The Coptic National Army () was a military unit organized by the French army during the Napoleonic conquest of Egypt. It was composed of ethnic native Egyptian

Copts Copts (; ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptians, Egyptian population, des ...

. It was the last local unit to be organized by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. The Coptic Legion was formed out of the need of self-defense by the Coptic community against the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

s and Ottomans, since they were always persecuted and accused of complicity with their

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an coreligionists. The Legion was headed by a Coptic general, General Yaqub, based on a proposal by

Jean-Baptiste Kléber Jean-Baptiste Kléber (; 9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a French army officer and architect who served in the War of the Bavarian Succession and French Revolutionary Wars. After serving for one year in the French Royal Army, he joined the Im ...

in September 1799 to defend the Coptic community in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. General Yaqub recruited young Copts from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

for the Legion. These were trained by officers from the French army. The Coptic Legion consisted of 2 battalions each with 5 companies, and numbered 896 men, including officers, in 1800. However, some sources believe the number of recruited Copts in the Legion to have been as high as 2,000. Together with the Greek Legion, the Coptic Legion formed the '' Bataillon des Chasseurs d'Orient''. The uniform of the Legion's soldiers was composed of a black hat, a green coat with red

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scale ...

s, khaki trousers, and black boots. The Légion Copte is thought to have been the best of all the locally organized units in Egypt. Many of its members also joined the ranks of the demi-brigades, in particular the 21st light demi-brigade. The Coptic Legion was particularly successful in protecting Coptic Christians in Egypt against Muslim aggression. When the population of

revolted against the French during the 1798

Revolt of Cairo The Revolt of Cairo was a revolt that occurred on 21–22 October 1798 by the citizens of Cairo against the French occupation of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte.Chandler, p. 230. The revolt In 1798, Napoleon led the French army into Egypt, swi ...

, and the Ottomans tried to retake Egypt, the Coptic Legion under General Yaqub barricaded themselves in the fortress with towers and ramparts they built at the neighborhood of

Azbakeya Azbakeya (; also spelled Al Uzbakeya or Auzbekiya) is one of the districts of the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. Along with Downtown Cairo, Wust Albalad (Downtown) and Abdeen Palace, Abdeen, Azbakiya forms Cairo's 19th century expansion outside th ...

and successfully defended Copts there during a 20-day siege, while Copts in other parts of Cairo were looted and murdered by Muslim mob led by Hasan Bey al-Jiddawi. After the defeat of the Napoleonic conquest of Egypt at the hand of the British, the French troops were forced to withdraw from Egypt. Under articles 12 and 13 of the treaty signed between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

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, protection for those who had helped the French was guaranteed. Anyone who wished to leave for France was allowed to do so, and so many members of the Coptic Legion returned with the French army to

in 1801, including General Yaqub. Nonetheless, most of the members of the Coptic Legion chose to remain in Egypt, and were eventually murdered by the Ottomans. Those who reached France continued to fight in its army, several of them achieving high ranks. The Coptic Legion was finally disbanded on 29 September, 1814. The Egyptian writer

Rifa'a at-Tahtawi Rifa'a Rafi' at-Tahtawi (; 1801–1873) was an Egyptians, Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptology, Egyptologist, and intellectual of the ''Nahda'' (the Arab renaissance). One of the first Egyptian travellers to France in the nineteenth c ...

recounts in his book ''Takhlis al-ibriz fi talkhis Bariz'' about encountering some of the former members of the Legion during his visit to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1826.Motherland Lost: The Egyptian And Coptic Quest For Modernity. By Samuel Tadros. pp. 64-67

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coptic Legion Egyptian Copts Coptic Christians Coptic Orthodox Christians Coptic Orthodox Christians from Egypt

See also

References