In Napoleon in Egypt, the French Player has several different types of Units at his disposal: Regulars, Grognards, Militia, and Auxiliaries. In this article, we will take a more detailed look at the background history of the various Auxiliary Units, original and colorful troops who can either be recruited by the French Player for 2 APs or show up through historical Events.

During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Bonaparte faced a major challenge: the renewal of his troops. Since the start of the Revolutionary Wars, the French armies had always maintained a link with their mother country, a natural source of new soldiers. Moreover, the revolutionary enthusiasm which had spread to some conquered territories and populations had assured an influx of allied units for the Republic. But after the naval disaster in Aboukir, sending troops from France to Egypt and Syria became impossible. Bonaparte had no choice: if he wanted to swell his ranks and benefit from fresh troops, he had to recruit local units, a principle he would later adopt throughout the Empire.

In Egypt, he could either recruit Europeans already in the country or various native populations. The quality of these local troops often proved to be rather mediocre, contrary to what the subsequent presence of Mamluks in the Consular and the later Imperial Guard would suggest. However, their knowledge of the terrain and their adaptability to harsh climatic conditions were a great asset in conquering the Egyptian sands. What’s more, their assignment to police and surveillance duties freed up regular soldiers for critical battles.

We’ll look at six of these troops in chronological order of creation.

The Maltese Legion

The capture of Malta on June 12, 1798, was the kickoff of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria. The Knights of Malta (1,000 men) put up very little resistance. Since Bonaparte decided to leave a garrison of just over 3,000 men with General Vaubois to protect against British landings, he had to recruit from among the locals to fill the gap. The issue was that only the Grand Master’s Guards (148 men) and the Regiment of Malta (60 men) proved to be effective troops. Some of them expressed a desire to enlist under the French flag, but many of the officers and non-commissioned officers were over 50 years old. Others were reluctant to move away and abandon their families. Eventually, the Guards, the Regiment of Malta, and a few other volunteers totaling 358 men were integrated as French Grenadiers.

Once in Egypt, the Maltese were organized into a battalion on July 5, 1798. They were later reinforced by around 500 other Maltese who had followed General Dumuy’s lead. Unfortunately, over time, some of them proved too old or weak for military action and were redirected to other jobs (bakers, masons, etc.), reducing the strength back to just over 350 men. On August 30, 1798, the Maltese Legion was formally organized under the command of battalion commander MacSheehy. It was equipped and dressed. By early January 1799, it was garrisoned in Suez. Its grenadier company left for Syria with Junot. On July 14, 1799, the Maltese Legion was disbanded. Its men were distributed among all the infantry demi-brigades. Maltese deserters are regularly mentioned in the orders of the day of the Armée d’Orient.

The Légion Nautique

After the Aboukir disaster (August 1-2, 1798), 3,000 French sailors found themselves without a job. Some of them were immediately transferred either to the crews of surviving ships, to the 69^th demi-brigade de ligne, or to the artillery and engineering corps. Kléber suggested putting together a special corps with the rest. On August 22, 1798, the Légion Nautique (Nautical Legion) was organized: four companies of fusiliers, a company of gunners, and a company of sappers. By November 4, 1798, its strength had grown to nine companies and some 2,500 men. But no matter how good the idea seemed to be, its execution was far less so. Sailors were not happy serving ashore. Their army comrades couldn’t help but resent their defeat and found every opportunity to remind them of it. Morale and discipline soon suffered, especially as the Legion was more likely to be employed as garrisons and in maintaining order. The Nautical Legion was therefore disbanded on July 14, 1799, the same day as the Maltese Legion. But on April 19, 1800, a “second” Légion Nautique was organized. It provided personnel for the forts and batteries. It did not, however, appear to be any more effective than the first. The last trace we have of sailors involved in the campaign is a “marine battalion” of 524 men under the leadership of brigade commander Massé during the siege of Alexandria in 1801.

Janissaries on foot and native guides

As soon as he arrived in Cairo, Bonaparte set about ensuring order and security. On July 25, 1798, five companies of Janissaries on foot were organized to police Cairo. These men were recruited from Egyptian army prisoners, existing garrisons, and freed black slaves. Their role seems to have been effective, as a second company was created for each province. Unappreciated by the inhabitants of Cairo, these companies were massacred during the two Cairo revolts but were reconstituted each time. In 1801, their surviving leaders followed the army back to France. One company of Janissaries on foot should be singled out, however. This was the so-called Omar company, named after its leader, a former Turkish Janissary. It was attached to the guides on foot and formed the compagnie des guides indigènes, a very useful unit for the French as they moved deeper into Egypt.

Mounted Janissaries, Syrians, and Mamluks

At around the same time as the Janissaries on foot were being organized, Bonaparte commissioned a former Mamluk of Greek origin, Bartholomeo Serra, to set up a native cavalry unit recruited from among his former comrades. “Barthélémy the Greek” proved to be highly effective, both in his organization and in carrying out the low-level police duties assigned to him in the province of Cairo. In fact, he and his men sowed terror with their 80 or so Mamluks. They were also often used as convoy escorts. Barthélémy was described in several memoirs: his size was imposing, as was his strength. He was often flanked by his wife, who was just as brutal as he was with a beauty to which Kléber was not indifferent…

During the campaign in Syria, many cavalrymen decided to join the French. Inhabitants of Nazareth, Chaf-Amr, and other neighboring towns formed the bulk of a corps of light cavalrymen dressed in Mamluk style and armed with blunderbusses and pistols. Later, Kléber added a few defectors from Ibrahim Bey’s army to the mix.

Around the same time, Vial organized another company of cavalrymen, known as the Syrian Janissaries. Upon their return to Egypt, they formed two companies of “mounted Janissaries.” On September 23, 1799, Kléber reorganized them into a compagnie de Janissaires Syriens à cheval (Syrian-mounted Janissaries). A second company was created by Menou on July 7, 1800. Each company included 30 native officers, 2 non-commissioned officers, 95 men, and one French non-commissioned officer. The companies were merged on September 26, 1800 ,on Menou’s orders. The new unit was named the “Mamluks of the Republic.” Its commander was Barthélémy himself following his promotion to brigade commander. This unit of just under 300 men followed the army on its return to Marseille. In 1802, many of these men were transferred to the Mamelouks de la Garde squadron and shed their blood on the Empire’s battlefields.

The Greek Legion

The French soon realized that they could rely on the Christian communities in Egypt, particularly the Greeks. On September 27, 1798, three companies of 100 men and one officer each were organized in Cairo. They served mainly as escorts for the Nile flotilla. The Greeks were loyal and courageous, led by their chief Nicolas Papas-Oglou, a former admiral in Murad Bey’s army. They distinguished themselves at the Battle of Heliopolis (March 20, 1800) with 8 companies (including an artillery company) and 670 men on September 23, 1800. The Greeks also fought at Canope, then at the siege of Alexandria. They were reembarked with the army and, once in Europe, formed the basis of the Chasseurs d’Orient, still under the command of Papas-Oglou.

The Légion Copte

The last local unit to be organized and raised, the Légion Copte was made up of Christian Egyptians, descendants of the original population who had refused to convert to Islam. This community had a strong presence in the country’s administration. The French left them in place, entrusting them with the task of collecting taxes among other administrative duties. Accused of complicity with their European “coreligionists” (ironic, given the rejection of religion by many French revolutionary soldiers), the Copts were prime targets for local uprisings. In September 1799, Kléber proposed the formation of a Légion Copte to Maallen Yakub, head of the Coptic community. Under the command of the Coptic Gabriel Sidariu, it lined up a total of 800 men organized into two battalions, each with five companies, including a grenadier company. The Greek and Coptic legions were grouped under the leadership of brigade commander Colliquet, who oversaw their training. The Légion Copte was probably the best of all the locally organized units. Many Copts also joined the ranks of the demi-brigades, in particular the 21^st light demi-brigade. They returned with the army to France and together with the Greek Legion formed the Chasseurs d’Orient.

In a future article, we’ll conclude this overview of auxiliary troops in the Egyptian campaign with the expedition’s emblematic unit: the Régiment de Dromadaires (dromedary regiment). We’ll also look at the actual impact of Auxiliary Units on the French Player’s strategy in our Napoleon in Egypt game.

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