Leon Cogniet (French, 1794-1880)

The present work depicts the Battle of Heliopolis, a French victory by the Armée d'Orient under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Kléber over the Turkish army of the Grand Vizier Youssef Pasha at Heliopolis, near Cairo, on 20 March 1800.
In January 1800, Kléber had negotiated with the British and the Ottomans to evacuate the French forces to Europe. However, when the British failed to recognise the agreement, he restarted hostilities at Heliopolis.
Among all the battles of the Napoleonic Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801, Heliopolis was one of the greatest victories of the French army, as it allowed the French troops to recapture Cairo on April 21, 1800.
A larger version of this work is in the Versailles collection.