Strategic Context Despite Napoleon Bonapartes victory against Austria on land to end the War of the First Coalition Britain remains at war with Revolutionary France and continues to attack French shipping globally Bonaparte proposes an invasion of Egypt to seize British possessions in the Mid ID: 646125
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Slide1
The Nile August 1-2, 1798
Strategic Context
Despite Napoleon Bonaparte’s victory against Austria on land to end the War of the First Coalition, Britain remains at war with Revolutionary France and continues to attack French shipping globally. Bonaparte proposes an invasion of Egypt to seize British possessions in the Middle East and threaten India, thus severely disrupting British colonial commerce. The French Directory is eager to have the upstart general-politician out of the country and agrees. Bonaparte’s Army of the Orient of 44,000 sets sail from multiple Mediterranean ports in May 1798 with an escort of 13 ships-of-the-line (SOLs) under François Bruey. Britain sends Horatio Nelson with 14 SOLs to intercept and destroy the French army at sea. Nelson at first assumes Bonaparte’s target to be Naples but finds nothing there and rapidly sails to Alexandria. Nelson arrives at Alexandria June 29 but again finds nothing and leaves to continue the search around Sicily. Incidentally, the French fleet is delayed by Bonaparte’s diversion to seize Malta and actually arrives at Alexandria just after Nelson departs. Bonaparte lands the army in Aboukir Bay July 1 and begins the conquest of Egypt. Nelson doubles back to Alexandria August 1 to find French transports empty and Brueys’ fleet at anchor close to the shore. Nelson decides to immediately attack.
Stakes
+ A French victory would ensure a continuous line of supply and communications to Bonaparte’s army as it attempts to conquer Egypt.+ A British victory would choke off lines of supply and communication to Bonaparte’s army, imperiling its efforts to conquer Egypt and stranding it there.
By Jonathan Webb, 2017
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The Nile, 1798Strength
French
1178 total guns
Well
British
1028 total guns
Well
François-Paul Brueys
14 ships-of-the-line
13 ships-of-the-line
Horatio Nelson
By Jonathan Webb, 2017
1 brig-sloop
4 frigatesSlide3
Egypt c. 1798Slide4
The battlespace consists of Aboukir Bay, a small stretch of water sheltered from the currents of the Mediterranean. Aboukir Bay is relatively shallow with the four-fathom line running almost parallel to the shore only 5km to the north and west. The four-fathom line refers to the depth (equal to 6.4m or 24 feet) at which ships-of-the-line (SOLs) will run aground, and is indicated by the lighter blue shading and. Aboukir Bay also features sandbanks only two fathoms deep closer inshore. All of the above makes these waters hazardous for those unfamiliar with its shifting sandy depths. At the time of battle, the wind is of moderate strength coming in from a north-north-westerly direction.
French
(Brueys)
British
(Nelson)Slide5
Brueys’ French fleet sits at anchor close to the shore to prevent outflanking. Brueys’ SOLs anchor in a curved line with his flagship first-rate, 120-gun SOL,
L’Orient
at the center; Brueys’ frigates anchor even closer to shore. The appearance of the British fleet comes a surprise, with up to 30% of French crews ashore to purchase provisions, the landward gun ports closed, the decks still cluttered, and not all ships cabled together to prevent infiltration and raking. Brueys believes he does not have the manpower to fight under sail and decides to fight from anchor.
Captain Foley, commanding the lead British ship
Goliath,
sails around the lead French ship
Guerrier
to get between the French ships and shore on a (correct) hunch that the French landward gun ports are closed. The next four British ships follow
Goliath
inshore, using the anchor by stern maneuver to immediately fire at the first five French ships in line;
Orion
sinks the French frigate
Serieuse
on the way to matching up against French SOL
Peuple Souverain.
Nelson, commanding from his flagship
Vanguard
sixth in line of sail, leads it and the next ship outshore to double up against the third and fourth French ships in line,
Le Spartiate
and
L’Aquilon
.
As the first seven British ships pound the first five French ships in the van, the next three British ships arrive to engage the French line:.
Defence
doubles up against
Le Peuple Souverain; Bellerophon
botches the stern by anchor maneuver and ends up against
L’Orient,
the massive French flagship nearly double its size;
Majestic
sails further down the line to fire on
Le Heureux
, but anchors too close and is at a disadvantage. Two more British ships,
Swiftsure
and
Alexander
, approach the battle after returning from a reconnaissance mission. The next two British ships are delayed when
Culloden
runs aground and
Leander
tries to assist.
Eight British ships continue to pound the five French ships of the van. In the center,
L’Orient
makes short work of
Bellerophon
, reducing it to a dismasted wreck barely afloat; Captain Darby cuts
Bellerophon
’s cables, allowing it to drift away from battle.
Bellerophon
is almost mistakenly fired upon in the dark by the next two British ships to arrive,
Swiftsure
and
Alexander.
These two British ships target
L’Orient
, with
Swiftsure
anchoring beside the French flagship and
Alexander
anchoring to rake it from the stern. Further down the line,
Majestic
swings clear of
Le
Heureux
to rake the French ships.
Resistance from the French van begins to slacken as its ships have taken heavy damage. The arrival of the British 50-gun SOL
Leander
only worsens the French situation; with the cables between
Le Peuple Souverain
and
Le Franklin
severed by an errant shot, the smaller, outgunned
Leander
slides between them to rake both French ships. Meanwhile at the center,
Alexander’s
crew launches combustible material at
L’Orient
to start fires that quickly spread;
Switfsure
fires grapeshot at the French crews desperately trying to extinguish the growing flames.
The French van is mostly defeated by now as its ships begin to surrender. Around this time, a shot from
Le Spartiate
injures Nelson.
Swiftsure
and
Alexander
continue to concentrate their fire on
L’Orient
, killing Brueys as the flames grow even larger. At 2137hrs, the fires reach
L’Orient
’s
ammo magazine and the French flagship explodes, launching flaming debris in all directions to produce a lull in the battle.
Le Franklin
’s crew is barely able to extinguish the flames it experiences.
The entire French van is defeated by 2230hrs as night falls and combat peters out. The next three French ships in line,
Tonnant, Heureux
, and
Mercure
, cut their cables and drift towards shore, eventually running aground. French Captain Standelet scuttles his frigate
Artemise
to avoid it being captured. Villeneuve assumes command of the French fleet and prepares to escape with what ships he can.
As dawn breaks, Villeneuve attempts to escape east with three SOLs and two frigates but
Le Timoleon
, a SOL, runs aground and is scuttled by its crew the following day. Nelson orders four SOLs to pursue the French ships but the British fleet is in no condition to do so, having suffered significant damage throughout the battle.
Audacious’
captain outright refuses while
Zealous
attempts but suffers heavy damage to its rigging and sails. With the four escaping French ships in perfect condition and liable to counterattack, Nelson soon recalls the British pursuit force to assist ships in distress.
At 1730hrs Nelson orders his captains to form line in most convenient manner and to concentrate against the French van and center as the French ships to the rear will be unable to join the battle given the wind direction. Nelson emphasizes to his captains that they are free to engage both sides of the French line of battle, reasoning that if there is room for a French ship to swing at anchor then there is room for a British one to anchor. Nelson signals only to prepare for battle and prepare to anchor by stern, a maneuver that allows British ships to stop suddenly and fire broadside without waiting for the ship to stop.
British
(Nelson)
British
(Horatio Nelson)
14 ships-of-the-line
1 brig-sloop
1028 total guns
French
(François-Paul Brueys)
13 ships-of-the-line
4 frigates
1178 total guns
Symbol guide
French
(Brueys)
French
(Villeneuve)
Goliath
(Thomas Foley)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1781
Orion
(James Suamarez)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1787
Zealous
(Samuel Hood)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1785
Audacious
(Davidge Goul)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1785
Minotaur
(Thomas Louis)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1793
Theseus
(Ralph Willett Miller)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1786
Defence
(John Peyton)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1763
Majestic
(George Blagden Westcott)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1785
Bellerophon
(Henry Darby)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1786
Leander
(Thomas Thompson)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Fourth-rate
Armament: 50 guns
Launched: 1780
Swiftsure
(Benjamin Hallowell)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1787
Alexander
(Alexander Ball)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1778
Culloden
(Thomas Troubridge)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1783
Vanguard
(Edward Berry)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1787
Mutine
(Thomas Foley)
Type: Sloop
Rate: Not rated
Armament: 16 guns
Launched: 1797
Guerrier
(Jean François Timothée Trullet)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1754
Conquérant
(Etienne Dalbarade)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1747
Spartiate
(Maurice-Julien Emeriau)
Type: Ship-of-the-line
Rate: Third-rate
Armament: 74 guns
Launched: 1798
Peuple Souverain
(Pierre-Paul Raccord)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 74 gunsLaunched: 1792
Franklin(Maurice Gillet)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 80 gunsLaunched: 1797
Aquilon(Antoine René Thévenard)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 74 gunsLaunched: 1789
Orient(Luc-Julien-Joseph Casablanca)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: First-rateArmament: 120 gunsLaunched: 1791
Tonnant(Aristide Aubert du Petit Thouars)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 80 gunsLaunched: 1792
Heureux(Jean-Pierre Etienne)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 74 gunsLaunched: 1783
Guillaume Tell(Saulnier)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 80 gunsLaunched: 1795
Généreux(Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 74 gunsLaunched: 1785
Mercure(Cambon)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 74 gunsLaunched: 1783
Timoléon(Louis-Léonce Trullet)Type: Ship-of-the-lineRate: Third-rateArmament: 74 gunsLaunched: 1785
Sérieuse(Claude-Jean Martin)Type: FrigateRate: Fifth-rateArmament: 36 gunsLaunched: 1779
Artémise(Pierre-Jean Standelet)Type: FrigateRate: Fifth-rateArmament: 36 gunsLaunched: 1794
Diane(Élénore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil)Type: FrigateRate: Fifth-rateArmament: 40 gunsLaunched: 1796
Justice(Villeneuve)Type: FrigateRate: Fifth-rateArmament: 40 gunsLaunched: 1794
British French
First-rate SOL First-rate SOLThird-rate SOL Third-rate SOLFourth-rate SOL Fourth-rate SOLBrig-sloop FrigateSlide6
The Nile, 1798Casualties & Aftermath
French:
British:
11 ships-of-the-line, 2 frigates 4,200 menor81% 900 menor
0%
By Jonathan Webb, 2017
The destruction of the French fleet stranded Bonaparte’s army in Egypt, ruining his plan. The defeat encouraged Bonaparte’s enemies to ally and form the Second Coalition comprising the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Russia, and Austria. Bonaparte nonetheless continued the offensive in 1799 by invading Syria and besieging Acre. An Ottoman army supported by the British fleet defeated Bonaparte in the ensuing battle, chasing the French army back to Cairo. Bonaparte realized that further success in the Middle East is unlikely and returned to France in October 1799 to recover the military situation in Europe. Bonaparte left Jean-Baptiste Kleber in command of the French army with orders to hold Egypt. Kleber not surprisingly felt abandoned by Bonaparte’s departure and tried to negotiate French passage back to France although the deal fell apart. After two more years of costly campaigning against the British, Ottomans, and Mamelukes, the remains of the French Army of the Orient returned to France in October 1801.Slide7
The Art of Battle:
Animated Battle Maps
http://www.theartofbattle.com
By Jonathan Webb, 2017