The Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile, also
known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay, was an important naval battle of the
French Revolutionary Wars between a British fleet commanded by Rear-Admiral
Horatio Nelson and a French fleet under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys
D'Aigalliers. It took place on the evening and early morning of August 1 and 2
August 1798. French losses were as high as 1,700 dead (including Brueys) and
3,000 captured. British losses were 218 dead.
Background
Still on the rise but not yet the number one enemy of Britain, commanding
General Napoleon Bonaparte intended to threaten the British position in India
via the invasion and conquest of Egypt. The expedition was also cultural and
included many scientists, educators, and technical specialists — including a
surveying party, as French intellectuals had long debated the feasibility of
cutting a ship-canal between the Red and Mediterranean Seas. About three weeks
after his landing there, a British fleet of 14 ships under Horatio Nelson, which
had been scouring the eastern Mediterranean Sea looking for the French fleet,
finally came upon the 15 French ships being used to support the invasion.
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The Battle of the Nile |
Preparations
The fleets met close to sunset on August 1. The French were at anchor in Abū
Qīr Bay, in shallow water near a shoal less than 4 fathoms (8 m) deep. The shoal
was being used to protect the south-western (port) side of the fleet, while the
starboard side faced the north-east and open sea. Nelson had already achieved
great fame, and Admiral Brueys had studied his tactics at the Battle of the
Saints and Battle of Copenhagen. As a consequence, Brueys had his line of battle
chained together at anchor to prevent the British from cutting the line and
defeating a part of it in detail in a night action. Brueys expected the battle
to begin the next morning, as he did not believe the British would risk a night
encounter in shallow, uncharted waters. Leisurely preparations for combat began.
The battle
Nelson observed that the French fleet was anchored too far from the shallows.
He ordered his line of battle to divide in two, with one division to pass
between the French line and the shoal, and the other division to close from
the deeper side and so fire on the French from both sides. One British ship,
Culloden, ran aground, but the remainder were able to stay afloat and
begin taking the French fleet apart one by one. The wind from the north meant
that the unengaged French ships could not come up to help their fellows,
enabling Nelson to put several ships on to a target at a time, working his way
down the line.
The French flagship
L'Orient came under fire first from
Bellerophon, which received a battering and drifted away dismasted, and
then from Alexander and
Swiftsure. By 21:00 L'Orient was ablaze and the battle paused as
ships tried to distance themselves from the anticipated explosion. At about
22:00 the fire reached the magazine and the flagship exploded, hurling blazing
parts of ship and crew hundreds of metres into the air. Only a hundred or so of
L'Orient's crew of a thousand survived by swimming from the burning ship.
Only two French ships towards the end of the line,
Généreux and
Guillaume Tell, together with the two frigates Diane and
Justice, were able to escape.
Timoleon and the frigate Artemise were burned, the frigate
Serieuse was sunk, and the remaining French ships (Guerrier,
Conquérant,
Spartiate,
Aquilon,
Souverain Peuple,
Franklin,
Tonnant,
Heureux,
Mercure) were captured by early morning on August 2. Other French ships
were the bomb vessels Oranger, Portugaise and Hercule, the
brigs Salamine 18, Railleur 18, and some other small ships.
Hercule was scuttled.
The British ships were
Vanguard (flagship),
Alexander,
Audacious,
Bellerophon,
Culloden,
Defence,
Goliath,
Leander,
Majestic,
Minotaur,
Orion,
Swiftsure,
Theseus, and
Zealous. Returning home with Nelson's despatches, Leander,
captained by Edward Berry, was later captured by the surviving 74-gun
Généreux after a fierce battle, somewhat delaying the arrival of the
triumphant news in Britain.
The battle established British naval superiority during the remainder of the
French Revolutionary Wars, and was an important contribution to the growing fame
of Admiral Nelson. It is also well known for literary reasons: Felicia D.
Hemans' poem "Casabianca", often known better by its first line, "The boy stood
on the burning deck", is about the son of Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca, who died
in the explosion of the French flagship Orient during this battle.
Recent archaeology
In 2000, Dr. Paolo Gallo, an Italian archaeologist discovered a burial site
on Nelson's Island in Abū Qīr Bay. The graves contained the remains of sailors,
officers, marines, women (some of whom may have disguised their sex to serve as
sailors), and surprisingly, three infants. Subsequent work with British
historian and archaeologist Nick Slope determined that some of the graves dated
to shortly after the battle, while others dated from another battle in 1801.
On 18 April 2005, thirty of the British sailors and officers were given a
military funeral in Alexandria, attended by the crew of the visiting HMS
Chatham. Only one of the bodies, that of Commodore James Russell, who died
during the 1801 battle, was positively identified. One of his descendants
attended the ceremony and was presented with a flag.
References
- SMITH, Tannalee: "[http:// 30 Members of British Fleet Reburied]",
Associated Press, (2005 April 18)
- SLOPE, Nick (2004 February 5). "Burials on Nelson's Island." Women in
Nelson's Navy. London: BBC. Accessed on August 2, 2005.
- Naval wars in the Levant 1559-1853 - R. C. Anderson [ISBN 0878397990]
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