A Quick Biography Of Jean Baptiste Kleber
DescriptionA biography quickly overviewing French general Jean Baptiste Kleber and his relationship to Napoleon Bonaparte.
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ImageJean-Urbain Guérin
Jean Baptiste Kleber was a French general that served under the Napoleonic Army. Kleber was born March 9, 1753, in Strasbourg, France. He was in the French Royal army for a year before the French Revolution, and volunteered for the Revolutionary Army in 1792, where he served for 6 years before retirement. But even all of that couldn’t keep him from war, as soon, the reign of Napoleon began. Wanting to fight again, Jean Baptiste joined Napoleon on his invasion of Egypt, coming out of retirement in the hopes of power and glory, though he soon learned that he was heavily mistaken.Napoleon and his army marched into Egypt with dreams of conquest. Bonaparte thought highly of Kleber, and Kleber was excited to be joining such a prestigious commander. But his optimism soon dissipated, as this invasion wasn't going to happen smoothly. Jean was badly injured in the head, so was put as head of Alexandria for a while, and as soon as he got back into the battle, things got worse. He commanded an army into Syria, then came back to Gaza in February 1799, and then marched to Jaffa and Acre. And during all of this, Napoleon decided to select a few favorable soldiers and leave for France, abandoning thousands of troops. The incredible Napoleon Bonaparte, the caring commander he was, stranded Kleber, along with many others, in the scorching unbearable environment of Egypt, with no way to escape.Kleber, now stranded in Egypt, had no command, no help, and no idea what to do. He would curse Napoleon, draw cartoons depicting him in a negative light, and mocked him constantly, filled with furry. Despite this, though, Kleber did continue the French Army's conquest of Egypt, as he destroyed the Turks, retook Cario, and attempted to reorganize the entire Egyptian government. He spent his time attempting to structure a new order, and tried to make peace with Britain to allow them to return to France. But things didn’t go as planned for poor old Kleber, as one unfaithful day, his life was taken. Suleiman al-Halabi, an Arab assassin, stabbed Jean Baptiste 6 times in multiple places, ending his journey there and then.Jean died on June 14, 1800, at the age of 47. His life ended never knowing about what happened to Napoleon, never knowing what his reign would result in. And Kleber was only one of many thousands who were abandoned by Napoleon in Egypt, and shows one of the worst aspects about Bonaparte, his love of power and control. When he returned to France, he was seen as a hero, while Kleber was selfishly left there to die, to suffer, and is now only a remnant of a bygone era in human history.
