Intro and Siege of Acre
In 1805, Napoleon asserted that if he had:
"been able to take Acre [in 1799], I would have put on a turban, I would have made my soldiers wear big Turkish trousers, and I would have exposed them to battle only in case of extreme necessity. I would have made them into a Sacred Battalion--my Immortals. I would have finished the war against the Turks with Arabic, Greek, and Armenian troops. Instead of a battle in Moravia, I would have won a Battle of Issus, I would have made myself emperor of the East, and I would have returned to Paris by way of Constantinople."
So what if he did just that?
As we know it, on March 20th, 1799, Napoleon marched upon Acre with a force of only 9,000. Yet, he was up against 30,000 Turkish troops. Seemingly impossible odds. Though this is not where our story begins, no. Instead, it begins a little over two weeks earlier, in the Siege of Jaffa, on the 3rd of March. When the city's inhabitants ruthlessly killed the messengers sent by Napoleon, demanding of the city's capitulation, Napoleon was infuriated. Upon the city's fall a mere 4 days later, on March 7th, Napoleon prevented his troops from ransacking the city, albeit he still executed Abdallah Bey, Turkish Governor of the region. Instead, Napoleon decided to honor the promises of his step son, Eugène de Beauharnais, that prisoners were to be spared. However, with such a large number of prisoners, potentially up to 4,000, Napoleon worried of the difficulties in keeping them in chains, unable to detach a guard to hold them, and unwanting to merely let them roam free. Instead, he would press many of them into service, forming a detachment of Albanian and Egyptian soldiers. These new conscripts, although unarmed, and merely workmen, would eventually be crucial for the success of the Armée d'Orient.
And so, this Napoleon arrived in Acre on March 22nd, 1799, with 9,000 troops and 4,000 unarmed workers. As Napoleon's army prepared for siege, the sight of their ethnic brothers seemingly helping the French heavily demoralized the mainly Albanian defenders of the siege, yet the capable defender of the city, Jezzar Pasha, refused to surrender. The odds looked increasingly difficult as A royal navy flotilla under one Commodore Sidney Smith begun to aid the city in its defense. Napoleon, well aware of the British's sea superiority after defeat Aboukir during the Battle of the Nile, had instead imposed his new conscripts to carry the siege artillery over land. Despite this, Napoleon would fail in his first assault on the city, now beginning to worry, as the anger of his forced conscripts could potentially lead to open revolt. Yet ironically, it was directly following this assault that the British line-of-battle ships, the Tigre and the Theseus laid into the French force during several Salvos, focused mainly on the French Siege artillery, the very same artillery that was mostly being operated by the Albanian and Egyptian conscripts. Ironically, the British had now turned the tide in favor of Napoleon. Soon the city's walls were breached, on April 7th. French troops, along with newly aligned Albanian and Egyptian soldiers, of whom had declared loyalty to Napoleon after British forces had fired upon them, stormed the city, destroying a partially built secondary wall the Ottomans were building. After a four-day bloody battle with remaining Ottoman Troops and a minor British presence, the city was secured.
While British ships remained firing on the city for several days, they soon withdrew. During this, the destruction wrought by the British had turned the population in favor of the French. During this, Napoleon received word from his his General, Jean Baptiste Kléber, that a large Ottoman force was camped at Mount Tabor, and Kleber was planning a night raid. Kleber's forces would engage the Ottoman force at dawn, after Kleber had misjudged how long it would take to reach the sleeping Ottomans. Forced into a potentially deadly situation, Kleber quickly formed two infantry squares, holding off numerous Ottoman offenses, until Napoleon arrived - at which point Kleber was nearly out of ammunition. Napoleon's force of over 10,000 having detached a portion at Acre and taking on his new recruits, arrived between the Ottoman forces and their encampment. Sending a small section of his force to destroy the Ottoman camp completely. Ottoman forces, now believing themselves surrounded began to retreat but were soon crushed between a dual charge between Kleber and Napoleon himself. The Ottoman retreat turned into a total route, with large portions of the force surrendering to Napoleon's army, and the rest scattered into the desert. Returning to Acre to rest for the night, Napoleon granted Kleber permission to form a Mameluks de la République, recruiting large portions of their former prisoners into the army.
And so, on April 18th, 1799, Napoleon dawned a Turban upon his head, granted Turkish Trousers to his original French force, and formed an elite column around his new force of the Mameluks de la République, now numbering 20,000 strong, and marched - to the now defenseless city of Damascus.
---
Some fun facts which helped inspire parts of this;
Jean Baptiste Kléber was one of the Greatest generals Napoleon had. There was a real Battle of Mount Tabor, however Napoleons relieving force only numbered 2,500 as opposed to his 10,000 here in this timeline. This battle resulted in 6,000 Turkish deaths and 500 Turkish prisoners. On the other hand only two Frenchmen laid dead, while only 60 were wounded in total.
The Mameluks de la République were a real force, composed originally of Mameluks and Syrian Janissaries ironically from the same battle of Acre that Napoleon lost IOTL. And it was composed by the very same Jean Baptiste Kléber, in September of that same year.
I figured these two little facts would help support some of the storyline, as well as ease any questions any people might have.
Napoleon's territories in the Orient following the battle of Acre.
"been able to take Acre [in 1799], I would have put on a turban, I would have made my soldiers wear big Turkish trousers, and I would have exposed them to battle only in case of extreme necessity. I would have made them into a Sacred Battalion--my Immortals. I would have finished the war against the Turks with Arabic, Greek, and Armenian troops. Instead of a battle in Moravia, I would have won a Battle of Issus, I would have made myself emperor of the East, and I would have returned to Paris by way of Constantinople."
So what if he did just that?
As we know it, on March 20th, 1799, Napoleon marched upon Acre with a force of only 9,000. Yet, he was up against 30,000 Turkish troops. Seemingly impossible odds. Though this is not where our story begins, no. Instead, it begins a little over two weeks earlier, in the Siege of Jaffa, on the 3rd of March. When the city's inhabitants ruthlessly killed the messengers sent by Napoleon, demanding of the city's capitulation, Napoleon was infuriated. Upon the city's fall a mere 4 days later, on March 7th, Napoleon prevented his troops from ransacking the city, albeit he still executed Abdallah Bey, Turkish Governor of the region. Instead, Napoleon decided to honor the promises of his step son, Eugène de Beauharnais, that prisoners were to be spared. However, with such a large number of prisoners, potentially up to 4,000, Napoleon worried of the difficulties in keeping them in chains, unable to detach a guard to hold them, and unwanting to merely let them roam free. Instead, he would press many of them into service, forming a detachment of Albanian and Egyptian soldiers. These new conscripts, although unarmed, and merely workmen, would eventually be crucial for the success of the Armée d'Orient.
And so, this Napoleon arrived in Acre on March 22nd, 1799, with 9,000 troops and 4,000 unarmed workers. As Napoleon's army prepared for siege, the sight of their ethnic brothers seemingly helping the French heavily demoralized the mainly Albanian defenders of the siege, yet the capable defender of the city, Jezzar Pasha, refused to surrender. The odds looked increasingly difficult as A royal navy flotilla under one Commodore Sidney Smith begun to aid the city in its defense. Napoleon, well aware of the British's sea superiority after defeat Aboukir during the Battle of the Nile, had instead imposed his new conscripts to carry the siege artillery over land. Despite this, Napoleon would fail in his first assault on the city, now beginning to worry, as the anger of his forced conscripts could potentially lead to open revolt. Yet ironically, it was directly following this assault that the British line-of-battle ships, the Tigre and the Theseus laid into the French force during several Salvos, focused mainly on the French Siege artillery, the very same artillery that was mostly being operated by the Albanian and Egyptian conscripts. Ironically, the British had now turned the tide in favor of Napoleon. Soon the city's walls were breached, on April 7th. French troops, along with newly aligned Albanian and Egyptian soldiers, of whom had declared loyalty to Napoleon after British forces had fired upon them, stormed the city, destroying a partially built secondary wall the Ottomans were building. After a four-day bloody battle with remaining Ottoman Troops and a minor British presence, the city was secured.
While British ships remained firing on the city for several days, they soon withdrew. During this, the destruction wrought by the British had turned the population in favor of the French. During this, Napoleon received word from his his General, Jean Baptiste Kléber, that a large Ottoman force was camped at Mount Tabor, and Kleber was planning a night raid. Kleber's forces would engage the Ottoman force at dawn, after Kleber had misjudged how long it would take to reach the sleeping Ottomans. Forced into a potentially deadly situation, Kleber quickly formed two infantry squares, holding off numerous Ottoman offenses, until Napoleon arrived - at which point Kleber was nearly out of ammunition. Napoleon's force of over 10,000 having detached a portion at Acre and taking on his new recruits, arrived between the Ottoman forces and their encampment. Sending a small section of his force to destroy the Ottoman camp completely. Ottoman forces, now believing themselves surrounded began to retreat but were soon crushed between a dual charge between Kleber and Napoleon himself. The Ottoman retreat turned into a total route, with large portions of the force surrendering to Napoleon's army, and the rest scattered into the desert. Returning to Acre to rest for the night, Napoleon granted Kleber permission to form a Mameluks de la République, recruiting large portions of their former prisoners into the army.
And so, on April 18th, 1799, Napoleon dawned a Turban upon his head, granted Turkish Trousers to his original French force, and formed an elite column around his new force of the Mameluks de la République, now numbering 20,000 strong, and marched - to the now defenseless city of Damascus.
---
Some fun facts which helped inspire parts of this;
Jean Baptiste Kléber was one of the Greatest generals Napoleon had. There was a real Battle of Mount Tabor, however Napoleons relieving force only numbered 2,500 as opposed to his 10,000 here in this timeline. This battle resulted in 6,000 Turkish deaths and 500 Turkish prisoners. On the other hand only two Frenchmen laid dead, while only 60 were wounded in total.
The Mameluks de la République were a real force, composed originally of Mameluks and Syrian Janissaries ironically from the same battle of Acre that Napoleon lost IOTL. And it was composed by the very same Jean Baptiste Kléber, in September of that same year.
I figured these two little facts would help support some of the storyline, as well as ease any questions any people might have.
Napoleon's territories in the Orient following the battle of Acre.
Last edited:
