Bolton, Watt, and Falkner were arrested as Chatham Shipyard was sealed.
• Duncan confronted Jervis with evidence of corruption and demanded that he order eight battleships from Portsmouth Shipyard and resign as First Lord of the Admiralty.
• George III summoned Pitt the Younger, accepted Grenville’s resignation, and asked Pitt to form a cabinet after dissolving Parliament.
• Pitt planned to win Catholic voters and support changes to the rotten boroughs, then gained momentum as Whig infighting split votes and the Temple family backed him.

Pitt the Younger returned as Prime Minister and began preparing Britain for a prolonged war with France through alliances, naval construction, and borrowing. On Elba, Napoleon reunited with Desiree and learned of recent campaigns, including the siege of Gibraltar and Massena’s expedition to Egypt.

• Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister, replaced most of Grenville’s Cabinet with Tories, and sent officials to Austria, Russia, and the Americas to pursue alliances.
• Pitt the Younger funded new battleships and repairs to a steam warship, then persuaded financial groups to buy seven million pounds in Treasury bonds with a clause allowing the Bank of England to issue more currency in a debt crisis.
• Napoleon drilled vineyard workers on Elba until Major Gariel arrived with Desiree, who hurried into Napoleon’s arms.
• Napoleon welcomed Desiree to his cottage and asked her about the latest news from Europe.
• Desiree told Napoleon that Talavera had taken Lisbon, Spain had suffered a defeat in Morocco, and Gibraltar had been besieged alongside a fight with the British fleet.
• Desiree reported that Massena had landed in Egypt, fought the Mamluks, and quickly returned to France, exciting Napoleon.

Napoleon learned that Desiree was expected to marry Baron Cruset and secured a chance to leave Elba for military service in Louisiana. Meanwhile, a Russian force advancing toward India struggled through the desert without supplies as its officers complained about Paul I’s reforms.

• Desiree told Napoleon she had only three days before she was expected to marry Baron Cruset, and Napoleon resolved to find a way to give her a future with him.
• Napoleon asked Gariel to deliver his letter of repentance to the Crown Prince and chose to serve as a battalion commander in Louisiana rather than manage a fortress warehouse in Mantua.
• Gariel told Napoleon they would leave for New Orleans in two days, giving Napoleon time with Desiree before departing.
• Near Sarakhs, General Nikolai Bakhov’s Russian cavalry crossed the desert without supplies and lost horses to exhaustion.
• Lieutenant Colonel Malaviev and another officer complained that Paul I’s taxes and army reforms burdened officers and their families.

General Bakhov’s corps faced starvation and thirst in the South Karakum Desert after its supply convoy was attacked, while Major Michikov arrived with food and water. Michikov also told Lieutenant Colonel Malaviev that a serf rebellion had broken out near his estate, as Paul I’s new decrees fueled unrest across Russia.

• Major Michikov arrived with water and flatbread, and General Bakhov first mistook him for a delayed baggage-regiment officer.
• A Cossack reported that the Bukhara supply convoy had been attacked near Serakhs, leaving Bakhov’s already weakened corps in danger.
• Persian troops disguised as bandits were revealed to have attacked the convoy under a secret agreement between Fath-Ali Shah and the British.
• Michikov told Lieutenant Colonel Malaviev that a serf rebellion had broken out in Pokrovsk, and Malaviev angrily threatened the serfs despite Paul I’s decree against killing them.
• Michikov explained that Paul I’s Three-Day Corvée Manifesto and new taxes had helped drive serfs into rebellion, with uprisings rising to more than sixty a year.

Bakhov’s Russian expedition failed to capture Herat after food shortages and Afghan attacks forced his army to retreat with heavy losses. In Paris, Joseph learned that Paul I was planning another invasion and ordered Lavalette to warn the Tsar about a possible assassination plot.

• Malaviev’s hungry troops found the nearby Afghan villages deserted, and Bakhov ordered his army to press on toward Herat before its supplies ran out.
• Bakhov’s assault on Herat failed, and Afghan ambushes routed the Russian troops.
• Murad refused to send more food after Russian requisitions and cotton quotas had caused shortages in Bukhara, leaving Bakhov with only ten days of supplies.
• Bakhov withdrew toward Merv, losing horses to starvation and Afghan attacks until fewer than two thousand remained.
• Lavalette told Joseph that Bakhov’s corps had lost its combat capability and that Paul I planned to assemble another force for Afghanistan.
• Joseph learned of opposition to Paul I in Saint Petersburg and told Lavalette to warn the Tsar about a possible assassination attempt.

Joseph saw the potential for canned food to solve military supply problems and attended a demonstration of France’s new Royal Type I Rotary Milling Machine. The machine showed remarkable speed and precision, and the chapter ended after Philip Lenoir used it to produce a spindle bracket in twenty minutes.

• Joseph decided not to resupply Khiva and Bukhara, since Russia would struggle to attack India again before the next harvest.
• Joseph recognized that sealed sheet-metal cans could improve military logistics and considered how France’s precision machinery could make them possible.
• Joseph visited the French Academy of Sciences to see the new Royal Type I Rotary Milling Machine, designed by Whitney and the Lenoir Brothers.
• Whitney explained that the machine could achieve machining precision of 0.2 millimeters and rapidly cut complex surfaces, while Philip Lenoir noted it could sometimes reach 0.16 millimeters.
• Joseph asked whether the machine could produce Steam Engine crankshafts, and Whitney said it could do so with a Lathe and Grinding Machine, though hand finishing would still be necessary.
• Philip Lenoir demonstrated the machine by milling a lathe spindle bracket in about twenty minutes.