Egypt 1801: The End of Napoleon's Eastern Empire

by Stuart Reid

Overview

The first campaign medal awarded to British soldiers is reckoned to be that given to those men who fought at Waterloo in 1815, but a decade and a half earlier a group of regiments were awarded a unique badge – a figure of a Sphinx - to mark their service in Egypt in 1801.

It was a fitting distinction, for the successful campaign was a remarkable one, fought far from home by a British army which had so far not distinguished itself in battle against Revolutionary France, and one moreover which had the most profound consequences in the Napoleonic wars to come.

In 1798 a quixotic French expedition led by a certain General Bonaparte not only to seize Egypt and consolidate French influence in the Mediterranean, but also to open up a direct route to Indian and provide an opportunity to destroy the East India Company and fatally weaken Great Britain.

In the event, General Bonaparte returned to France to mount a coup which would eventually see him installed as Emperor of the French, but behind him he abandoned his army, which remained in control of Egypt, still posing a possible threat to the East India Company, until in 1801 a large but rather heterogeneous British Army led by Sir Ralph Abercrombie landed and in a series of hard-fought battles utterly defeated the French.

Not only did this campaign establish the hitherto rather doubtful reputation of the British Army, and help secure India, but its capture en route of the islands of Malta gained Britain a base which would enable it to dominate the Mediterranean for the next century and a half.

This little understood, but profoundly important campaign at last receives the treatment it deserves in the hands of renowned historian Stuart Reid.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526758460
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	07/22/2021
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	499,616
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Stuart Reid is a prolific and well-known writer on a wide range of military subjects, and he is an expert on the military history of Scotland. His pioneering study Like Hungry Wolves remains unchallenged as the best narrative account of Culloden. His other books include: The Campaigns of Montrose, All the King's Armies: A Military History of The English Civil War, Wolfe: The Life and Career of General James Wolfe, Wellington's Highland Warriors: From the Black Watch Mutiny to the Battle of Waterloo and The Battle of Plassey 1757: The Victory That Won an Empire.

Table of Contents

Introduction vi

Chapter 1 The Mediterranean War 1

Chapter 2 General Abercromby and his Army 15

Chapter 3 The Illiad and the Odyssey 29

Chapter 4 Aboukir Bay 43

Chapter 5 Mandara 55

Chapter 6 Kasr Kaisera 67

Chapter 7 The Dawn's Early Light 81

Chapter 8 Up the Nile 98

Chapter 9 The Heart of Darkness 114

Chapter 10 Another Part of the Field: The Fall of Alexandria 130

Chapter 11 Abercromby's Legacy 147

Appendix 1 Opposing Forces March 1801 149

Appendix 2 The British Army in Egypt 158

Appendix 3 The East India Company in Egypt 175

Appendix 4 The French Army in Egypt 179

Appendix 5 Returns 184

Bibliography 199

Notes 201

Index 239

Editorial Reviews

"Reid’s storytelling is excellent, and he takes opportunities throughout this book to explain the composition and structure of the regiments. "

Journal of Military History

"...the book’s strengths are its clear and concise narrative and its intelligent reappraisal of the main field actions of the campaign."

The Napoleon Series

"...Reid tells the battles in great detail but with clear, engrossing, and lively prose in the best tradition of military history literature. The British had well-trained men against acclimated French veterans. The high casualties on both sides speaks to the courage of the men in both armies."

New York Journal of Books