Battle of Abukir (1801)

For other battles with similar names, see Battle of Abukir (disambiguation).

Battle of Abukir
Part of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria during the War of the Second Coalition
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 31°18′38″N 30°04′06″E Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France
Commanders and leaders
Ralph Abercromby Sidney Smith	Louis Friant
Strength
6,000	1,800-2,500
Casualties and losses
740 killed, wounded, or missing	400 killed, wounded, or missing
class=notpageimage| Location within Mediterranean

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.

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.

The Landing

In the early morning of the 8th March 1801, the landing force consisting of Flank companies of the 40th and the Welsh Fusileers on the right. In the centre the 28th, 42nd and 58th. On the left, the Brigade of Guards, (formed from a battalion of each regiment) The Corsican Rangers, The Royals and 54th. The landing force totaled 5,230 men. All troops were on board the landing boats by 2 am. Tightly packed with muskets between their knees the boats rowed silently to the rendezvous, each were placed in their positions of landing. By 8 am, each brigade was in place. At 9 am, a rocket fired from the Admirals ship signalled the advance and the boats sprang forward. With protection from light armed vessels, ketches and bomb brigs moored broadside to the beach, the troops beached their craft under a rainstorm of French cannonade and musket fire from 2,500 French positioned on the high dunes. The troops disembarked, formed line, fixed bayonets and advanced undaunted by the enemy fire. With General Moore leading at their head they struggled up the steep soft sandy ground. The French appeared at the summit and poured a destructive musket volley. The lead troops of the 42nd reached the summit before the French could reload and launched a bayonet charge, hurling them back in confusion. The French counter attacked with a squadron of cavalry, a second bayonet charge by the 42nd caused them to flee. On the left the Guards were attacked by cavalry and the 54th by Infantry bayonet. Both attacks were brilliantly repulsed. The British were now in control of the shore and advanced to expand the bridgehead. The French deserted their guns. A decisive victory by the British Expeditionary Force. By evening The Navy had landed the remainder of the Army and consolidated control at Aboukir.

Summary

The French garrison of Alexandria under General Friant, some 2,000 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.

Napoleon later described the British landing as "one of the most vigorous actions which could be imagined".

Orders of battle

British

Brigade and commander	Regiment	Number of men	Ref.
First line
Brigade of Guards Major-General George Ludlow	1st Battalion, Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards	766
	1st Battalion, Third Regiment of Foot Guards	812
1st Brigade Major-General Eyre Coote	2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot	626
	1st Battalion, 54th Regiment of Foot	974 (combined)
	2nd Battalion, 54th Regiment of Foot
	92nd Regiment of Foot	529
2nd Brigade Major-General John Cradock	8th Regiment of Foot	439
	13th Regiment of Foot	561
	18th Regiment of Foot	411
	90th Regiment of Foot	727
Second line
3rd Brigade Major-General Lord Cavan	1st Battalion, 27th Regiment of Foot	Left sick at Gibraltar and Malta
	2nd Battalion, 27th Regiment of Foot
	50th Regiment of Foot	477
	79th Regiment of Foot	604
4th Brigade Brigadier-General John Doyle	2nd Regiment of Foot	530
	30th Regiment of Foot	412
	44th Regiment of Foot	263
	89th Regiment of Foot	378
5th (Foreign) Brigade Brigadier-General John Stuart	Stuart's Regiment	929
	De Roll's Regiment	528
	Dillon's Regiment	530
Reserve
Major-General John Moore  Brigadier-General Hildebrand Oakes	23rd Regiment of Foot	457
	28th Regiment of Foot	587
	42nd Regiment of Foot	754
	58th Regiment of Foot	469
	40th Regiment of Foot	250
	Corsican Rangers (flank companies)	209
Cavalry
Brigadier-General Edward Finch	11th Light Dragoons (one troop)	53
	12th Light Dragoons	474
	26th Light Dragoons	369
	Hompesch's Hussars	138
Artillery
Brigadier-General Robert Lawson	13th Artillery Company	627
	14th Artillery Company
	26th Artillery Company
	28th Artillery Company
	55th Artillery Company
	69th Artillery Company
	70th Artillery Company
	71st Artillery Company

French

Unit	Number of men	Ref.
Cavalry
18th Dragoons	115
20th Dragoons	80
Infantry
61st demi-brigade	680
75th demi-brigade	950
51st demi-brigade	210

See also

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

References

• Cust, Sir E. (1862). Annals of the Wars of the 19th Century. Vol. 1. London: John Murray.
• Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7470-7.
• Divall, Carole (2018). The British Army in Egypt 1801. Warwick: Helion. ISBN 978-1-911628-14-9.
• Mackesy, Piers (2010). British Victory in Egypt. London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks. ISBN 978-1-84885-472-7.
• Phipps, Ramsay Weston (1926), The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I, London: Oxford University Press.

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External links

• Media related to Battle of Abukir (1801) at Wikimedia Commons