Russia and Austria becoming alarmed lest the peace of Europe should be disturbed, instructed their Consuls at Alexandria to request that Mehemet Ali would desire Ibrahim to withdraw his troops towards Damascus, assuming that Ibrahim was the first to put his army in motion, which certainly was not the case. France seeing the possibility also of a rupture between the Porte and Mehemet Ali, expressed a strong desire that Great Britain would act in concert with her, and proposed to send a fleet of eight or nine sail of the line to the Levant, to co-operate with the British fleet, which she supposed would consist of ten sail of the line.
Whether Mehemet Ali was sincere in his desire to avoid hostilities with the Porte or not, is not very easy to divine; but his actions certainly seem in his favour. He not only remitted the tribute to the Porte, but he declared to M. Cochelet, the Consul-General of France, that if the troops of the Sultan were withdrawn on the other side of the Euphrates, he would order his army to retrograde, and direct Ibrahim to return to Damascus; nay more, if the Turks would retire still further, he would recall[recall] Ibrahim into Egypt; and if the Four Powers would guarantee peace, and procure him the hereditary succession, he would withdraw a great part of his army from Syria[[4]].
Notwithstanding all this, Lord Ponsonby, so early as the 20th of May, 1839, declared the Pacha the aggressor, and sided with Russia. He finishes a long despatch to Lord Palmerston with these remarkable words, “Russia has declared a truth—a limited truth—the Great Powers cannot deny it; their repeated declarations engage them to oppose the aggressor[[5]].”
In the beginning of May, Ibrahim seeing all prospect of peace at an end, left his agricultural pursuits at Khan Jouman, distant five hours from Aleppo, and immediately gave orders for the assembling of his army at the latter place. The army of Ibrahim was said to consist of 55,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 196 guns, besides 6000 irregular cavalry. That of the Sultan was supposed to amount to 80,000 men of all arms, and 170 guns.
On the 7th of June Mehemet Ali received intelligence from Ibrahim that the Turks had driven back a detachment of Egyptian cavalry. He immediately invited the Consuls to a conference, and asked their advice as to his future conduct. They unanimously advised him to act on the defensive; and above all, not to send his fleet to sea, which he had determined on doing. This advice he decided for the present to follow, but a circumstance soon occurred to alter his determination.
On the 9th of June the Turkish fleet sailed for the Dardanelles, under the command of the Capudan Pacha; Captain Walker of the British Navy embarked with him as his adviser; and the Capudan Pacha intended to remain six or eight days in the Dardanelles. On the same day, Mehemet Ali, having received letters from Ibrahim, giving an account that the advanced guard of the Turkish army had attacked some of his troops on the territory under his government, lost all patience, and, in spite of the remonstrance of the Consuls at Alexandria, sent orders to Ibrahim to drive the Turks out of his territory, and then march on the main body; and, if victorious, occupy Malatiyeh, Kharput, Urfah, and Diyarbekr.
On the 16th of June Captain Caillier, an aide-de-camp of Marshal Soult’s, arrived at Alexandria, with orders to call upon Mehemet Ali to suspend hostilities, whereupon the Pacha gave him a letter to Ibrahim, desiring him not to pass the frontier; and, if in the Turkish territory, to halt, unless Hafiz Pacha continued to advance; he was then to engage him. On the 16th of June the first division of the Egyptian squadron sailed, and the remainder on the following day. Captain Caillier left Alexandria on the 19th for Alexandretta.
On the 25th and 26th of June, orders were sent by the English and French Governments to their naval Commanders-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, to proceed to the coast of Syria, and prevent a collision between the Turkish and Egyptian fleets, and urge them to return to their respective ports, in the event of their having sailed. They were also directed to open a communication with the Turkish and Egyptian Generals, and exert their influence to bring about a suspension of arms, and a wider separation between the hostile armies. Should the Turkish General refuse to agree to these propositions, it was to be pointed out to him that all communication by sea would be closed, and his supplies cut off. If the refusal, on the other hand, should proceed from Ibrahim Pacha, similar representations were to be made to him, and communication cut off between Alexandria and Syria. In some respects the English instructions differed from the French. The English Admiral had no orders to cut off the Turkish supplies by sea, in the event of their refusing the armistice; nor had he any orders to receive a Russian squadron should they tender their services; but the English Admiral was at liberty to force the Dardanelles should a Russian fleet arrive at Constantinople, which the French Admiral was not authorized to do without fresh instructions.
On the 2nd of July a further instruction was sent to Sir Robert Stopford in accordance with the instructions of the French Admiral, to receive a Russian force should it offer its co-operation[[6]].
Lord Ponsonby having written to Sir Robert Stopford, that war was inevitable between the Turks and Egyptians, the Admiral, on the 7th of June, being then in Palermo Bay, despatched Sir Thomas Fellowes in the Vanguard, together with a brig, to the Levant, to watch the Turkish squadron, but with positive orders to observe the strictest neutrality. At this time the Commander-in-Chief had received no instructions how to act.