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Updated: May 17, 2025
Aboukir, Damietta, and Cairo surrendered, and the Egyptian leader, Arabi, was captured and banished. From that time Egypt fell into a condition of helpless dependence on England. France found herself without the influence there which she had always coveted since the days of the first Napoleon. The system of administration in Egypt was now organized by the English, through Lord Dufferin.
The janissary, who was with us, pointed out the direction in which Damietta now stands, and I was instantly filled with a desire to see Damietta, of which I had heard and read so much.
'Surely, not yet, exclaimed several voices; but the pilot to make certain ascended to the round-top of the vessel. 'Gentlemen, cried the pilot, 'it is all right. We are before Damietta, so you have nothing to do but to recommend yourselves to God.
It was therefore decided to lay siege to Damietta, the strongest town in Egypt, and from its situation the key of that kingdom. The first of those who sailed arrived before the place on the 30th of May; they disembarked, and intrenched themselves without meeting with any resistance, and when the remainder of the army arrived, the attack commenced.
Another fact that was established was that the policemen of Damietta were very much like those of other cities. The third truth was, that no burglary took place on Thursday night or Friday morning, and everything was as quiet as the surface of a summer mill-pond, with the single exception of the incident just narrated.
After fierce skirmishing, the French and English met on the plains of Alexandria. In the frightful conflict which ensued, Sir Ralph Abercrombie was slain, but the battle ended with the retreat of the French. Damietta surrendered on April 19th. The French were now divided, while Menou hesitated. General Hutchinson took the place of the deceased British commander.
Under him, an attempt was made to carry the war into the enemy's quarters, by attacking the Saracens in Egypt, and with a large force of crusaders he laid siege to Damietta.
During the summer succeeding the carrying away of the bridge which connected Damietta with Moorestown, it was built in a more substantial manner than before. It was an easy matter, therefore, to cross from one place to another, and carriages and pedestrians went back and forth between the two States at almost every hour of the day.
'On my faith, exclaimed Walter Espec, with enthusiasm, 'it is so pleasant to the eye, that I could almost persuade myself I am looking upon that terrestrial paradise in which the father and mother of mankind lived so happily before eating the fatal apple. No wonder, when such was the aspect of the country around Damietta, that the armed pilgrims were impatient to land.
But the time was not yet come for a third crusade; and only from Manuel was any help obtained. His fleet aided the Latins in a fruitless siege of Damietta; and a terrible earthquake which laid Aleppo in ruins and shattered the walls of Antioch saved them from attack by the army of Noureddin which was approaching from the north.
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