Invasion of Trinidad

‘On the 13^th of March 1801, General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, at the head on an army of seventeen thousand men, landed in Egypt, in despite of the most desperate opposition by the enemy.  The excellence of the troops was displayed by the extreme gallantry and calmness with which, landing through a heavy surf, they instantly formed and advanced against the enemy.  On the 21^st of March, a general action took place.  The French cavalry attempted to turn the British flank, and made a desperate charge for that purpose, but failed in their attempt, and were driven back with great loss.  The French were defeated, and compelled to retreat on Alexandria, under the walls of which they hoped to maintain themselves.  But the British suffered an irreparable loss in their lamented commander, Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who was mortally wounded in the course of this action.  In this gallant veteran his country long regretted one of the best generals, and one of the worthiest and most amiable men, to whom she ever gave birth.’

Sir Ralph Abercromby was nearly 60 when he came out of retirement to fight the French.  Walter Scott covers his death in his “Life of Napoleon Buonaparte”.  Along the way on the war trail, in 1797, Abercromby briefly became Governor of Trinidad, which he invaded on behalf of British interests on February 18, 1797.

Battle of Montereau

'...The situation of Bonaparte, even after the victory of Montereau, and capture of Troves, was most discouraging. If he advanced on tne grand nrmy of the allies, which he had in front, there was every likelihood that they would retire before him, wasting his force in skirmishes, without a possibility of his being able to force them to a general action while, in the mean time, it might be reckoned for certain that Blueher, master of the Marne, would march upon Paris. On the contrary, if Napoleon moved with his chief force against Blucher, he had, in like manner, to apprehend that Schwartzenberg would resume the route upon Paris by way of the valley of the Seine. Thus, he could make no exertion upon the one side, without exposing the capital to danger on the other...'

Napoleon won a battle at Montereau on February 18, 1814, but his tactical options were not simple, as Walter Scott relates in his 'Life of Napoleon Bonaparte".  In this battle, Napoleon defeated Austrian Prince Schwartzenberg and King Frederick I of Wurttemberg. 

HRE Frederick II's truce with Sultan al-Kamil

On February 18, 1229, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II signed a ten year truce with Sultan al Kamil.  The truce occurred during the sixth crusade, which had begun in 1228 with the objective of regaining Jerusalem from Egyptian control.

Frederick had sent troops to support the fifth crusade, which ended in failure for the HRE.  In 1225, Frederick married Yolonde of Jerusalem, thus gaining a claim to the throne of that city, and direct motivation to crusade.  Frederick left for the Holy Land in 1227, but turned back before reaching there.  As a result, Pope Gregory IX excommunicated him for breaking his crusader vow.  In 1228, Frederick set off again.  He found little support in the way of troops along the way, due to his excommunicated status.
 
Frederick realized that with his small retinue, his best chances lay in negotiation with al-Kamil.  Taking this tack, he was able to convince al Kamil, who was preoccupied with a Syrian rebellion of his own, to commit to a truce.  This truce enabled Frederick to regain Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Sidon, Jaffa and Nazareth.

One can imagine that Walter Scott would have been interested in Frederick as a supporter of poetry.  He was patron for the Sicilian School, which helped develop the Italian language, prior to Dante and Saint Francis of Assisi.  Scott covers Frederick in his role as King of Sicily, in "Tales of a Grandfather".

"The Emperor Frederick II. had been heir to the pretensions of the imperial house of Suabia to both the Sicilies ; in other words, to those territories now belonging to the kingdom of Naples. But over these kingdoms the Popes had always asserted a right of homage, similar to that which King John surrendered to the church in England. Upon the death of Frederick, these Italian and Sicilian dominions were usurped by his natural son, called Manfroy, to the prejudice of the emperor's nephew and lawful heir, a youth named Conradin."