Battle of the Nile

Battle of the Nile
Part of the French invasion of Egypt and Syria and Mediterranean campaign of 1798
The Destruction of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile George Arnald, 1827
Date 1–3 August 1798 Location Aboukir Bay, Ottoman Egypt 31°20′N 30°07′E / 31.333°N 30.117°E / 31.333; 30.117 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Horatio Nelson (WIA)	Brueys d'Aigalliers †
Strength
14 ships of the line 1 sloop (OOB)	13 ships of the line 4 frigates (OOB)
Casualties and losses
218 killed 677 wounded	2,000–5,000 killed and wounded 3,000–3,900 captured[Note A] 9 ships of the line captured 1 ship of the line destroyed 1 ship of the line scuttled 1 frigate sunk 1 frigate scuttled
class=notpageimage| Location within Lower Egypt Show map of Lower Egypt Battle of the Nile (Mediterranean) Show map of Mediterranean

Egypt and Syria

480km
298miles

6

5

4

Jaffa

3

Cairo

2

Alexandria

1

Malta

   

  current battle

  Napoleon in command till 23 August 1799

The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; French: Bataille d'Aboukir) was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Aboukir Bay in Egypt between 1–3 August 1798. It was the climax of the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, which had started three months earlier after a large French fleet sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under Napoleon. A British fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, decisively defeated a French fleet under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, which had escorted Napoleon's army to Egypt.

Napoleon sought to invade Egypt as the first step in a campaign against British India, as part of a greater effort to drive Britain out of the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon's expeditionary force crossed the Mediterranean, it was pursued by a British fleet under Nelson who had been sent from a larger fleet in the Tagus to learn the purpose of the French expedition and to defeat it. He chased the French for more than two months, on several occasions missing them only by a matter of hours. Napoleon was aware of Nelson's pursuit and enforced absolute secrecy about his destination. He was able to capture Malta and then land in Egypt without being intercepted by the British navy.

With the French army ashore, Brueys' fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Alexandria. Brueys believed that he had established a formidable defensive position. The British fleet arrived off Egypt on 1 August and discovered Brueys' dispositions, and Nelson ordered an immediate attack. His ships advanced on the French line and split into two divisions as they approached. One cut across the head of the line and passed between the anchored French and the shore, while the other engaged the seaward side of the French fleet. Trapped in a crossfire, the leading French warships were battered into surrender during a fierce three-hour battle, although the centre of the line held out for a while until more British ships were able to join the attack. At 22:00, the French flagship Orient exploded which prompted the rear division of the French fleet to attempt to break out of the bay. With Brueys dead and his vanguard and centre defeated, only two French ships of the line and two frigates escaped from a total of 17 ships engaged.

The battle reversed the strategic situation between the two nations' forces in the Mediterranean and entrenched the Royal Navy in the dominant position that it retained for the rest of the Napoleonic Wars. It also encouraged other European countries to turn against France, and was a factor in the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition. Napoleon's army was trapped in Egypt, and Royal Navy dominance off the Syrian coast contributed significantly to the French defeat at the siege of Acre in 1799 which preceded Napoleon's abandonment of Egypt and return to Europe. Nelson was wounded in the battle, and he was proclaimed a hero across Europe and was subsequently made Baron Nelson—although he was privately dissatisfied with his rewards. His captains were also highly praised and went on to form the nucleus of the legendary Nelson's band of brothers. The legend of the battle has remained prominent in the popular consciousness, with perhaps the best-known representation being Felicia Hemans' 1826 poem Casabianca.