[2] Desaix received his military education at the school founded by Marshal d'Effiat, and entered the French royal army.

Following the retreat which ensued when the archduke Charles won the battles of Amberg and Würzburg, Desaix commanded Moreau's rearguard, and later the fortress of Kehl, with the highest distinction, and his name became a household word, like those of Bonaparte, Jourdan, Hoche, Marceau and Kléber.

Provisionally appointed commander of the Army of England, Desaix was soon transferred by Bonaparte to the expeditionary force intended to invade Egypt.

It was his division which bore the brunt of the Mamluk attack at the Battle of the Pyramids, and he crowned his reputation by his victories over Murad Bey in Upper Egypt.

[3] When command passed to Kléber, Desaix was one of a small party of French officers selected to accompany Bonaparte back to France.

However, after the ship arrived in Livorno, British Admiral Lord Keith, in defiance of the Convention of El Arish, declared Desaix to be a prisoner of war and detained him, refusing to recognise his status as a general officer.

I dealt with the Mamelukes, the Turks, the Arabs of the great Desert, the Ethiopians, the blacks of Darfur; all respected their word when they gave it, and they did not insult men in misfortune."

[3] On the same day, Jean-Baptiste Kleber, Desaix's good friend and comrade, and the governor-general of Egypt, was assassinated in Cairo.