At last the time of preparation and suspense was at an end.  The aims of the expedition as officially defined by a secret decree on April 12th included the capture of Egypt and the exclusion of the English from “all their possessions in the East to which the general can come”; Bonaparte was also to have the isthmus of Suez cut through; to “assure the free and exclusive possession of the Red Sea to the French Republic”; to improve the condition of the natives of Egypt, and to cultivate good relations with the Grand Signior.  Another secret decree empowered Bonaparte to seize Malta.  To these schemes he added another of truly colossal dimensions.  After conquering the East, he would rouse the Greeks and other Christians of the East, overthrow the Turks, seize Constantinople, and “take Europe in the rear.”

Generous support was accorded to the savants who were desirous of exploring the artistic and literary treasures of Egypt and Mesopotamia.  It has been affirmed by the biographer of Monge that the enthusiasm of this celebrated physicist first awakened Bonaparte’s desire for the eastern expedition; but this seems to have been aroused earlier by Volney, who saw a good deal of Bonaparte in 1791.  In truth, the desire to wrest the secrets of learning from the mysterious East seems always to have spurred on his keenly inquisitive nature.  During the winter months of 1797-8 he attended the chemical lectures of the renowned Berthollet; and it was no perfunctory choice which selected him for the place in the famous institute left vacant by the exile of Carnot.  The manner in which he now signed his orders and proclamations—­Member of the Institute, General in Chief of the Army of the East—­showed his determination to banish from the life of France that affectation of boorish ignorance by which the Terrorists had rendered themselves uniquely odious.

After long delays, caused by contrary winds, the armada set sail from Toulon.  Along with the convoys from Marseilles, Genoa, and Civita Vecchia, it finally reached the grand total of 13 ships of the line, 7 frigates, several gunboats, and nearly 300 transports of various sizes, conveying 35,000 troops.  Admiral Brueys was the admiral, but acting under Bonaparte.  Of the generals whom the commander-in-chief took with him, the highest in command were the divisional generals Kleber, Desaix, Bon, Menou, Reynier, for the infantry:  under them served 14 generals, a few of whom, as Marmont, were to achieve a wider fame.  The cavalry was commanded by the stalwart mulatto, General Alexandre Dumas, under whom served Leclerc, the husband of Pauline Bonaparte, along with two men destined to world-wide renown, Murat and Davoust.  The artillery was commanded by Dommartin, the engineers by Caffarelli:  and the heroic Lannes was quarter-master general.