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1-2 August 1798Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Nelson Destroys the French Fleet at the Battle of the Nile

A British admiral traps Napoleon's ships in Aboukir Bay and strands his army in Egypt

On the timeline · around 1-2 August 1798 · Ottoman and Khedival EgyptOttoman and Khedival EgyptModern EgyptNelson Destroys the French Fleet at the Battle of the Nile17001725175017751800182518501875

Quick facts

Date
1-2 August 1798
Location
Aboukir Bay, near Alexandria
British commander
Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson
Result
French fleet destroyed; Napoleon's army cut off from France

What happened

Weeks after Napoleon's army landed in Egypt and took Cairo, the British admiral Horatio Nelson caught up with the French fleet that had ferried it there. On 1 August 1798 Nelson found the French warships anchored in a defensive line in Aboukir Bay, near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile about fifteen miles east of Alexandria. Rather than wait for morning, he attacked at once in the failing daylight, splitting his squadron so that some ships passed between the French line and the shore while others attacked from the seaward side, catching the fleet under Admiral Brueys unprepared and surrounded. The battle destroyed almost the entire French fleet, including the flagship L'Orient, which blew up during the night.

Why it matters

By destroying the fleet, Nelson cut Napoleon and his army off from France, turning the French occupation of Egypt from an expanding conquest into a stranded garrison that would eventually be forced to surrender in 1801. The victory was one of the most decisive naval battles of the era, and the collapse of the French position it began reopened the power vacuum in Egypt that Muhammad Ali would fill within a few years.

How we know

The Battle of the Nile is documented in the World History Encyclopedia's account of the engagement, which describes Nelson's tactics and the destruction of the French fleet, and independently by Royal Museums Greenwich, the UK's national maritime museum, which holds contemporary paintings and records of the battle.

Sources

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Nelson Destroys the French Fleet at the Battle of the Nile · History of Egypt · SourcedStory