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21 July 1798Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Egyptian Campaign Strands Napoleon's Army

Victory at the Pyramids, then the French fleet is destroyed and Bonaparte is cut off from France

On the timeline · around 21 July 1798 · Rise to PowerRise to PowerThe Egyptian Campaign Strands Napoleon's Army1797179817991800

Quick facts

Location
Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt
Date
1 July 1798 - August 1799
Key figures
Napoleon Bonaparte, Horatio Nelson
Result
French fleet destroyed at the Battle of the Nile; Bonaparte's army stranded

What happened

On 1 July 1798 an armada carrying Napoleon and roughly 37,000 men of the Armee d'Orient arrived off Alexandria, having already seized Malta on the way and slipped past a British squadron hunting for them in the Mediterranean. On 21 July, on a battlefield about 9 miles from the Great Pyramid of Giza, Napoleon's army defeated a larger Mamluk force at the Battle of the Pyramids, sometimes called the Battle of Embabeh, and occupied Cairo three days later. The victory was short-lived: the Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile within days, trapping Bonaparte's army in Egypt. A scientific corps that accompanied the expedition produced the Description de l'Egypte, and a French officer at Rosetta uncovered the Rosetta Stone on 19 July 1799, which later let scholars decipher hieroglyphs.

Why it matters

Cut off from resupply and reinforcement, Bonaparte quietly abandoned his own army in Egypt in August 1799 and sailed for France, arriving to a political crisis he was perfectly placed to exploit. The campaign that trapped him also handed Europe the Rosetta Stone, one of the few durable outcomes of an otherwise failed invasion.

How we know

World History Encyclopedia's dedicated article on the Battle of the Pyramids gives the date, location, and outcome, and the Fondation Napoleon's own campaign chronology dates the Rosetta Stone's discovery and Bonaparte's departure from Egypt to specific days in 1799.

Sources

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