A. G. DANIELLS by Arthur G. Daniells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Apr 3, 1913

A. G. DANIELLS

By Arthur G. Daniells

Does the History of Turkey and Egypt Since 1798 Fulfill the Prophecy of Dan. 11:40-44? — No. 11

A. G. DANIELLS

El Arish, Gaza, and Jaffa were easily taken by the French troops as they marched from Egypt into the Syrian territory of the Turkish Empire. From these successes, it certainly looked as if the triumphs of the French in Egypt were to be repeated in Syria, and possibly throughout the empire of Turkey.

The next town in the line of march was Saint Jean d’Acre, the old Accho of that part of Palestine assigned to the tribe of Asher. Joshua 19:24-31; Judges 1:31. Its present name, Saint Jean d’Acre, was given to it from the Knights of St. John, who held the city upward of one hundred years.

“Bonaparte had now ascertained that the pasha of Syria, Achmet-Djezzar, was at Saint Jean d’Acre (so renowned in the history of the crusades), and determined to defend that place to extremity, with the forces which had already been assembled for the invasion of Egypt.”—“Life of the Emperor Napoleon,” page 91, by J. G. Lockhart.

“Always prompt to strike at the heart, the commander-in-chief determined to march straight on to Acre, where that notorious Turkish pasha sat entrenched behind weak walls and the ramparts of terror which his calculating ferocity had reared around him.”—“The Life of Napoleon I,” page 188, by John Holland Rose, M. A., Cambridge, England.

“On the fourteenth of March [1799] the army advanced to Saint Jean d’Acre, carrying with it the infection of the plague, which had been caught at Jaffa. It was here that the terrible Djezzar resided, whose unrelenting cruelties, as his name indicated, had rendered him as formidable to Syrians as to Europeans. Here he had collected his treasures, his best troops, and immense military stores.”—“History of Napoleon,” Vol. I, chap. 11, page 292, by Lanfrey.

“The French army swept around the promontory of Mt. Carmel, and after defeating a large body of horse, under the command of Abdallah Pasha, on the mountains of Naplouse, appeared before Acre on the sixteenth of March.”—“History of Europe,” page 203, by Sir Archibald Alison.

“On the morning of the eighteenth of March, Bonaparte stood on the mount

examining the ramparts with his glass; and, after mature consideration, gave orders to drive into the town the force that still occupied the gardens, which was promptly done. The Turks being now all within the walls of Acre, preparations were made for the siege of the place.”—“History of the Egyptian Revolution,” Vol. I, chap. 20, pages 257, 258, by A. A. Paton.

“Napoleon now pressed the siege of Acre. It was the only fortress in Syria which could stop him. Its subjugation would make him the undisputed master of Syria. Napoleon had already formed an alliance with the Druses and other Christian tribes, who had taken refuge from the extortions of the Turks among the mountains of Lebanon, and they only awaited the capture of Acre to join his standard in a body, and to throw off the intolerable yoke of Moslem despotism.”—“The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,” Vol. I, chap. 12, page 217, by John S. C. Abbott.

“On the twenty-eighth of March, at daybreak, the breaching battery commenced its fire, which was directed toward the tower situated at the corner of the rampart, which carried guns of much greater caliber than those of the besiegers; but they were soon dismounted by the good French practise, and the crumbling of the walls seemed to open the way to success.”—“History of the Egyptian Revolution,” Vol. I, chap. 21, page 264, by A. A. Paton.

“The grenadiers instantly advanced to the assault, and, running rapidly forward, arrived at the edge of the counterscarp. They were there arrested by a ditch, fifteen feet deep, which was only half filled up with the ruins of the wall. Their ardor, however, speedily overcame this obstacle; they descended into the fosse, and, mounting the breach, effected a lodgment in the tower.”—“History of Europe,” page 205, by Sir Archibald Alison.

“The garrison defended the town with a vigor which astonished our troops, who had not been accustomed to meet with strong resistance from the Turks, and the greater part of our soldiers who penetrated into the town were slain.”—“The History of Napoleon,” Vol. I, chap. 11, page 293, by Lanfrey.

The French Threatened by a Great Turkish Army

While the garrison of Acre was offering such stubborn and successful resistance, a great Turkish army was marching to their relief.

“The Turks were not idle. By vast exertions they had roused the whole Mussulman population to march, in the name of the prophet, for the destruction of the ‘Christian dogs.’ An enormous army was marshaled, and was on its way for the relief of the beleaguered city. Damascus had furnished its thousands. The scattered remnants of the fierce Mamelukes, and the mounted Bedouins of the desert had congregated to rush, with resistless numbers, upon their bold antagonist.”—“The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,” Vol. I, chap. 12, page 217, by John S. C. Abbott.

“By vast exertions they had succeeded in rousing the Mohammedan population of all the surrounding provinces; the remains of the Mamelukes of Ibrahim Bey, the janizaries of Aleppo and of Damascus, joined to an innumerable horde of irregular cavalry, formed a vast army, which had already pushed its advanced posts beyond the Jordan, and threatened soon to envelop the besieging force.”—“History of Europe,” Vol. IV, chap. 26, page 205, by Sir Archibald Alison.

“Napoleon had been engaged for ten days in an almost incessant assault upon the works of Acre when the approach of the great Turkish army was announced. It consisted of about thirty thousand troops, twelve thousand of whom were the fiercest and best-trained horsemen in the world. Napoleon had but eight thousand effective men with whom to encounter the well-trained army of Europeans and Turks within the walls of Acre, and the numerous host rushing to its rescue. . . .

“Kleber was sent forward with an advance guard of three thousand men. Napoleon followed soon after with three thousand more.

“As Kleber, with his little band, defiled from a narrow valley at the foot of Mt. Tabor, he entered upon an extended plain. It was early in the morning of the sixteenth of April. The unclouded sun was just rising over the hills of Palestine, and revealed to his view the whole embattled Turkish host spread out before him. The eye was dazzled with the magnificent spectacle, as proud banners and plumes, and gaudy turbans and glittering steel, and all the barbaric martial pomp of the East were reflected by the rays of the brilliant morning. Twelve thousand horsemen, decorated with the most gorgeous trappings of military show, and mounted on the fleetest Arabian chariots, were prancing and curveting in all directions. A loud and exultant shout of vengeance and joy, rising like the roar of the ocean, burst from the Turkish ranks as soon as they perceived their victims enter the plain. The French, too proud and self-confident to retreat before any superiority in numbers, had barely time to form themselves into one of Napoleon’s impregnable squares, when the whole cavalcade of horsemen, with gleaming sabers and hideous yells, and like the sweep of the wind, came rushing down upon them. Every man in the French squares knew that his life depended upon his immobility, and each one stood, shoulder to shoulder with his comrades, like a rock. . . .

“As the immense mass came thundering down upon the square, it was received by volcanic bursts of fire from the French veterans, and horse and rider rolled together in the dust. . . . For six long hours this little band sustained the dreadful and unequal conflict. The artillery of the enemy plowed their ranks in vain. In vain the horsemen made reiterated charges on every side. The French, by the tremendous fire incessantly pouring from their ranks, soon formed around them a rampart of dead men and horses.

“Behind this horrible abatis, they bade stern defiance to the utmost fury of their enemies. Seven long hours passed away, while the battle raged with unabated ferocity. The midday sun was now blazing upon the exhausted band. Their ammunition was nearly expended. Notwithstanding the enormous slaughter they had made, their foes seemed undiminished in number. A conflict so unequal could not much longer continue. The French were calling to their aid a notable despair, expecting there to perish, but resolved, to a man, to sell their lives most dearly.

“Matters were in this state when, at one o’clock, Napoleon, with three thousand men, arrived on the heights which overlooked the field of battle. The field was covered with a countless multitude, swaying to and fro in the most horrible clamor and confusion. . . . With that instinctive judgment which enabled him, with the rapidity of lightning, to adopt the most important decisions, Napoleon instantly took his resolution. He formed his little band into two squares, and advanced in such a manner as to compose, with the square of Kleber, a triangle, enclosing the Turks. Thus, with unparalleled audacity, with six thousand men he undertook to surround thirty thousand of as fierce and desperate soldiers as the world has ever seen. . . .

“The Turks were assailed by a murderous fire instantaneously discharged from the three points of this triangle. Discouraged by the indomitable resolution with which they had been repulsed, and bewildered by the triple assault, they broke and fled.”—“The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,” Vol. I, chap. 12, pages 217-219, by John S. C. Abbott.

“The defeat had been complete; the Turkish camp, with all their baggage and ammunition, fell into the hands of the conquerors; the army which the people of the country called ‘innumerable as the sands of the sea or the stars of heaven,’ had dispersed, never again to reassemble.”—“History of Europe,” Vol. IV, chap. 26, page 206, by Sir Archibald Alison.