How Napoleon Failed in Egypt, and What It Means for You

Ego-driven thinking can lead to total disaster.

The story of Napoleon in Egypt remains noteworthy for several reasons. First, it is a key examine of how, even if its tactical system is superb enough to decisively win battles, an army can still lose a campaign if its grand strategy is fatally flawed. If you want ultimate victory, you must always think with as broad a scope as possible.

Although Napoleon won every battle against Egypt’s ruling Mamelukes, his invasion was built on unsound strategic thinking that left his army vulnerable to having its supply lines cut by the British Navy. Napoleon had immense gifts as a commander, but all the tactical brilliance in the world can’t help you if your supply and logistics are cut off.

Following his victorious 1796 campaign in northern Italy and his expulsion of the British from Toulon, the French Directory named Napoleon commander of the Army of England, whose ostensible purpose would be a cross-channel invasion of Britain. Napoleon, like many commanders before and since (including the Germans in World War II), concluded that such an endeavor was ultimately impossible: “[The plan is] too chancy to risk la Belle France on a roll of the dice,” he declared. This is ironic, because Napoleon was one of those leaders who liked to…