Siege of Alexandria (1801)
Siege of Alexandria | |
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Part of the Egypt, Ottoman Empire 31°12′16″N 29°52′48″E / 31.2045796°N 29.8800659°E | |
Result |
British victory
|
Sidney Smith
2,000 to disease
9 warships captured
The siege of Alexandria (17 August – 2 September 1801) was fought during the French Revolutionary Wars between French and British forces. It was the last action of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801). The French had occupied Alexandria, a major fortified harbour city on the Nile Delta in northern Egypt, since 2 July 1798, and the garrison there surrendered on 2 September 1801.
Background
The battle between the British and French at Canope on 21 March 1801 resulted in a French repulse. The French under Menou, disheartened by this failure, retired to Alexandria. With Abercromby's death, John Hely-Hutchinson succeeded as commander of the British force in August. He now intended to lay siege to Alexandria and bottle Menou up.
Hutchinson left
Siege
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. The terms as amended by British commanders and put into effect are known as the Capitulation of Alexandria.
Aftermath
By 2 September total of 10,000 French surrendered under terms which allowed them to keep their personal weapons and baggage, and to return to France on British ships. However, all French ships and cannons at Alexandria were surrendered to the British.
Of the warships captured in the harbour, the French frigates
Historians relate that the French garrison, feeling abandoned by an uncaring Republic, gradually abandoned the high standards of conduct and service characteristic of the
The Rosetta Stone
After the surrender, a dispute arose over the fate of French archaeological and scientific discoveries in Egypt. One of the key artifacts was the
Order of battle
Siege of Alexandria Order of Battle | ||||
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Force | Brigade | Unit | Size | Ref. |
Western Force Major-General Eyre Coote
|
Brigade of Guards Major-General Lord Cavan |
Coldstream Guards | 552 | [7] |
Third Guards | 590 | |||
1st Brigade Major-General George Ludlow |
25th Regiment of Foot
|
526 | ||
1st Battalion, 27th Regiment of Foot
|
538 | |||
2nd Battalion, 27th Regiment of Foot
|
465 | |||
44th Regiment of Foot
|
334 | |||
2nd Brigade Major-General Edward Finch |
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot
|
352 | ||
26th Regiment of Foot
|
438 | |||
1st Battalion, 54th Regiment of Foot
|
381 | |||
2nd Battalion, 54th Regiment of Foot
|
384 | |||
Eastern Force Lieutenant-General John Hely-Hutchinson |
3rd (Foreign) Brigade Brigadier-General John Stuart |
Stuart's (Minorca) Regiment | 690 | |
De Roll's Regiment | 383 | |||
Dillon's Regiment | 393 | |||
Watteville's Regiment | 572 | |||
4th Brigade Brigadier-General John Hope |
8th Regiment of Foot
|
285 | ||
18th Regiment of Foot
|
293 | |||
79th Regiment of Foot
|
434 | |||
90th Regiment of Foot
|
437 | |||
5th Brigade Brigadier-General John Doyle |
30th Regiment of Foot
|
269 | ||
50th Regiment of Foot
|
337 | |||
89th Regiment of Foot
|
311 | |||
92nd Regiment of Foot
|
414 | |||
6th Brigade Brigadier-General John Blake |
1st Battalion, 20th Regiment of Foot
|
604 | ||
2nd Battalion, 20th Regiment of Foot
|
484 | |||
24th Regiment of Foot
|
438 | |||
Ancient Irish Fencibles
|
420 | |||
Reserve Major-General John Moore Brigadier-General Hildebrand Oakes |
2nd Regiment of Foot
|
327 | ||
28th Regiment of Foot
|
338 | |||
42nd Regiment of Foot | 490 | |||
58th Regiment of Foot
|
238 | |||
40th Regiment of Foot flank companies
|
146 | |||
23rd Regiment of Foot
|
343 | |||
Hompesch's Hussars | 397 | |||
Chasseurs Britanniques | 595 | |||
Corsican Rangers | 60 | |||
Cavalry | 26th Light Dragoons
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|||
Rosetta Force | Cavalry | 11th Light Dragoons
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12th Light Dragoons
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22nd Light Dragoons
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Infantry | 13th Regiment of Foot
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See also
- French Campaign in Egypt and Syria
Notes
- ^ Barthorp p. 29 A total of 35 battalions
- ^ a b Barthorp p. 6
- ^ "No. 15426". The London Gazette. 10 November 1801. p. 1354.
- ^ John A. Lynn, pp. 160-161
- Musée des Familles(1841-42).
- ^ Downs, Jonathan, Discovery at Rosetta, 2008
- ^ Mackesy (2010), p. 213.
References
- Barthorp, Michael. Napoleon's Egyptian Campaigns 1798-1801, Osprey Publishing, 1992.
- Downs, Jonathan. Discovery at Rosetta. Skyhorse Publishing, 2008 ISBN 978-1-60239-271-7
- Lynne, John A. "Toward an Army of Honor: The Moral Evolution of the French Army, 1789-1815." French Historical Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1. (Spring, 1989)
- ISBN 978-1-84885-472-7.
- Smith, D. The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books, 1998.
- Wilson, Robert Thomas. History of the British expedition to Egypt. 4th ed. London: Military Library, 1803 Text at Google Books
External links
- Media related to Siege of Alexandria 1801 at Wikimedia Commons