Jean-Baptiste Kléber - Revision history

imported>MaybeItsBecauseImALondoner: /* Egyptian campaign */

2026-01-01T01:39:33Z

Egyptian campaign

← Previous revision		Revision as of 01:39, 1 January 2026
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	\| allegiance = ~~{{flag\|~~Kingdom of France}} <br /> ~~{{flag\|~~Holy Roman Empire}} <br /> ~~{{flag\|Kingdom of the French\|name=Kingdom of France}} <br/> {{flag\|~~French First Republic}}		\| allegiance = [[Kingdom of France]] <br /> [[Holy Roman Empire]] <br /> [[French First Republic]]
	\| branch = [[French Royal Army]] <br> [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor\|Imperial Army]] <br />[[French Revolutionary Army]]		\| branch = [[French Royal Army]] <br /> [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor\|Imperial Army]] <br /> [[French Revolutionary Army]]
	\| serviceyears = 1769–1770 (France) <br /> 1777–1783 (HRE) <br /> 1792–1800 (France)		\| serviceyears = 1769–1770 (France) <br /> 1777–1783 (HRE) <br /> 1792–1800 (France)
	\| rank = [[General of division]]		\| rank = [[General of division]]
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	== Early career ==		== Early career ==

	Jean-Baptiste Kléber was born on 9 March 1753 in [[Strasbourg]], in the province of [[Alsace]], where his father worked as a [[master builder]]. In 1769, he enlisted in the [[French Royal Army]]'s [[1st Parachute Hussar Regiment\|Bercheny's Hussar Regiment]], but resigned in 1770 to study [[architecture]] for four years, part of which occurred in Paris with [[Jean Chalgrin]]. His opportune assistance to two German nobles in a tavern brawl obtained for him nomination to the military school of [[Munich]]. From this education, he obtained a commission in the [[Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg\|''Kaunitz'']] Infantry Regiment Nr. 38 of the [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor]]. He took part in the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] but did not see major engagements. He was stationed alternately in the garrisons of [[Mons, Belgium\|Mons]], [[Mechelen]], and [[Luxembourg City\|Luxembourg]] in the [[Austrian Netherlands]]. Finding that his humble birth hindered his chances for promotion{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}} beyond that of an [[Second lieutenant\|unterleutnant]], he left the Austrian army in 1783 after serving seven years.{{sfn\|Phipps\|2011\|p=141}}		Jean-Baptiste Kléber was born on 9 March 1753 in [[Strasbourg]], in the province of [[Alsace]], where his father worked as a [[master builder]]. In 1769, he enlisted in the [[French Royal Army]]'s [[1st Parachute Hussar Regiment\|Bercheny's Hussar Regiment]], but resigned in 1770 to study [[architecture]] for four years, part of which occurred in Paris with [[Jean-François Chalgrin]]. His opportune assistance to two German nobles in a tavern brawl obtained for him nomination to the military school of [[Munich]]. From this education, he obtained a commission in the [[Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg\|''Kaunitz'']] Infantry Regiment Nr. 38 of the [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor]]. He took part in the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] but did not see major engagements. He was stationed alternately in the garrisons of [[Mons, Belgium\|Mons]], [[Mechelen]], and [[Luxembourg City\|Luxembourg]] in the [[Austrian Netherlands]]. Finding that his humble birth hindered his chances for promotion{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}} beyond that of an [[Second lieutenant\|unterleutnant]], he left the Austrian army in 1783 after serving seven years.{{sfn\|Phipps\|2011\|p=141}}

	=== Architecture ===		=== Architecture ===
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	=== Egyptian campaign ===		=== Egyptian campaign ===
	[[File:Kath._Illustratie_1869-1870_nr_42_p.329_Verwonding_van_Kleber_voor_Alexandrië.jpg\|thumb\|Kléber wounded in front of Alexandria, engraving by Adolphe-François Pannemaker]]		[[File:Kath._Illustratie_1869-1870_nr_42_p.329_Verwonding_van_Kleber_voor_Alexandrië.jpg\|thumb\|Kléber wounded in front of Alexandria, engraving by Adolphe-François Pannemaker]]
			{{Seealso\|Second Cairo Revolt}}
	Kléber followed Bonaparte in his [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria\|expedition to Egypt]] but suffered a wound in the head in the [[Capture of Alexandria\|first engagement at Alexandria]], which prevented him for taking part in the [[Battle of the Pyramids]], and caused his appointment as governor of Alexandria.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}} In the [[Ottoman Syria\|Syria]]n campaign of 1799, however, he commanded the vanguard, took [[Siege of El Arish\|El-Arish]], [[Gaza City\|Gaza]], and [[Siege of Jaffa\|Jaffa]], and won a great victory at the [[Battle of Mount Tabor (1799)\|Battle of Mount Tabor]] on 15–16 April 1799.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}}		Kléber followed Bonaparte in his [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria\|expedition to Egypt]] but suffered a wound in the head in the [[Capture of Alexandria\|first engagement at Alexandria]], which prevented him for taking part in the [[Battle of the Pyramids]], and caused his appointment as governor of Alexandria.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}} In the [[Ottoman Syria\|Syria]]n campaign of 1799, however, he commanded the vanguard, took [[Siege of El Arish\|El-Arish]], [[Gaza City\|Gaza]], and [[Siege of Jaffa\|Jaffa]], and won a great victory at the [[Battle of Mount Tabor (1799)\|Battle of Mount Tabor]] on 15–16 April 1799.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}}

	The campaign was not going well for the French as Napoleon withdrew and returned to France towards the end of 1799. Napoleon left Kléber in command of the French forces, without consulting Kléber before leaving.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book\|title=Napoleon in Egypt: The History and Legacy of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria\|author=Charles River\|publisher=Charles River Editors\|year=2018\|isbn=978-1718863620}}</ref> In this capacity, seeing no hope of bringing his army back to France or of consolidating his conquests, he negotiated the [[Convention of El-Arish]] (24 January 1800) with Commodore [[Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer)\|Sidney Smith]], winning the right to an honorable evacuation of the French army.<ref name=":0" /> When Admiral [[George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount Keith\|Lord Keith]] refused to ratify the terms, Kléber attacked the Turks at the [[Battle of Heliopolis (1800)\|Battle of Heliopolis]].<ref name=":0"/> Although he had only 10,000 men against 60,000 Turks, Kléber's forces utterly defeated the Turks on 20 March 1800.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}} He then re-took [[Cairo]], which had revolted against French rule.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}}		The campaign was not going well for the French as Napoleon withdrew and returned to France towards the end of 1799. Napoleon left Kléber in command of the French forces, without consulting Kléber before leaving.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book\|title=Napoleon in Egypt: The History and Legacy of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria\|author=Charles River\|publisher=Charles River Editors\|year=2018\|isbn=978-1718863620}}</ref> In this capacity, seeing no hope of bringing his army back to France or of consolidating his conquests, he negotiated the [[Convention of El-Arish]] (24 January 1800) with Commodore [[Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer)\|Sidney Smith]], winning the right to an honorable evacuation of the French army.<ref name=":0" /> When Admiral [[George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount Keith\|Lord Keith]] refused to ratify the terms, Kléber attacked the Turks at the [[Battle of Heliopolis (1800)\|Battle of Heliopolis]].<ref name=":0"/> Although he had only 10,000 men against 60,000 Turks, Kléber's forces utterly defeated the Turks on 20 March 1800.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}} He then re-took [[Cairo]], which had revolted against French rule.{{sfn\|Chisholm\|1911}}

	Kléber, son of an operative ~~mason~~ and a prominent ~~freemason~~ himself, was attestedly instrumental in bringing freemasonry to Egypt.<ref name=kwis>{{cite journal\|author=Karim Wissa\|title=Freemasonry in Egypt 1798-1921: A Study in Cultural and Political Encounters\|journal=Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies)\|year=1989 \|volume=16\|issue=2\|page=145\|jstor=195148\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/195148}}</ref> While he was negotiating with Sidney Smith in January 1800, Kléber opened a masonic temple in Cairo and thus created the Isis lodge (''La Loge Isis''), serving as its first [[Masonic Lodge Officers#Worshipful Master\|master]].<ref name=kwis/><ref>Dictionnaire universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc Cara, ed. Larousse, 2011)</ref><ref>La franc-maçonnerie révélée aux profanes (Pierre Ripert – ed. Presses de Chatelet- 2009)</ref> The motto of the lodge was the slogan of the French Revolution: ''[[Liberté, égalité, fraternité]]''.<ref name=kwis/>		Kléber, son of an operative{{?}} freemason and a prominent mason himself, was attestedly instrumental in bringing freemasonry to Egypt.<ref name=kwis>{{cite journal\|author=Karim Wissa\|title=Freemasonry in Egypt 1798-1921: A Study in Cultural and Political Encounters\|journal=Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies)\|year=1989 \|volume=16\|issue=2\|page=145\|jstor=195148\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/195148}}</ref> While he was negotiating with Sidney Smith in January 1800, Kléber opened a masonic temple in Cairo and thus created the Isis lodge (''La Loge Isis''), serving as its first [[Masonic Lodge Officers#Worshipful Master\|master]].<ref name=kwis/><ref>Dictionnaire universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc Cara, ed. Larousse, 2011)</ref><ref>La franc-maçonnerie révélée aux profanes (Pierre Ripert – ed. Presses de Chatelet- 2009)</ref> The motto of the lodge was the slogan of the French Revolution: ''[[Liberté, égalité, fraternité]]''.<ref name=kwis/>

	=== Assassination ===		=== Assassination ===
	[[File:Musée historique de Strasbourg-Assassinat de Kléber.jpg\|thumb\|left\|''Assassination of Kléber'', painting in the [[Musée historique de Strasbourg]]]]		[[File:Musée historique de Strasbourg-Assassinat de Kléber.jpg\|thumb\|left\|''Assassination of Kléber'', painting in the [[Musée historique de Strasbourg]]]]

	Shortly after these victories, while Kléber was walking in the garden of the palace of Alfi bika, he was stabbed to death by [[Suleiman al-Halabi]], a Kurdish<ref>{{Cite book\|last1=Halverson\|first1=Jeffry R.\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypU4DwAAQBAJ&q=Sulayman+al-Halabi&pg=PT48\|title=Islamists of the Maghreb\|last2=Greenberg\|first2=Nathaniel\|date=2017-10-05\|publisher=Routledge\|isbn=978-1-351-60510-6\|language=en}}</ref> or Arab [[Syrian people\|Syrian]] student living in Egypt. The assassin appeared to be begging from Kléber, but then took his hand and stabbed him in the heart, stomach, left arm, and right cheek, before running away to hide near the palace. He was soon caught, still in possession of the dagger which he had used to kill Kléber, and was later executed. The assassination happened in Cairo on 14 June 1800, coincidentally the same day on which Kléber's friend and comrade, [[Louis Charles Antoine Desaix\|Desaix]], fell at [[Battle of Marengo\|Marengo]]. The assassin's right arm was burned off, and he was [[Impalement\|impaled]] in a public square in Cairo and left for several hours to die. Suleiman's skull was shipped to France and used to teach medical students what the French [[phrenologists]] claimed were the cranial features indicating "crime" and "fanaticism"<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm\|title=Halabi, Suleiman al-\|date=31 December 2009\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231235534/http://damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm\|archive-date=31 December 2009}}</ref>		Shortly after these victories, while Kléber was walking in the garden of the palace of Alfi bika, he was stabbed to death by [[Suleiman al-Halabi]], a Kurdish<ref>{{Cite book\|last1=Halverson\|first1=Jeffry R.\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypU4DwAAQBAJ&q=Sulayman+al-Halabi&pg=PT48\|title=Islamists of the Maghreb\|last2=Greenberg\|first2=Nathaniel\|date=2017-10-05\|publisher=Routledge\|isbn=978-1-351-60510-6\|language=en}}</ref> or Arab [[Syrian people\|Syrian]] student living in Egypt. The assassin appeared to be begging from Kléber, but then took his hand and stabbed him in the heart, stomach, left arm, and right cheek, before running away to hide near the palace. He was soon caught, still in possession of the dagger which he had used to kill Kléber, and was later executed. The assassination happened in Cairo on 14 June 1800, coincidentally the same day on which Kléber's friend and comrade, [[Louis Charles Antoine Desaix\|Desaix]], fell at [[Battle of Marengo\|Marengo]]. The assassin's right arm was burned off, and he was [[Impalement\|impaled]] in a public square in Cairo and left for several hours to die. Suleiman's skull was shipped to France and used to teach medical students what the French [[phrenologists]] claimed were the cranial features indicating "crime" and "fanaticism".<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm\|title=Halabi, Suleiman al-\|date=31 December 2009\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231235534/http://damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm\|archive-date=31 December 2009}}</ref>

	=== Burial ===		=== Burial ===

imported>Johnpacklambert at 04:07, 14 June 2025

2025-06-14T04:07:44Z

← Previous revision		Revision as of 04:07, 14 June 2025
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	[[Category:French governors of Egypt]]		[[Category:French governors of Egypt]]
			[[Category:People from the Province of Alsace]]
	[[Category:Alsatian-German people]]		[[Category:Alsatian-German people]]
	[[Category:Assassinated French people]]		[[Category:Assassinated French people]]

imported>Aidan721: removed Category:1800 murders; added Category:People murdered in 1800 using HotCat

2025-04-15T19:40:50Z

removed Category:1800 murders; added Category:People murdered in 1800 using HotCat

New page

{{Short description|French army officer and architect (1753–1800)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Jean-Baptiste Kléber
| image = General Jean Baptiste Kleber (Jean Guérin) - Nationalmuseum - 24145.tif
| caption = Portrait by [[Jean-Urbain Guérin]], 1798 ([[Nationalmuseum]], [[Stockholm]])
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1753|3|9|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1800|6|14|1753|3|9|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Strasbourg]], [[Kingdom of France|France]]
| death_place = [[Cairo]], [[Ottoman Egypt]]
| placeofburial = [[Place Kléber]], Strasbourg
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| allegiance = {{flag|Kingdom of France}} {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}} {{flag|Kingdom of the French|name=Kingdom of France}} {{flag|French First Republic}}
| branch = [[French Royal Army]] [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor|Imperial Army]] [[French Revolutionary Army]]
| serviceyears = 1769–1770 (France) 1777–1783 (HRE) 1792–1800 (France)
| rank = [[General of division]]
| servicenumber =
| unit =
| commands = 4th Haute-Rhin Battalion [[Army of Sambre and Meuse]] [[Order of battle of the Armée d'Orient (1798)|Army of the Orient]]
| battles = {{Tree list}}
{{Collapsible list
| title = ''See list:''
|
* [[War of the Bavarian Succession]]
* [[French Revolutionary Wars]]
** [[War in the Vendée]]
*** [[Battle of Tiffauges]]
*** [[Battle of Montaigu]]
*** [[Battle of La Tremblaye]]
*** [[Second Battle of Cholet]]
*** [[Battle of Dol]]
*** [[Battle of Le Mans (1793)|Battle of Le Mans]]
*** [[Battle of Savenay]]
** [[War of the First Coalition]]
*** [[Siege of Mainz (1793)|Siege of Mainz]]
*** [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|Flanders Campaign]]
**** [[Battle of Gosselies]]
**** [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Battle of Fleurus]]
**** [[Battle of Aldenhoven (1794)|Battle of the Roer]]
**** [[Battle of Mainz]]
*** [[Rhine Campaign of 1796]]
**** [[Battle of Altenkirchen]]
**** [[Battle of Friedberg]]
*** [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria]]
**** [[Siege of El Arish]]
**** [[Siege of Jaffa]]
**** [[Siege of Acre (1799)|Siege of Acre]]
**** [[Battle of Mount Tabor (1799)|Battle of Mount Tabor]]
**** [[Battle of Heliopolis (1800)|Battle of Heliopolis]]
}}
{{Tree list/end}}
| awards = {{nowrap|Inscription on the [[Arc de Triomphe]]}} (Southern Pillar, Column 23)
| relations =
| signature = Signatur Jean-Baptiste Kléber.PNG
}}

'''Jean-Baptiste Kléber''' ({{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ batist klebɛʁ}}; 9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a French army officer and architect who served in the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] and [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. After serving for one year in the [[French Royal Army]], he joined the [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor]] seven years later. However, his humble birth hindered his opportunities. Eventually, Kléber joined the [[French Revolutionary Army]] in 1792 and quickly rose through the ranks.

Serving in the [[Rhineland]] during the [[War of the First Coalition]], he also suppressed the [[Vendée Revolt]]. Kléber retired to private life in the peaceful interim after the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]], but returned to military service to accompany [[Napoleon]] in the [[French invasion of Egypt and Syria|French invasion of Egypt]] in 1798. As the invasion started to suffer setbacks, Napoleon returned to [[Paris]] in 1799 and appointed Kléber as commander of all French forces in [[Eyalet of Egypt|Egypt]]. He was assassinated by [[Suleiman al-Halabi]], a Syrian theology student, in [[Cairo]] in 1800. Kléber, in times of peace, designed a number of buildings.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jensen|first1=Nathan D.|title=General Jean-Baptiste Kléber|url=http://www.frenchempire.net/biographies/kleber/|website=frenchempire.net|access-date=16 February 2016}}</ref>

== Early career ==

Jean-Baptiste Kléber was born on 9 March 1753 in [[Strasbourg]], in the province of [[Alsace]], where his father worked as a [[master builder]]. In 1769, he enlisted in the [[French Royal Army]]'s [[1st Parachute Hussar Regiment|Bercheny's Hussar Regiment]], but resigned in 1770 to study [[architecture]] for four years, part of which occurred in Paris with [[Jean Chalgrin]]. His opportune assistance to two German nobles in a tavern brawl obtained for him nomination to the military school of [[Munich]]. From this education, he obtained a commission in the [[Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg|''Kaunitz'']] Infantry Regiment Nr. 38 of the [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor]]. He took part in the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] but did not see major engagements. He was stationed alternately in the garrisons of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]], [[Mechelen]], and [[Luxembourg City|Luxembourg]] in the [[Austrian Netherlands]]. Finding that his humble birth hindered his chances for promotion{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} beyond that of an [[Second lieutenant|unterleutnant]], he left the Austrian army in 1783 after serving seven years.{{sfn|Phipps|2011|p=141}}

=== Architecture ===
[[File:Thann 01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hôtel de Ville, Thann|Hôtel de Ville of Thann]]]]
On returning to France, Kléber received the appointment of inspector of public buildings at [[Belfort]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Between 1784 and 1792, he designed a number of buildings both on public and private commission. Perhaps the most notable is the [[Hôtel de Ville, Thann|Hôtel de Ville]] at [[Thann, Haut-Rhin]] (1787–1793), which was originally designed as a hospital but turned into an administrative building before its completion.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hôtel de ville de Thann |url=http://patrimoine.alsace/notices/Hotel-de-ville,12371.html |website=patrimoine.alsace |access-date=15 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224034656/http://patrimoine.alsace/notices/Hotel-de-ville%2C12371.html |archive-date=24 February 2016 }}</ref> Other surviving buildings are the ''[[château]]'' of [[Grandvillars]] (often erroneously spelled "Granvillars"), built around 1790<ref>{{cite web|title=Château, puis tréfilerie et usine de petite métallurgie dites le Château|url=http://www.actuacity.com/chateau--puis-trefilerie-et-usine-de-petite-metallurgie-dites-le-chateau_m190908/|website=actuacity.com|access-date=15 February 2016}}</ref> and the [[canoness]] houses of the [[Benedictine abbey]] of [[Masevaux]] (1781–1790). Nine of these houses had been planned but due to the [[French Revolution]], only seven were built.<ref>{{cite web|title=Abbaye de bénédictines Saint-Léger|url=http://www.actuacity.com/abbaye-de-benedictines-saint-leger_m157933/|website=actuacity.com|access-date=16 February 2016}}</ref> The [[Musée historique de Strasbourg]] features a room dedicated to Jean-Baptiste Kléber that also displays a number of his sketches and architectural designs.

== French Revolutionary Wars ==
[[File:Portrait of General J.-B. Kleber.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait by [[Louis-Léopold Boilly]], between 1793–1796]]

In 1792, at the start of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], Kléber enlisted in the 4th Battalion of Volunteers of [[Haut-Rhin]].<ref name=DN>{{cite book|title=Dictionnaire Napoléon|last=Bertaud|first=Jean-Paul|publisher=Éditions Fayardurl|url=https://www.napoleon.org/histoire-des-2-empires/biographies/kleber-jean-baptiste-1753-1800-general/|chapter=KLEBER, Jean-Baptiste (1753-1800), général}}</ref> Thanks to his military experience, he was at once elected adjutant and soon afterward lieutenant-colonel of the battalion.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} At the [[Siege of Mainz (1793)|defense of Mainz]] in July 1793 he so distinguished himself that, though disgraced along with the rest of the garrison and imprisoned, he promptly won reinstatement, and was promoted to [[brigade general]] in August 1793.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Kléber was then posted to the [[Army of the Coasts of La Rochelle]] and deployed to Western France, where he took part in the suppression of the [[Revolt in the Vendée]].<ref name=DN/> Although beaten at the [[Battle of Tiffauges]] on 19 September 1793, he maintained good relations with the [[representatives on mission]] and managed to keep his command.<ref name=DN/> A month later, Kléber contributed to the Republican victory at [[Second Battle of Cholet|Cholet]], earning him his promotion to [[general of division]] on 17 October 1793.<ref name=DN/> In these operations began his intimacy with General [[François Marceau]], with whom he defeated the [[Catholic and Royal Armies|Royalist]]s at the battles of [[Battle of Le Mans (1793)|Le Mans]] and [[Battle of Savenay|Savenay]] in December 1793.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

When Kléber openly expressed his opinion that the Vendéans merited lenient measures, the authorities recalled him, but reinstated him once more in April 1794 and sent him to the [[Army of the Ardennes]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name=DN/> He displayed his skill and bravery in the numerous actions around [[Charleroi]], and especially in the crowning victory at [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Fleurus]] (26 June 1794).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} During the following years he served mostly in the [[Army of Sambre and Meuse]] on the [[Rhine]] frontier.<ref name=DN/> In the winter of 1794–1795 he besieged Mainz.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In 1795, and again in 1796, Kléber held the chief command of the army temporarily, but declined a permanent appointment as commander-in-chief.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

On 13 October 1795 he fought a brilliant rearguard action at the bridge of [[Neuwied]], and in the offensive campaign of 1796, he served as General [[Jean-Baptiste Jourdan]]'s most active and successful lieutenant, with his victory at [[Battle of Siegburg|Siegburg]] on 1 June that year enabling Jourdan to get the bulk of the French force across the Rhine.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} After the retreat to the Rhine, Kléber again declined a chief command, and retired into private life in early 1798.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He returned to service later that year, first in the [[Army of England]], then accepted a division in the [[Order of battle of the Armée d'Orient (1798)|Army of the Orient]] under General Napoleon Bonaparte.<ref name=DN/>

=== Egyptian campaign ===
[[File:Kath._Illustratie_1869-1870_nr_42_p.329_Verwonding_van_Kleber_voor_Alexandrië.jpg|thumb|Kléber wounded in front of Alexandria, engraving by Adolphe-François Pannemaker]]

Kléber followed Bonaparte in his [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|expedition to Egypt]] but suffered a wound in the head in the [[Capture of Alexandria|first engagement at Alexandria]], which prevented him for taking part in the [[Battle of the Pyramids]], and caused his appointment as governor of Alexandria.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In the [[Ottoman Syria|Syria]]n campaign of 1799, however, he commanded the vanguard, took [[Siege of El Arish|El-Arish]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]], and [[Siege of Jaffa|Jaffa]], and won a great victory at the [[Battle of Mount Tabor (1799)|Battle of Mount Tabor]] on 15–16 April 1799.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

The campaign was not going well for the French as Napoleon withdrew and returned to France towards the end of 1799. Napoleon left Kléber in command of the French forces, without consulting Kléber before leaving.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Napoleon in Egypt: The History and Legacy of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria|author=Charles River|publisher=Charles River Editors|year=2018|isbn=978-1718863620}}</ref> In this capacity, seeing no hope of bringing his army back to France or of consolidating his conquests, he negotiated the [[Convention of El-Arish]] (24 January 1800) with Commodore [[Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer)|Sidney Smith]], winning the right to an honorable evacuation of the French army.<ref name=":0" /> When Admiral [[George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount Keith|Lord Keith]] refused to ratify the terms, Kléber attacked the Turks at the [[Battle of Heliopolis (1800)|Battle of Heliopolis]].<ref name=":0"/> Although he had only 10,000 men against 60,000 Turks, Kléber's forces utterly defeated the Turks on 20 March 1800.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He then re-took [[Cairo]], which had revolted against French rule.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Kléber, son of an operative mason and a prominent freemason himself, was attestedly instrumental in bringing freemasonry to Egypt.<ref name=kwis>{{cite journal|author=Karim Wissa|title=Freemasonry in Egypt 1798-1921: A Study in Cultural and Political Encounters|journal=Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies)|year=1989 |volume=16|issue=2|page=145|jstor=195148|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/195148}}</ref> While he was negotiating with Sidney Smith in January 1800, Kléber opened a masonic temple in Cairo and thus created the Isis lodge (''La Loge Isis''), serving as its first [[Masonic Lodge Officers#Worshipful Master|master]].<ref name=kwis/><ref>Dictionnaire universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc Cara, ed. Larousse, 2011)</ref><ref>La franc-maçonnerie révélée aux profanes (Pierre Ripert – ed. Presses de Chatelet- 2009)</ref> The motto of the lodge was the slogan of the French Revolution: ''[[Liberté, égalité, fraternité]]''.<ref name=kwis/>

=== Assassination ===
[[File:Musée historique de Strasbourg-Assassinat de Kléber.jpg|thumb|left|''Assassination of Kléber'', painting in the [[Musée historique de Strasbourg]]]]

Shortly after these victories, while Kléber was walking in the garden of the palace of Alfi bika, he was stabbed to death by [[Suleiman al-Halabi]], a Kurdish<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Halverson|first1=Jeffry R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypU4DwAAQBAJ&q=Sulayman+al-Halabi&pg=PT48|title=Islamists of the Maghreb|last2=Greenberg|first2=Nathaniel|date=2017-10-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-60510-6|language=en}}</ref> or Arab [[Syrian people|Syrian]] student living in Egypt. The assassin appeared to be begging from Kléber, but then took his hand and stabbed him in the heart, stomach, left arm, and right cheek, before running away to hide near the palace. He was soon caught, still in possession of the dagger which he had used to kill Kléber, and was later executed. The assassination happened in Cairo on 14 June 1800, coincidentally the same day on which Kléber's friend and comrade, [[Louis Charles Antoine Desaix|Desaix]], fell at [[Battle of Marengo|Marengo]]. The assassin's right arm was burned off, and he was [[Impalement|impaled]] in a public square in Cairo and left for several hours to die. Suleiman's skull was shipped to France and used to teach medical students what the French [[phrenologists]] claimed were the cranial features indicating "crime" and "fanaticism"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm|title=Halabi, Suleiman al-|date=31 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231235534/http://damascus-online.com/se/bio/halabi_suleiman.htm|archive-date=31 December 2009}}</ref>

=== Burial ===
[[File:Monument du général Kléber front view.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Kléber on the [[Place Kléber]] at Strasbourg]]

After his assassination, Kléber's embalmed body was repatriated to France.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.landrucimetieres.fr/spip/spip.php?article387|title=Tour nécropolitain du métropolitain – 2nde partie : de J à Q – Cimetières de France et d'ailleurs|website=landrucimetieres.fr}}</ref> Fearing that his tomb would become a symbol of Republicanism, [[Napoleon]] ordered it held at the [[Château d'If]], on an island near [[Marseille]]. It stayed there for 18 years until [[Louis XVIII]] granted Kléber a burial place in his home town of [[Strasbourg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parutions.com/pages/1-4-7-994.html|title=Kléber après Kléber (1800-2000) – Jean Paul Baillard|website=parutions.com}}</ref> He was buried on 15 December 1838 below his statue located in the center of [[Place Kléber]]. His heart is in an urn in the ''caveau'' of the Governors beneath the altar of the [[Saint Louis Chapel]] in [[Les Invalides]], [[Paris]]. Kléber's name is inscribed in column 23 on the southern pillar of the [[Arc de Triomphe]].

== Assessment ==
Kléber emerged as undoubtedly one of the greatest generals of the French revolutionary epoch. Though he distrusted his powers and declined the responsibility of supreme command, there is nothing in his career to show that he would have been unequal to it. As a second-in-command no general of his time excelled him. His conduct of affairs in Egypt, at a time when the treasury was empty and the troops were discontented for want of pay, shows that his powers as an administrator were little, if at all, inferior to those he possessed as a general.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} While Kléber himself had a mixed view of Napoleon (including cursing at him and drawing mocking caricatures of him), Bonaparte thought highly of Kléber's skill, stating that there was, "No sight so splendid as watching Kléber go into battle", and he likened him to the God of War Mars.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elting |first1=John R. |title=Swords Around A Throne: Napoleon's Grand Armee |date=1997 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=USA |isbn=0306807572 |page=42}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Lycée Kléber]]
* [[Place Kléber]]
* [[Kléber (Paris Métro)]]
* [[Kléber (train)|''Kléber'' (train)]]
* [[Manfred Stern]], Soviet officer who gained fame in the [[Spanish Civil War]] under the pseudonym "General Kléber"

== Notes ==
{{Commons category|Jean-Baptiste Kléber}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
'''Attribution:'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Kléber, Jean Baptiste|volume=15|page=845}}

== References ==
*{{cite book|last=Phipps |first=Ramsay Weston |author-link=Ramsay Weston Phipps |title=The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I: The Armées du Moselle, du Rhin, de Sambre-et-Meuse, de Rhin-et-Moselle |volume=2 |year=2011 |orig-year=1929 |publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing |isbn=978-1-908692-25-2 }}

== Further reading ==
* Philippe Jéhin, ''Jean-Baptiste Kléber : le lion indomptable : 1753-1800'', Éditions Vent d'Est 2012, {{ISBN|979-10-90826-06-9}}
* Auguste Echard: ''J.-B. Kléber : un fils de l'Alsace'', Charavay Frères Éditeurs, Paris, 1883 (sic) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6539433s online version]

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