Battle of Shubra Khit

The Battle of Shubra Khit, also called Chobrakit or Chebreïss, took place beside the Nile in the delta on 13 July 1798, during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. French infantry drawn up in squares held off the cavalry of the Mamluk leader Murad Bey, while on the river a French flotilla barely survived an ambush. Indecisive in itself, the clash was the second major engagement of the campaign and gave the French their first real test against Mamluk horsemen.

Napoleon's expedition landed near Alexandria on 1 July 1798 and stormed the city. A column under Charles Dugua went east to secure Rosetta, while a flotilla of armed river craft under Jean-Baptiste Perrée was to carry supplies up the Nile. The main army struck out across largely barren country towards Ramaniyah on the river, stopping at Damanhur. The march cost hundreds of men to heat, thirst and attacks by Bedouin riders, among them General Mireur. The leading troops reached the Nile on 10 July, but the flotilla, struggling with low water, arrived late.

Egypt was formally an Ottoman province, but real power lay with the Mamluk beys Murad and Ibrahim. They agreed that Murad would confront the invaders on their march, while Ibrahim assembled a large army near Cairo. Murad set out with about 3,000 Mamluk cavalry and 2,000 of their attendants; local chieftains and infantry raised his strength to perhaps 20,000. Napoleon put his own army at 20,000 to 23,000. Shadowed by the armed vessels of the flotilla, the French covered the nine miles from Ramaniyah by night and reached Shubra Khit on the evening of 12 July.

At sunrise the French divisions formed hollow rectangles along the river bank, facing a long Mamluk line. For about three hours the horsemen rode around the formations looking for an opening, and small groups who charged were picked off by marksmen. Eventually the beys launched a concerted charge into the gap between the squares of Reynier and Dugua, hoping to strike them from behind. They met fire from every side of the squares, including grapeshot, and pulled back. With only about 300 cavalry, Napoleon could not pursue.

Perrée's flotilla had meanwhile sailed past the army and run into a trap laid by Murad's naval adviser, a Greek named Nicola, whose seven gunboats were supported by hidden batteries on the bank. Several French craft were boarded and lost, and the boats still fighting were crowded with soldiers and civilians, including Napoleon's secretary and the scientists Monge and Berthollet. Dismounted cavalrymen beat off an attempt to board Perrée's flagship. Then a French shot struck the magazine of the Mamluk flagship, which exploded and sank. As Napoleon's infantry advanced along the river, both the Mamluk flotilla and the cavalry withdrew.

Casualty figures vary. Perrée reported only light losses, but some historians estimate the French lost at least several hundred men, and Napoleon himself later spoke of a few hundred. Mamluk losses are not precisely known. Some historians have dismissed the battle as a drawn-out skirmish, but it taught the French how Mamluks fought. Perrée was promoted to rear admiral, and the army continued towards Cairo and the Battle of the Pyramids.

Our 1800 map shows Egypt as part of the Ottoman Empire, and the 1815 map shows Egypt as a separate territory.