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During France’s occupation of Egypt in the late 18th century, Napoleon Bonaparte’s attempt to avoid a full-scale war with the Ottoman Empire led to one of the most intriguing espionage episodes of the era—an operation that involved clandestine travel, international diplomacy, and ultimately, imprisonment in Istanbul.
In 1798, while the French army was entrenched in Egypt, France’s naval power was dealt a severe blow when the British Navy destroyed the French fleet at Abukir. Isolated from Europe and desperate to secure the newly occupied territories, Napoleon sought a covert diplomatic solution to stave off an Ottoman declaration of war. His answer was to send a trusted representative to Istanbul—Pierre Joseph de Beauchamp, a French clergyman, astronomer, and diplomat who was serving as consul in Muscat at the time.
To reach the Ottoman capital undetected, Beauchamp boarded an Ottoman warship stranded in Alexandria. Napoleon had arranged for General Marmont to convince the ship’s captain, Idris Bey, to take the disguised French diplomat to Istanbul via Cyprus. The deal required the captain to leave his son and several crew members as hostages to guarantee Beauchamp’s safe return. However, the mission was compromised shortly after departure.
British intelligence had learned of the plan and intercepted the Ottoman ship just five miles off the coast of Alexandria. Captain Thomas Trowbridge of the British Navy boarded the vessel and detained Beauchamp, along with the documents he was carrying. The British delivered the captured diplomat to the Ottoman authorities in Istanbul, treating him as a prisoner of war.
As diplomatic tensions mounted, representatives of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and Russia debated Beauchamp’s fate. The British pushed for his execution, but Ottoman officials opted for a strategic middle ground. They decided to imprison Beauchamp in Rumelifeneri Castle, a fortress on the Bosphorus, where he would remain until the end of hostilities.
Beauchamp’s mission had been clear. According to a translated letter from Napoleon, he was tasked with persuading Ottoman officials that France’s occupation of Egypt was not hostile to the empire. He was to stress that the French had no intention of detaining Ottoman citizens or interrupting trade. The broader aim was to prevent a formal war and possibly secure the release of French nationals held in Ottoman territories.
“If the Ottoman Empire does not declare war,” Napoleon wrote in his directive, “then your mission is to request the release of our consul and ensure trade continues freely as before.”
However, the message Beauchamp carried also contained threats. Napoleon warned that failure to release French prisoners or obstruction of diplomatic efforts would be interpreted as an act of war.
Beauchamp’s capture became a flashpoint in Franco-Ottoman-British relations. British naval commanders spread false rumors suggesting Beauchamp was not in prison but aboard a ship under Ottoman command, hinting at secret negotiations. The Ottomans quickly dismissed the claims, inviting the British ambassador to inspect the prison and reaffirming that Beauchamp remained under guard in Rumelifeneri Castle.
Despite the tensions, Beauchamp’s imprisonment did not last indefinitely. In 1801, following the British-led defeat of French forces in Egypt and the signing of evacuation agreements, diplomatic prisoners began to be released. Beauchamp, along with other detainees such as the French charge d’affaires in Istanbul, was freed as part of the post-war reconciliation.
He was later appointed as France’s commercial commissioner in Lisbon. However, Beauchamp never reached his new post—he died suddenly in Nice on November 19, 1801, shortly after learning of his reassignment.
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