The siege of Jaffa took place from March 3 to 7, 1799 during the Egyptian campaign. Bonaparte's army defeated the Ottoman forces of Djezzar Pasha there.
Context
The city of Jaffa is one of the main trading centers in Syria. Its harbor can provide essential shelter for the fleet. The success of the expedition to Egypt and Syria therefore depends on its capture. To advance, Napoleon must win Jaffa.
After the siege of El Arish, Bonaparte's troops advance in Syria. Along the way they have to face the betrayal of the guides, the harassment of the looters, but also hunger and thirst.
The seat
On March 3 (13 Ventôse Year VII), Kléber's vanguard arrived in front of the walls of Jaffa and took up position two leagues from the city, on the road to Saint-Jean-d'Acre, while the Bon and Lannes extend siege lines around the city
The city is surrounded by high walls, flanked by towers, but devoid of a moat. Djezzar Pasha entrusted its defense to his elite troops, including 1,200 artillerymen.
The next day, while Mur awaited recognition, he was received by heavy fire from around thirty guns. On the night of March 4-5, a breaching battery and two counter-batteries were established against a square tower on the southern rampart of the city. The day of March 6 (16 Ventôse Year VII), is devoted to the completion of the work despite several exits from the garrison of the city, strongly postponed.
Early in the morning of March 7, Bonaparte sent an emissary to demand the surrender of the city. This one is decapitated. At 7 a.m., the artillery opened fire. Around 1 p.m., the weight of the besiegers caused one of the towers to collapse. Around 3 p.m. Bonaparte inspects the trench and judging the breach practicable, orders the assault. The garrison resists valiantly and does not give up an inch of ground.
During this time, the Bon division occupied in the north to create a diversion, accidentally discovers an underground passage. The entire division takes the passage and emerges in the center of the city. Noting a softening of the resistance of the besieged, the Lannes division set off again with renewed vigor to attack the square tower which quickly fell into the hands of the French.
With the energy of despair, the Ottomans caught in the crossfire then engage in hand-to-hand combat with the besiegers. The scattered remnants of the garrison are pursued from house to house.
Consequences
The bad treatment inflicted on the messenger carrying the ultimatum, like the stubborn resistance of the besieged, provoked the fury of the French soldiers. Men are executed with bayonets, many inhabitants are massacred. Some take the opportunity to loot and rape. Sent to restore some order and put an end to the massacres, the aides-de-camp Beauharnais and Croisier learned that a large number of Ottoman troops had withdrawn into a group of buildings and only agreed to surrender against the promise of to have life saved The two officers accede to their request. Seeing the approximately 3,000 prisoners, Bonaparte is said to have exclaimed:
“What do they want me to do with so many prisoners? Do I have food to feed them, buildings to deport them? What the hell did they do to me there? »
For two days and two nights, the massacres, looting and rapes continue.
On March 10, despite the promise to spare them during their surrender, the 3,000 prisoners were executed. Later, Napoleon will try to justify himself by explaining that it would have been necessary to detach too many soldiers to keep such a large number of prisoners, which would have reduced his numbers all the more and that releasing the prisoners would not have been reasonable, because these would have immediately gone to swell the ranks of Djezzar Pasha.
On March 19, the French army is in front of Saint-Jean-d'Acre. It will withdraw after a month of siege without being able to take it.
Caused by the lack of hygiene in the French ranks, an epidemic of plague decimates the population of Jaffa and Saint-Jean-d'Acre as well as the French army.
Overwhelmed by the Turks in the north of the country, Napoleon abandoned Palestine. After his departure, the English, allies of the Turks, commanded by William Sidney Smith, rebuilt the walls of Jaffa.