Battle of Abukir (1801)

The Battle of Abukir of 8 March 1801 was the second pitched battle of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria to be fought at Abu Qir on the Mediterranean coast, near the Nile Delta.

Battle of Abukir
Part of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria of the French Revolutionary Wars
The landing of British troops at Aboukir, 8 March 1801 by Philip James de Loutherbourg
Date 8 March 1801 Location Abu Qir, Egypt, Ottoman Empire Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France
Commanders and leaders
Ralph Abercromby	Louis Friant
Strength
5,000	2,000
Casualties and losses
730 dead or wounded[1]	300 killed or wounded[1]

The landing of the British expeditionary force under Sir Ralph Abercromby was intended to defeat or drive out an estimated 21,000 remaining troops of Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Egypt. The fleet commanded by Baron Keith included seven ships of the line, five frigates and a dozen armed corvettes. With the troop transports, it was delayed in the bay for several days by strong gales and heavy seas before disembarkation could proceed.[1]

Under General Friant, some 2000 French troops and ten field guns in high positions took a heavy toll of a large British force disembarking from a task-force fleet in boats, each carrying 50 men to be landed on the beach. The British then rushed and overwhelmed the defenders with fixed bayonets and secured the position, enabling an orderly landing of the remainder of their 17,500-strong army and its equipment. The skirmish was a prelude to the Battle of Alexandria and resulted in British losses of 730 killed and wounded or missing. The French withdrew, losing at least 300 dead or wounded and eight pieces of cannon.[1]

See also

• Battle of the Nile or Battle of Abukir Bay (1798)
• Battle of Abukir (1799)

Notes

1. Cust, Sir E. Annals of the Wars of the 19th Century Vol. I—1800-1806, pp.68-69. John Murray, London 1862