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 during the War of the Second Coalition

The landing of British troops at Aboukir, 8 March 1801 by Philip James de Loutherbourg
Date8 March 1801
Location31°18′38″N 30°04′06″E
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom French First Republic France
Commanders and leaders
Ralph Abercromby
Sidney Smith
Louis Friant
Strength
6,000[1] 1,800[2]-2,500[3]
Casualties and losses
740 killed, wounded, or missing[3] 400 killed, wounded, or missing[3]
Battle of Abukir (1801) is located in Mediterranean
Battle of Abukir (1801)
Location within Mediterranean

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.[4]

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 2500 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.[5]

Summary

The French garrison of Alexandria 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.[4]

Napoleon later described the British landing as "one of the most vigorous actions which could be imagined".[6]

Orders of battle

British

Brigade and commander Regiment Number of men Ref.
First line [7]
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 [8]
18th Dragoons 115
20th Dragoons 80
Infantry
61st demi-brigade 680
75th demi-brigade 950
51st demi-brigade 210

See also

Citations

  1. Clodfelter (2017), p. 106.
  2. Clodfelter 2017, p. 86.
  3. Divall (2018), p. 83.
  4. Cust (1862), pp. 68–69.
  5. Dundee Courier 07 April 1876 p.7 accessed 6 September 2023.
  6. Phipps Vol 5 p.433, quoting Corr.Nap. XXX. 166-7
  7. Mackesy (2010), pp. 70–71.
  8. Mackesy (2010), p. 62.

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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