CAIRO — The protesters' numbers were small, compared with the millions who have marched through Egypt's streets in recent months. And at one point, a soccer game on television seemed more urgent than the chants.
Even so, a demonstration on Tuesday in Cairo's Tahrir Square seemed to represent a breakthrough for young leftists and other revolutionary activists who have struggled to find their voice since the military ousted President Mohamed Morsi in July, splitting the country into polarized, feuding camps.
Galvanized by anger and marching under the banners of slain comrades on Tuesday, the activists tried to offer an alternative in Egypt's sclerotic political scene. As they have in the past, the activists condemned Mr. Morsi's Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood. But now, just as vigorously, they denounced the military and its leader, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, brazenly defying Egypt's ultranationalist mood.
The protests seemed to temporarily restore Tahrir Square as a sanctuary for dissent after the many pro-military rallies in the square that followed Mr. Morsi's fall, a change that seemed to stun some of the military's fans.
With arguments, and then rocks, activists clashed with some of General Sisi's supporters on the edge of the square. Other protesters defaced a memorial that had been erected by the military-led government the day before, seeing it as an insidious attempt to appropriate the memory of their struggle.
Hundreds of demonstrators chanted: "Down with military rule."
By late Tuesday, security forces had regained control of the square and state news media reported that one person had died and another 17 were injured.
The protest, by a few thousand people, was a break from Egypt's exhausting routine, dominated by the quarrel between its most powerful political actors. Since July, the security services have worked to dismantle the Brotherhood, detaining thousands of its members and killing hundreds of Mr. Morsi's supporters in a brutal crackdown. The Islamists have continued their protests, vowing to settle for nothing less than the reversal of the military takeover.
As the military and the Islamists have cast themselves as protectors of Egypt's revolution, activists who participated in the uprising against the former president, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011 have struggled to find their place.
The military-backed government gave them an opportunity on Monday, when officials dedicated the foundation of a monument to slain protesters. Activists were appalled by the government's attempt at solidarity with people killed by the state's own security services. They were also angered by the timing: the dedication coincided with the anniversary of antigovernment clashes in 2011 and 2012 that left at least 48 protesters dead.
After the ministers left, protesters set about destroying the monument. By Tuesday evening, it had been chipped and chiseled, scarred with slogans and turned into a platform for a coffin constructed by the protesters. One person mocked the cost. "A million pounds, and the people need one pound," they wrote.
Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.
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