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Updated: June 16, 2025
For which of the enemies would not veil their turbans at so solemn an appearance? Which of the fiercest Janizaries would not throw away his scimitar, and all the half-moons be eclipsed by the interposition of so glorious an army?
If the name alone of liberty suffices to animate the French troops to conquest, and they could imagine it was enjoyed under Brissot or Robespierre, this is at least a proof that they are rather amateurs than connoisseurs; and I see no reason why the same impulse might not be given to an army of Janizaries, or the the legions of Tippoo Saib.
They had constructed a large entrenched camp, with forty pieces of ancient cannon incapable of movement. In this camp were 20,000 infantry, Janizaries, Spahis, and militia from Cairo. On the right were the Mameluke cavalry, some 10,000 strong, with one or two foot-soldiers to each horseman. To the left of the Mamelukes, and between them and the Pyramids, were some 3000 Arab horse.
He had also assembled some thousands of janizaries, or spahis, dependent on the pasha, who, notwithstanding Bonaparte's letter of conciliation, had suffered himself to be persuaded to join his oppressors. Murad Bey had made preparations for defence on the banks of the Nile.
The gallant Karacosh was compelled to surrender to Juan Bautista Cortez, a captain of the King of Spain, although his galley was defended by one hundred fifty picked janizaries and was one of the best built and equipped vessels in the fleet.
Lannes attacked the two thousand janizaries; Murat turned them, cut them in pieces, and drove them into the sea. D'Estaing and Lannes then moved towards the centre, formed by a village, and attacked it in front. The Turks there defended themselves bravely, reckoning upon assistance from the second line.
It was nothing else but an external institution devised to supply a need which a civilized state would have supplied from its own resources; and it fell perhaps without any essential prejudice to the integrity of the power which it had served. That power is just what it was before the Janizaries were formed.
We entered through the magnificent gate of the Sublime Porte, passed the barracks, which are still occupied by the soldiers, visited the arsenal and saw the wax figures of the Janizaries and others in Turkish costume. The upper part of the pleasure-grounds is in a neglected state, and those near the water are entirely destroyed.
After the regular troops had been corrupted by faction, the caliphs, for the defence of their person and government, formed a militia; but the soldiers composing this force, not unfrequently foreigners, soon governed with a military despotism similar to that of the janizaries of Turkey, the Mamelukes of Egypt, or the praetorian guards of Rome; and, in addition to these causes of decay, a furious spirit of sectarianism tore asunder the very strength and heart of the empire.
They were in the first instance made over to the peasantry to assist them in the labours of the field, and thus were prepared by penury and hard fare for the privations of a military life. After this introduction, they were drafted into the companies of the Janizaries, but only in order to commence a second noviciate.
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