Egyptian soldiers abroad routinely attacked civilians in conquered lands

Evidence

Problems arising from the uncontrolled encounter with the civilian population were paramount when the army was on the march or when residing in conquered territories. For example, some of the problems the authorities had with the early army that was sent to Arabia arose out of the soldiers’ mingling with the local population and the ensuing complaints that they were attacking the pilgrims and stealing their animals. After the creation of the new army this disruptive mingling with the local population continued to be a problem especially when the army was outside Egypt, notably in Crete, Cyprus and Syria, and the records abound with complaints by civilians against the unruly, impetuous behavior of the soldiers. In Cyprus, for example, various reports were sent to Mehmed Ali in Egypt informing him of the unruly conduct of his troops. In one case Ismail Bey, the commander of the Egyptian forces there, wrote that a number of soldiers had stolen 20 kises (purses) and then, out of fear of getting arrested, had taken refuge in the French consulate. Another group of soldiers attacked the residence of the French consul (who was visiting Sidon at the time) and cut down the trees in his garden. In Syria, the situation was not much different. During and after the siege of Acre the authorities had enormous difficulty in controlling the soldiers who often went to the nearby markets and attacked the merchants, robbed the villagers, got drunk and caused havoc, borrowed money from the merchants and did not pay it back, and even attempted to sell military supplies to the locals. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 659

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s other research on Mehmed Ali’s campaigns and the documented behavior of troops in garrison territories, corroborating the military discipline problems raised in earlier chapters.