Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern Page A

a sugar loaf, dominating this part of Palestine. This was where the Devil had tempted Christ by offering him worldly power.” He stood for a while contemplating the scene of his great victory, which he decided to call the Battle of Mount Tabor. The battle itself may not have burnished Napoleon’s glory quite so brilliantly as he suggests in his memoirs (though his critics only disagree with him on minor points), but there is no denying that this was a victory which reflected his superlative military instincts. Back in Acre, he had sensed from Kléber’s overconfident report that he was out of his depth, and had immediately set out at the head of Bon’s division to march overnight and relieve the situation, arriving in the nick of time. Realizing that his men were too fatigued to fight a serious battle against overwhelming numbers after their thirty-mile forced march, he had maneuvered them cannily and struck at the enemy camp with the hope of gaining some respite—a move that had proved even more decisive than he had hoped.
    After descending from the mountain, Napoleon followed his troops into Nazareth, where a community of monks known as the Fathers of the Holy Land invited him to set up his headquarters in their monastery, opening up their cloister as a hospital for the wounded and the dying, who were still being carried in from the battlefield. The following evening the monks celebrated a solemn Te Deum in honor of the French and their victory, which was attended by Napoleon and his senior officers, despite the fact that France was now officially “de-Christianized” and most of his officers were hardened disbelievers. Napoleon and his staff were also given a conducted tour of the site of the Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel had announced to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Napoleon’s aide Captain Lavallette recalled how the prior, who was Spanish, showed them the famous black marble column beside the altar: “The prior told us with due solemnity that when the Angel Gabriel had come to announce to the Virgin Mary her glorious and holy destiny, he had brushed the column with his heel and broken it. Laughter broke out amongst us, but Napoleon gave us a stern look, forcing us to mask our derision with serious faces.” 10
    The troops were equally disrespectful. Desgenettes relates how “a soldier had lost his finger in combat, but managed to pick it up and kept it. When he saw the cemetery, he made a little hole in the ground and buried it, telling his comrades: ‘No matter where the rest of my body goes when I die, at least I’ll always have a finger in the Holy Land.’” 11
    The following day Napoleon drew up his historic yet curiously little-known Proclamation to the Jews, in which he announced:
     
    Bonaparte, Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic, in Africa and Asia, to the rightful heirs of Palestine—the unique nation of the Jews, who have been deprived of the land of your fathers by thousands of years of lust for conquest and tyranny, which even so has never been able to destroy your name or your existence as a nation . . . Arise then, with gladness, ye exiled [and take unto yourselves] Israel’s patrimony.
    The young army, which Providence has called upon me to command, supported by justice and accompanied by victory, has made Jerusalem my headquarters and will, within a few days transfer them to Damascus, from whence David’s city will feel no threat.
    Rightful heirs of Palestine!
    My great nation, which does not trade in human beings or in countries, as did those who sold your fathers into slavery in other nations, herewith calls upon you, not to conquer your inheritance, but to receive only that which has already been conquered, so that you can remain there as ruler, under our guarantee, and will defend it against all foreigners. 12
     
    This proclamation was headed: “General headquarters, Jerusalem 1 Floréal Year 7 of the French Republic, 20 April