It was at al-Rahmaniyah, a small town, that the troops (except for Dugua's division) first saw the Nile. The river was impressive, despite being at its lowest level at that time of the year; still, the sight of it filled the French soldiers with no less joy than was felt by Xenophon's Ten Thousand when they reached the sea. The soldiers were throwing themselves into the river like animals to drink, Colonel Savary noted in his diary (1). At sight of the Nile, says Desvernois, the soldiers broke ranks to throw themselves into it. Some kept their clothes, even their weapons. Others took the time to undress, then ran to the water, dived into it, and stayed in it for several hours. Many found their death by drinking too greedily(2). There were large fields covered with watermelons (about the only thing that grew at that season); the soldiers gorged themselves on them, and they continued to eat the looted water-melons, and practically nothing but water-melons, all the way to the site of the Battle of the Pyramids, which itself was a water-melon field (3). 

On July 11, says Vertray, all five divisions were assembled at al-Rahmaniyah; it was announced that General Bonaparte would review them in the afternoon.  "We spent all morning putting our uniforms and equipment in shape. The soldiers cleaned, brushed, and polished until noon.(4)three o'clock, a drum roll announced the approach of the commander-in-chief. The five divisions stood lined up in formation. Bonaparte with his cavalcade stopped in front of each, called its officers to step forward, and addressed them. On the morrow perhaps, he said, the army would come face to face with the Mamaliyk No doubt, the victors of the Rhine and Sambre-et-Meuse campaigns would triumph gloriously over those barbarians. His words were relayed by the officers to their units. Their effect, says Vertray, was great. It seemed that Bonaparte had at last convinced us of the importance and greatness of his plans. Each company commander announced to his men that a battle was near. This news was received enthusiastically by the entire army, and when the soldiers broke their ranks after being dismissed, they could be seen inspecting their arms with scrupulous care, sharpening their bayonets, testing their flints, and singing as if they were getting ready for a feast (5)

Bonaparte had received intelligence-probably through paid spies that Murad Bey, with three to four thousand horsemen, several thousand foot troops, and a flotilla of gunboats, was approaching the town of Shubra al-Khiyt,, about eight miles south of al-Rahmaniyah. Already on July 20, Desaix's division had had a brush with a Mamaliyk detachment of about 300 horsemen under Muhammad Bey al-Alfiy; the Mamaliyk  attack had been repulsed easily and without losses by the French artillery. Reassured by Desaix's report on the Mamaliyk tactics, Bonaparte decided to meet Murad Bey at Shubrah al-Khiyt. A series of nine orders, issued by General Berthier to the five division commanders, to Captain Perrée and to Generals Dumas and Andréossy was all that was needed to prepare the army for the imminent engagement. All forces, including Perrée's flotilla, were ordered to march by way of Minyat Salamah to Shubrah al-Khiyt, where they were to halt before dawn of July 23. General Andréossy was instructed to go aboard the chebek Le Cerf, Perrée's flagship, and to direct Perrée's supporting action. Since there was a lack of cavalry mounts, all noncombatants were ordered to continue the march aboard the flotilla and its transports; among them were Bourrienne, Monge, and Berthollet, who went aboard Le Cerf. On one of the river boats that had been requisitioned at Rashiyd (Rosetta) as transports, was Madame Fours, wife of Lieutenant Foures of the 22nd Regiment of Chasseurs. As it turned out, it was the flotilla which had to bear the brunt of the fighting.

Except for a brief halt in Minyat Salamah the French army marched most of the night of July 12-13 and came within view of Shubrah al-Khiyt before daybreak. The soldiers had been warned to maintain the strictest discipline during the battle. To defeat the Mamaliyk they were told, there was but one way, and that was to face them with an orderly, immovable front. As soon as the army halted before Shubrah al-Khiyt,Bonaparte ordered each division to form a square, each side six ranks deep; in the centre of the squares he placed what little cavalry there was as well as the baggage trains; the artillery was placed at the corners of the squares. These dispositions taken, there remained a little time for the men to sleep.

At sunrise', recalls Vertray, a warlike music suddenly burst out; the commander-in-chief had ordered the Marseillaise to be played, for he knew its effect on the troops. That admirable song excites the soldiers' courage, kindles their patriotism, and makes them understand that the time for complaining is over and that victory is their task.(6) With the sound of the Marseillaise, there also burst on them the sight of the Mamaliyk cavalry, lined up in battle array. Desvernois in his Memoirs vividly recalls that breathtaking moment: `In the background, the desert under the blue sky; before us, the beautiful Arabian horses, richly harnessed, snorting, neighing, prancing gracefully and lightly under their martial riders, who are covered with dazzling arms, inlaid with gold and precious stones. Their costumes are brilliantly colorful; their turbans are surmounted by aigret feathers, and some wear gilded helmets. They are armed with sabers, lances, maces, spears, rifles, battle axes, and daggers, and each has three pairs of pistols .... This spectacle produced a vivid impression on our soldiers by its novelty and richness. From that moment on, their thoughts were set on booty.(7)

The Mamaliyk army, even with its reinforcements on foot, was numerically far inferior to the French. But every Mamaliyk was an arsenal on horseback. Riding Cossack-style, he first would discharge his carbine, slide it under his thigh, then fire his several pairs of pistols and throw them over his shoulder to be picked up by his footservants later, then throw his lethal djerids-javelins about four feet long, made of stripped and sharpened palm branches-and finally charge the foe with scimitar in hand. Sometimes he carried two scimitars, swinging both while gripping the reins between his teeth. Years of practice enabled him to sever a head with a single reverse blow. Torn from his parents while still a small child, a warrior from the age of twelve, usually without progeny, he knew no fear, no attachment. A Mamluwk was almost never captured: he either was victorious, or he was killed, or he fled with the same lightning speed with which he attacked.  Over a muslin shirt, he wore layers of bright and brilliant silken vests and caftans, the whole encased in gigantic silken trousers, in a single leg of which a large man could have wrapped himself.

As soon as the Mamaliyk approached within range of any of the squares, a barrage of cannon balls, shells, grapeshot, and small-arms fire stopped them short. They tried one square after another, from every side they could approach: they always found the same hedgehog. After about an hour, they withdrew to their original position. Bonaparte ordered his divisions to move to the attack and to relieve the flotilla, which had fared less well than the land troops. Not counting the transports, which kept to the rear and downstream, Perrée's flotilla consisted of three gunboats, a galley, and the chebek Le Cerf. The Mamluwkiy flotilla, consisted of seven gunboats; their fire was efficient and accurate. Within a short space of time, Perrée had to order two of his gunboats and the galley to be abandoned to the Mamaliyk. He himself was slightly wounded. Only Le Cerf and the third gunboat, encumbered with civilians and with the men picked up from the abandoned vessels, continued to resist the combined fire of the seven enemy ships, of a battery installed by the Mamaliyk on shore at Shubra al-Khiyt,, and of a pandemonium of Mamaliyk, fallahiyn, and Bedouins, who fired from both sides of the Nile with whatever they had, including small cannon mounted on camels' backs.