near Nazareth, where Junot displayed the dash and
resource which had brought him fame in Italy; but the decisive battle
was fought in the Plain of Esdraelon, not far from the base of Mount
Tabor. There Kleber's division of 2,000 men was for some hours hard
pressed by a motley array of horse and foot drawn from diverse parts
of the Sultan's dominions. The heroism of the burly Alsacian and the
toughness of his men barely kept off the fierce rushes of the Moslem
horse and foot. At last Bonaparte's cannon were heard. The chief,
marching swiftly on with his troops drawn up in three squares,
speedily brushed aside the enveloping clouds of orientals; finally, by
well-combined efforts the French hurled back the enemy on passes, some
of which had been seized by the commander's prescience. At the close
of this memorable day (April 15th) an army of nearly 30,000 men was
completely routed and dispersed by the valour and skilful dispositions
of two divisions which together amounted to less than a seventh of
that number. No battle of modern times more closely resembles the
exploits of Alexander than this masterly concentration of force; and
possibly some memory of this may have prompted the words of
Kleber--"General, how great you are!"--as he met and embraced his
commander on the field of battle. Bonaparte and his staff spent the
night at the Convent of Nazareth; and when his officers burst out
laughing at the story told by the Prior of the breaking of a pillar by
the angel Gabriel at the time of the Annunciation, their untimely
levity was promptly checked by the frown of the commander.

The triumph seemed to decide the Christians of the Lebanon to ally
themselves with Bonaparte, and they secretly covenanted to furnish
12,000 troops at his cost; but this question ultimately depended on
the siege of Acre. On rejoining their comrades before Acre, the
victors found that the siege had made little progress: for a time the
besiegers relied on mining operations, but with little success; though
Phelippeaux succumbed to a sunstroke (May 1st), his place was filled
by Colonel Douglas, who foiled the efforts of the French engineers
and enabled the place to hold out till the advent of the long-expected
Turkish succours. On May 7th their sails were visible far out on an
almost windless sea. At once Bonaparte made desperate efforts to carry
the "mud-hole" by storm. Led with reckless gallantry by the heroic
Lannes, his troops gained part of the wa