| Battle of Mount Tabor | |||||||
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| Part of the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
Mount Tabor |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ottoman Empire | French Republic | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ahmed al-Jazzar Pasha. | General Kleber General Bonaparte |
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| Strength | |||||||
| ca 25,000[1] | 4,000 (at the end, after Bonaparte's 2,500 men arrival)[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 6,000 killed, 500 captured[1] |
2 killed, 60 wounded[1] |
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The Battle of Mount Tabor, or Skirmish of Mount Tabor, opposed French forces under General Kleber to an Ottoman force led by the Pasha of Damascus on 16 April 1799. General Bonaparte was besieging Acre, and Damascus sent its army to relieve the siege. Operating to the south of Acre, Kleber decided to intercept the Ottoman army and ran into the 25,000 men strong army to find himself outnumbered.[1]
The French forces fought divided in two squares and resisted for eight hours against the Ottomans before running out of ammunition. Napoleon arrived with 2,500 men and two cannon reinforcements as the Ottomans seemed to be on the verge of winning. Napoleon's artillery opened fire on the Ottomans flank and, taken by surprise, the Ottoman forces suddenly routed.