The British campaign in Egypt in 1801 was a crucial episode in the Wars of the French Revolution (1792-1802). This conflict pitted post-revolutionary France against Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, and other European monarchies. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a scientific and administrative presence in Egypt. The campaign is increasingly forgotten as the British Army achieved more impressive successes in the later years of the Napoleonic Wars.
British Victory in Egypt, 1801 recounts and analyzes the story of the expeditionary force that ejected Bonaparte's crack troops from Egypt. This book also reveals how vital Sir Ralph Abercromby, an elderly Scot and leader of the army, was to the final success of the venture.
An aquatint print depicting the scene as British boats neared the shore of Aboukir Bay on the 1st March 1801, during the Egyptian campaign.
Strategic Importance of Egypt
Britain's interest in the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East emerged primarily from its strategic relation to possessions in Asia, most significantly India. Egypt was of particular importance as it provided the shortest route to the riches of the east. Described as 'the master-key to all the trading nations of the earth', it became a theatre of battle during the Wars of the French Revolution (1792-1802).
During the 16th century, the Ottomans had absorbed Egypt into their empire, retaining the local Mamluks as the ruling class.
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French Invasion and Initial Successes
In May 1798, the French despatched a force to secure Egypt, strengthen France's Middle Eastern trade, and open a possible route of attack towards British India. It was led by General Napoleon Bonaparte. Departing from Toulon in May 1798, Napoleon’s fleet, comprising around 36,000 troops, landed in Alexandria on 28 June. After capturing Malta en route (12 June), around 40,000 French soldiers landed in Egypt on 1 July. The next day, they took Alexandria before marching on Cairo.
On 21 July, a large Mamluk army attacked Napoleon’s troops at the Battle of the Pyramids. The French deployed in large squares to resist repeated massed cavalry charges and scored a decisive victory.
British Response and Naval Supremacy
The British were troubled by the prospect of Egypt becoming a French colony and a potential staging post for an attack on their possessions in India. They decided to send out a fleet under Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson. After failing to intercept Napoleon’s expedition at sea, Nelson subsequently destroyed the French fleet at anchor during the Battle of the Nile (1-3 August). This left Napoleon’s army isolated in Egypt.
The Battle of the Nile, August 1, 1798, by Thomas Luny
Napoleon's Syrian Campaign and Return to France
After learning that new Ottoman armies were gathering in Syria, Napoleon decided to take the offensive instead of waiting for them to arrive in Egypt. He marched into Syria, winning several victories in February and March 1799, before returning to Egypt due to an outbreak of plague in his army.
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Napoleon in Egypt: Battle of the Pyramids 1798
With the French position seemingly secured, Napoleon returned to France, slipping past the British navy in a frigate. Recognising the strategic situation and political opportunities in France, Napoleon left Egypt in August 1799, returning to France, where he seized political power.
British Landing at Aboukir Bay
The British now sent troops to Egypt under the command of General Sir Ralph Abercromby. On 22nd February 1801, the British fleet with Abercromby’s army set sail for Egypt. On 15th December 1800, Abercromby’s army numbered 16,000 fit men and 1,270 sick men. The purpose of Abercromby’s stay in Marmorice Bay was to receive food and other stores and horses for his cavalry, to be supplied by the Ottoman authorities on the Island of Rhodes. Abercromby found that one of the engineer officers had been killed and the other made prisoner.
Unfortunately, bad weather delayed the landing of his expeditionary force at Aboukir Bay on 8 March 1801, giving the French ample time to organise a response. Around 2,000 troops from the French garrison of Alexandria, equipped with 10 field guns, positioned themselves along a line of sand dunes overlooking the bay. They inflicted heavy losses on the vanguard of the British force as it disembarked from small boats, each of which carried 50 men ashore. Despite these setbacks, the British rallied. British Foot Guards landing in Aboukir Bay on 8th March 1801: picture by J.J.
Abercromby issued full instructions to the fleet and army for the landing, which was to be made in three lines of boats provided by the fleet. The formation for the boats was laid down in detail. The troops were to sit in the boats with muskets unloaded without movement or noise.
The Battle of Alexandria
At dawn on 21 March, the French attempted a surprise attack, under the command of General Jacques-François Menou. The British had expected an assault, but misjudged its timing and direction. The Battle of Alexandria (also known as the Battle of Canope/Canopus) was fought on 21 March 1801, where the British army and naval forces repelled an assault by the French army as part of the French invasion of Egypt and Syria.
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Led by General Sir Ralph Abercromby, the British engaged a French force under Divisional-general Jacques-François Menou near the ruins of Nicopolis, on the narrow spit of land between the Mediterranean Sea and Abukir. The British routed Menou's army after several hours of fierce fighting, though Abercromby was mortally wounded.
The British position on the night of 20 March extended across the isthmus, the right wing resting upon the ruins of Nicopolis and the sea, the left on the lake of Abukir and the Alexandria canal. The line faced generally south-west towards the city, the reserve division under Major-General Sir John Moore on the right, the Foot Guards brigade under George Ludlow in the centre, and three other brigades on the left under Eyre Coote, John Cradock and Earl Cavan. Abercromby anticipated a night attack, so on 21 March, the British slept in position under arms.
Moving forward rapidly with great gallantry from the left, Lanusse launched the attack with Valentin's brigade in column along the seashore, and to their right Silly's brigade against the British entrenchments around the Roman ruins. The brunt of the attack fell upon Moore's command, and in particular upon the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot.
The front and rear ranks of the 28th Foot were simultaneously engaged on both their front and rear, the soldiers receiving the order "Front rank stay as you are, rear rank about turn". In commemoration, the regiment later adopted a second cap badge, the 'Back Number,' worn at the back of their head-dress.
During the attack of Roize's second line, Sir Ralph Abercromby was briefly captured by French dragoons, but was quickly rescued by a highlander of the 42nd. About this time, he received a bullet wound to the thigh which would eventually prove fatal, though he remained on the field and in command to the end.
Fatal wounding of General Abercromby at the Battle of Alexandria on 21st March 1801: picture by J.J.
About half-past eight, the combat began to wane, and the last shots were fired at ten. Most of the attacks had been pressed home on the British right. The 42nd, twice charged by cavalry, had but 13 men wounded by the sabre. The armies engaged on this day both numbered approximately 14,000 men.
Casualties and Aftermath
Losses for the British were 10 officers and 233 other ranks killed, 60 officers and 1,193 other ranks wounded, and 3 officers and 29 other ranks missing. Amongst the senior officers, the dead included Abercromby (who succumbed to his wound on 28 March), Lt Col David Ogilvy of the 44th Foot and Lt Col Dutens of the Minorca regt. Moore, Oakes, and the Adjutant General John Hope were wounded.
The French suffered 1,000 dead, 600 wounded and 200 prisoners, though Fortescue considers up to 4,000 overall. Amongst the French casualties were three generals killed (Lanusse, Roize and brigade commander Baudot in Reynier's Division) and several other senior officers wounded.
John Hely-Hutchinson replaced Abercromby in command of British forces, which then advanced upon Alexandria to lay siege to it.
The Siege of Alexandria and French Surrender
With Abercromby's death, John Hely-Hutchinson succeeded as commander of the British force in August. Hutchinson left Coote with 6,000 men and then sent part of the reserve with Baron Charles de Hompesch to capture Rosetta. He then advanced to Cairo, which he reached, after a few skirmishes, in mid June. Joined by a sizable Ottoman force, Hutchinson invested Cairo and on 27 June the 13,000-strong French garrison under General Augustin Daniel Belliard, out-manned and out-gunned, surrendered.
Hutchinson, with Cairo out of the way, now began the final reduction of Alexandria. He had thirty five battalions in total. While the reserve feinted to the east, Coote, with the Guards and two other brigades, landed on 16 August to its west where fierce opposition was encountered by the garrison of Fort Marabout, which the 54th Regiment of Foot eventually stormed.
Both sides mounted combined assaults but the French soldiers, unable to break out and with food shortages and disease taking their toll, became increasingly disillusioned with the campaign. Menou knew he had no hope and on 26 August asked for terms; on 26 August he proposed formal terms of capitulation.
By 2 September, a of 10,000 French troops surrendered under terms which allowed them to keep their personal weapons and baggage, and to return to France on British ships.
Consequences of the Campaign
Most of Memou’s army was eventually repatriated back to France by the Royal Navy. The French also had to hand over to Britain all the Egyptian antiquities they had collected during their campaigning, including the Rosetta Stone.
The French agreement to evacuate Egypt became part of the Peace of Amiens (25 March 1802), which brought the Wars of the French Revolution to an end. Soon after, the Treaty of Paris (25 June) formally concluded hostilities between the French and Ottomans, returning Egypt to the latter.
The Egyptian campaign put paid to France’s aspirations of a Middle Eastern empire.
Medals
The Military General Service Medal 1848 was issued to all those serving in the British Army present at specified battles during the period 1793 to 1840, who were still alive in 1847 and applied for the medal. Equally, the Naval General Service Medal 1848 was issued to those serving in the Royal Navy during the period 1793 to 1840, who were still alive in 1847 and applied for the medal.
Key Figures
- General Sir Ralph Abercromby: The commander of the British forces, who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Alexandria.
- General Jacques-François Menou: The French commander who succeeded Kléber and ultimately surrendered Alexandria.
- Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson: The British admiral whose victory at the Battle of the Nile isolated the French army in Egypt.
Lessons Learned
The Egyptian campaign of 1801 is increasingly forgotten as the British Army achieved more impressive successes in the later years of the Napoleonic Wars. First, it marked a turning point for the British Army which has previously been seen as an incapable and incompetent force. Secondly, and more importantly, the campaign was a watershed moment. It was commanded by veterans of Britain’s eighteenth century campaigns in America and Europe.
Abercromby was a veteran of European campaigns during the Seven Years War and later in the Caribbean, Moore had cut his teeth in the American Revolutionary War, and had likewise served with Abercromby in the Caribbean. It seems highly unlikely that in an two-year period spent floating around the Mediterranean, that Abercromby, Moore, and other veterans of America and Europe did not pass on their experiences and knowledge to their subordinates.
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