The siege of Jaffa was a military engagement between the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

under

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

and Ottoman forces under

Ahmed al-Jazzar Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar ( ar, أحمد باشا الجزّار; ota, جزّار أحمد پاشا; ca. 1720–30s7 May 1804) was the Acre-based Ottoman governor of Sidon Eyalet from 1776 until his death in 1804 and the simultaneous governor of D ...

. On the 3 of March, 1799, the French laid siege to the city of Jaffa, which was under Ottoman control. It was fought from 3 to 7 March 1799. On the 7 March, French forces managed to capture the city.

Background

Having taken control of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

and losing control of the territories under Cairo, despite having his ships destroyed,

was continuing his push on the Ottoman territories in the Middle East. Having recently captured an Ottoman fortress at El Arish, he was looking to cement his foothold in the Levant. In early March, his troops reached Jaffa (modern

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

Siege

The city of Jaffa was surrounded by high walls, and extensive fortifications had been constructed by the Ottomans.

entrusted its defence to his troops, including 1,200 artillerymen. Napoleon had to win Jaffa before he could advance any further, and the whole expedition's success depended on its capture. The city was one of Greater Syria's main mercantile centres and had a harbour that would provide vital shelter for the French fleet. All the exterior works could be besieged and a breach was feasible. When Bonaparte sent an officer and a trumpeter to

to order the surrender of the city, Ahmed decapitated the messengers and ordered a sortie. The sortie was pushed back as early as the evening of the same day. The French managed to destroy one of the towers on the city fortifications, and despite resistance by its defenders, Jaffa was taken. According to some sources, the French messengers who had brusquely told the city of Napoleon's ultimatum ended up being arrested, tortured, castrated and decapitated and their heads impaled on the city walls. That harsh treatment led Napoleon, when the city fell, to allow his soldiers two days and two nights of slaughter and rape. He also executed the Ottoman governor,

Abdallah Bey Abdallah Bey (died 1799, Jaffa) was an Ottoman Arab statesman who served as the governor of Jaffa in the Sidon Eyalet under Wali Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar in the late 18th century. During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Napoleon Bonaparte or ...

. Bonaparte no longer wished to honour the promises of his stepson

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

for prisoners' lives to be spared and ordered that a large part of the Ottoman prisoners (according to some sources around 2,440, according to other sources 4,100), most of them Albanians, be executed by being shot or stabbed to death with bayonets."Memoirs of Napoleon", completed by

Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne (July 9, 1769 – February 7, 1834) was a French diplomat, born in Sens. He is known primarily for his close relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte, of whom he wrote in detail in his celebrated memoirs. Biogra ...

,
p.172
/ref> Napoleon's eulogists later wrote of that decision: "For, to keep in submission so considerable a number of prisoners, it would have been necessary to detach guards for them, which would have severely diminished his army's numbers; and if he had allowed them to leave free men, it was reasonable to fear that they might swell the ranks of

's troops".

Aftermath

Napoleon also allowed hundreds of local citizens to leave the city, hoping that the news they would carry of Jaffa's fall would intimidate the defenders of the other cities in the Eyalet and Syria. This backfired, since their news instead made these defenders fight all the more fiercely. Meanwhile, a plague epidemic caused by poor hygiene in the French headquarters in

Ramla Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

decimated the local population and the French army alike.Jaffa: A City in Evolution Ruth Kark, Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Jerusalem, 1990, pp. 8–9. Overcome in the north of the country by the Ottomans, Napoleon abandoned Palestine. After his departure the British, allied to the Ottomans and commanded by

William Sidney Smith Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith (21 June 176426 May 1840) was a British naval and intelligence officer. Serving in the American and French revolutionary wars and Napoleonic Wars, he rose to the rank of Admiral. Smith was known for his offe ...

, rebuilt Jaffa's city walls. In the years 1800 to 1814, after a new nine-month siege, Jaffa was again taken over by Napoleon's former opponent,

, Acre's governor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffa French campaign in Egypt and Syria Sieges of the Napoleonic Wars Conflicts in 1799 Sieges involving France Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire Prisoner of war massacres 1799 in the Ottoman Empire 1799 in Ottoman Syria Siege of Jaffa Massacres committed by France Jaffa Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe