The General said he would cut his way through them, to Alexandria, which was not much more than ten miles off. No sooner, however, did the French land, than they perceived the Bedouins, who, up to that time, had concealed themselves behind the numerous sand hills in the neighborhood.
Terror and dismay now seized upon the General and the unfortunate victims of his rash resolve; and their enemy, the British, viewed their probable fate with commiseration, for the Arabs never spared any French who fell into their hands. Although the crew of the cutter, by refusing to surrender, and by firing upon the British boats long after all hopes of escape were at an end, had brought the disaster on themselves, still the English could not help mourning their sad fate.
What followed was a melancholy spectacle. The French officers and men were seized and stripped, and many of them murdered at once, in cold blood, as they made no resistance on being pillaged. An Arab, on horseback, unslung a carbine, and presented it at the General, in full sight of the boats. The General and the aide-de-camp appeared to be on their knees, begging for mercy. The Arab drew the trigger but the piece missed fire, and the man renewed the priming, very deliberately, and again fired at the General. He missed him, but shot the aide-de-camp, in his rear, and then he drew a pistol and shot the General, who instantly fell.
The French courier endeavored to escape, but he was pursued and killed, and the Arab who got possession of his despatches at once rode off with them. It was learned, afterwards, that they were restored to the French for a large sum of money.
On the appearance of a troop of French cavalry, from Alexandria, the Arabs retired to the desert, taking with them their surviving prisoners, while the British boats, with their five rescued prisoners, returned to the squadron.
ACTION BETWEEN THE AMBUSCADE AND BAYONNAISE. A.D. 1798.
Single ship actions are often as decisive as those between fleets; and they are, as a rule, even more characteristic and interesting. Of course, we mean by decisive that they have often affected, for good or evil, the morale of nations, thereby encouraging one and depressing the other, and thus in no small degree affecting the progress of a war.
The frigate actions of our last war with Great Britain were very pre-eminently of this nature, and some of them will, in due time, be given.
The action of the Ambuscade and Bayonnaise has always been a fruitful source of discussion, as well as of lively contradiction, between the French and English naval writers, the latter being as much depressed by allusions to it as the French are elated. Where so much discussion and rejoinder have taken place in regard to the collision of a comparatively insignificant force, we may expect to find many contradictory statements.