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Battle of the Nile![]() The Battle of the Nile was fought in Aboukir bay near Alexandria, Egypt, on the 1st and 2nd of August 1798. The British fleet was under the command of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson and the French fleet under Admiral Paul D'Brueys. In 1798 the French Revolutionary general Napoleon Bonaparte planned an invasion of Egypt, in order to constrict Britain's trade routes and threaten its possession of India. The British government heard that a large French naval expedition was to sail from a French Mediterranean port under the command of Napoleon, and in response it ordered the Earl of St. Vincent, the commander in chief of the British Mediterranean fleet, to detach ships under Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson to reconnoitre off Toulon and to watch French naval movements there. But Nelson's own ship was dismasted in a storm, and his group of frigates, now dispersed, returned to the British base at Gibraltar. Meanwhile, St. Vincent sent Nelson more ships, which joined Nelson on June 7, bringing his strength up to 14 ships of the line. ![]()
Although there were only a few hours left until nightfall and Brueys' ships were in a strong defensive position, being anchored in line in a sandy bay, flanked on one side by a shore battery on Abu Qir Island, Nelson ordered an immediate attack . Several of the British warships lead by Captain Thomas Foley in Goliath, were able to manoeuver around the head of the French line of battle, and behind their position, although the Culloden ran aground. The Audacious sailed between the Guerrier and Conquerant.
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. The British ships anchored as they came alongside the French. With the wind behind them they could pick their positions, and the French ships at the rear of the line could do nothing to help. The French frigate Serieuse made the mistake of firing at the Goliath, a broadside from the Orion left her shattered and sinking. Captain Miller of the Theseus took advantage of the French gunners firing high and moved his ship closer, rightly guessing that in the heat of the battle they would fail to lower the elevations of their guns. On the seaward side of the French line Nelson took Vanguard and anchored alongside Spartiate. The five leading French ships were between the fires of five British ships to larboard and three to starboard. . As night was falling Bellerophon positioned herself alongside the massive French flagship, the three decker, 120 gun Orient. Bellerophon got the worst of the exchange, was dismasted and drifted out of the action, it was about 8 pm. As the last British ships came into action some managed to exploit gaps opening in the French line and anchor between the French ships, protecting themselves from enemy broadsides and at the same time allowing them to rake the French. The 50 gun ship Leander saved herslf in this way . |
Temporarily the firing ceased. But slowly, as the crews recovered, firing began again, although at a lesser rate after six hours of continuous battle. As the night wore on those ships still in French hands had made their way downwind, to the eastern end of the bay. As dawn broke these ships engaged the nearest British ships, the Alexander and the Majestic. The Theseus and the Goliath came to their aid. The Artemise crew surrundered their ship and then set fire to it, escaping to the shore in the ships boats. She blew up later in the day. The Heureux and the Mercure ran aground and, after a brief exchange of fire with Goliath, Theseus, Alexander and Leander they surrendered.
At about 6 am the remaining French ships were not being engaged, the Tonnant was a shattered hulk and the Timoleon ran aground whilst trying to tack. Rear Admiral Villeneuve was left with the Genereux and his own Guillaume Tell, plus the frigates Diane and Justice. There was a clear passage to the sea and Villeneuve took it. They were pursued by the Zealous, but she was recalled by Nelson, as none of the other British ships were in a position to support her.
As a final point on the command of the British fleet, it may be noted that Nelson had barely recovered from the loss of his right arm, sustained during the unsuccesful attack on Tenerife the previous year. And he had just been involved in a dishonourable campaign against the Neapolitan rebels. The victory at the Nile helped to raise Nelsons popularity further at home, and to cement his reputation in the navy, as one of the most able commanders of his generation. He was wounded again during this battle, a bullet or splinter gashed opened his forehead, blinding him with blood and at first feared he would die. He was later helped back on deck to watch the latter stages of the battle.
So why was the battle lost by the French?
D'brueys had not ensured that the line of French ships was close enough to shallow water to prevent the British from getting inside his line. He had forseen circumstances where the van or middle of the line could give support to the rear, but he had not placed any orders for the rear to come to the aid of the van, a manouevre he knew to be impossible with the wind blowing down the line. This allowed the British ships to roll up the line, concentrating fire on individual ships with no chance of support from their comrades. He had probably thought the British would not attack as night fell, so his ships were not well prepared, the decks were still covered with crates of supplies, hampering the gun crews. In the end all these factors meant annhilation for the French fleet.
Historians debate the consequences of Nelsons victory at the Nile to this day. Although the French fleet was destroyed, Bonaparts army was still loose in Egypt, although cut off from further supplies. So the aim of preventing any threat to India did not succeed. However all events in history have consequences, like ripples spreading in a pond. The third in command of the French fleet was Admiral Villeneuve, who was later to meet Nelson again at the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1805 Villeneuves' prime mission had been to secure French naval supremacy in the English Channel, if only for a few days. Perhaps the thought of the total defeat of the fleet he was with in 1798 at the Nile made him more cautious than he might have been. Instead of sailing for the Channel he sailed to Cadiz and ultimately defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar.
This site is run by the US Naval Institute and they have produced an interactive Battle of the Nile CD.
HORATIO NELSON - Vanguard, off the Mouth of the Nile, 3rd August, 1798
A RETURN OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED IN HIS MAJESTY'S SHIPS, UNDER THE COMMAND OF SIR HORATIO NELSON, K.B., REAR-ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE, ETC. IN ACTION WITH THE FRENCH, AT ANCHOR, ON THE 1ST OF AUGUST, 1798, OFF THE MOUTH OF THE NILE.
Theseus.5 Seamen killed; 1 Officer, 24 Seamen, 5 Marines wounded. Total 35.
Alexander.1 Officer, 13 Seamen killed; 5 Officers, 48 Seamen, 5 Marines , wounded.Total 72.
Vanguard.3 Officers, 20 Seamen, 7 Marines, killed; 7 Officers, 60 Seamen, 8 Marines, wounded.Total 105.
Minotaur.2 Officers, 18 Seamen, 3 Marines, killed, 4 Officers, 54 Seamen, 6 Marines, wounded.Total 87.
Swiftsure.7 Seamen killed; 1 Officer, 1 9 Seamen, 2 Marines, wounded.Total 29.
Audacious.1 Seaman killed; 2 Officers, 31 Seamen, 2 Marines, wounded.Total 36.
Defence.3 Seamen, 1 Marine, killed; 9 Seamen, 2 Marines, wounded.Total 15.
Zealous.1 Seaman killed; 7 Seamen wounded.Total 8.
Orion.1 Officer, 11 Seamen, 1 Marine killed; 5 Officers, 18 Seamen, 6 Marines, wounded.Total 42.
Goliath.2 Officers, 12 Seamen, 7 Marines, killed; 4 Officers, 28 Seamen, 9 Marines, wounded.Total 62.
Majestic.3 Officers, 33 Seamen, 14 Marines, killed; 3 Officers, 124 Seamen, 16 Marines, wounded.Total 193.
Bellerophon.4 Officers, 32 Seamen, 13 Marines, killed; 5 Officers, 126 Seamen, 17 Marines, wounded.Total 197.
Leander.14 Seamen wounded.
Total.16 Officers, 156 Seamen, 46 Marines, killed; 37 Officers, 562 Seamen, 78 Marines wounded.Total, 895.
OFFICERS KILLED.
Vanguard.Captain William Faddy, Marines; Mr. Thomas Seymour, Mr. John G. Taylor, Midshipmen.
Alexander.Mr. John Collins, Lieutenant.
Orion.Mr. Baird, Captain's Clerk.
Goliath.Mr. William Davies, Master's Mate; Mr. Andrew Brown, Midshipman.
Majestic.George B. Westcott, Esq. Captain; Mr. Zebedee Ford, Midshipman; Mr. Andrew Gilmour, Boatswain.
Bellerophon.Mr. Robert Savage Daniel, Mr. Philip Watson Launder, Mr. George Joliffe, Lieutenants; Mr. Thomas Ellison, Master's Mate.
Minotaur.Lieutenant John S. Kirchner, Marines; Mr. Peter Walters, Master's Mate.
OFFICERS WOUNDED.
Vanguard.Mr. Nathaniel Vassal, Mr. John M. Adye, Lieutenants; Mr. John Campbell, Admiral's Secretary; Mr. Michael Austin, Boatswain; Mr. John Weatherstone, Mr. George Antrim, Midshipmen. *(see note)
Theseus.Lieutenant Hawkins.
Alexander.Alexander J. Ball, Esq., Captain; Captain J. Cresswell, Marines; Mr. William Lawson, Master; Mr. George Bulley, Mr. Luke Anderson, Midshipmen.
Audacious.Mr. John Jeans, Lieutenant; Mr. Christopher Font, Gunner.
Orion.Sir James Saumarez, Captain; Mr. Peter Sadler, Boatswain; Mr. Philip Richardson, Mr. Charles Miell, Mr. Lanfesty, Midshipmen.
GoliathMr. William Wilkinson, Lieutenant; Mr. Lawrence Graves, Midshipman; Mr. Peter Strachan, Schoolmaster; Mr. James Payne, Midshipman.
Majestic.Mr. Charles Seward, Mr. Charles Royle, Midshipmen; Mr. Robert Overton, Captain's Clerk.
Bellerophon.H. D'E. Darby, Esq., Captain; Mr. Edward Kirby, Master; Captain John Hopkins, Marines; Mr. Chapman, Boatswain; Mr. Nicholas Bettson, Midshipman.
Minotaur.Mr. Thomas Irwin, Lieutenant; Mr. John Jewell, Lieutenant Marines; Mr. Thomas Foxten, 2nd Master; Mr. Martin Wills, Midshipman.
Swiftsure.Mr. William Smith, Midshipman. * Nelson has not included his name in the list of wounded, despite receiving a head wound he at first feared would be fatal.
------------------------------------ The Battle
Named in honor of Dr. Ben Franklin. After refitting, it was later commanded by Francis Austen, real life brother of novelist Jane Austen.
(In Austen's romance 'Persuasion', brother Frank is fictionalized as the hero 'Frederick Wentworth'.)
The 80 gun Canopus, under Captain Austen, shared some of the glory of Royal Navy as they eclipsed the French Navy.
A peace treaty between France and England was signed in Amiens on 25 March 1802, but the peace had been uneasy and short-lived, and the British declared war against France and her dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte, on 16 May 1803. Napoleon had planned to invade Britain even before the peace treaty (Parkinson 91), and when he crowned himself Emperor of France in December 1804 and began massing troops in seaside towns along the Channel, the British mobilized their naval forces to prevent the Emperor's plan from succeeding. They organized companies of "sea fencibles," sort of a naval militia, and Frank Austen received command of a group protecting the coast near Ramsgate in July, 1803 (Nokes 261).The Channel fleet and the Mediterranean fleet had the French blockaded, and a few offensive sallies by the North Sea Fleet kept the French under control (Parkinson 93). William Pitt, the Prime Minister, made alliances with Russia, Austria, and Sweden, an alliance called the Third Coalition, while Spain chose to remain neutral, though they resisted pressure to take an active stand against France. According to C. Northcote Parkinson, "Napoleon came to realize that his enemies were gathering against him. The coalition took time to organize but Napoleon recognized his danger and concluded that his invasion of Britain must take place in 1805 if it were to take place at all. He could not count on naval victory but he began to dream of elaborate plans by which the British fleet might be tricked and lured away from its position in goal." (96) Napoleon's plan was to have two squadrons escape the blockades and sail for the West Indies; the British, fearful of French disruption of their lucrative trade in the sugar islands, would naturally follow. When the French ships reached Martinique, they would rendezvous and promptly sail back to the Channel, which would now be undefended.
With this plan in mind, Rear-Admiral Villeneuve sailed from Toulon on 30 March 1805 toward the Straits of Gibraltar. "Reaching Cadiz, the French Admiral raised the blockade of Cadiz, added six Spanish and one French ship to his squadron, crossed the Atlantic and presently reported his arrival at Martinique with 18 sail of the line." (Parkinson 99) Unfortunately Villeneuve's counterpart, Rear-Admiral Ganteaume, was unable to break the blockade at Brest, having been ordered by Napoleon not to engage the British fleet (Glover 39). However, Villeneuve's action had induced Admiral Lord Nelson to take 10 sail of the line and chase the French squadron across the Atlantic, only to find when they arrived in the West Indies that the French ships had turned around and sailed back to France. One of the ships under Nelson's command was Frank Austen's ship, the Canopus, which Nelson had captured from the French at the Nile (the ship had then been named Le Franklin after Benjamin Franklin) and which carried Nelson's second-in-command, Admiral Louis. (Honan 216)
Disheartened by his failure to stop Villeneuve, Nelson took a short shore leave upon his return to England, but soon was ordered back to his command. When he reached Cadiz on 28 September 1805, Nelson found the fleet needful of supplies, and dispatched Canopus to Gibraltar for water and stores; Nelson assured Admiral Louis, who did not want to miss the now-inevitable battle, that there was plenty of time for them to go to Gibraltar and return before the combined enemy fleet took action (Nokes 293).
However, Nelson miscalculated; on 14 September, Napoleon had sent orders to Villeneuve "to break out of Cadiz, pass Gibraltar, pick up the Cartagena squadron and transport French troops to Naples." (Glover 101) While Canopus was on its way back to Cadiz on 19 October, the Combined Fleet (French and Spanish), led by Admiral Villeneuve, left Cadiz and sailed toward Cape Trafalgar with a fleet consisting of 33 sail of the line, 5 frigates, and 2 corvettes. Two days later, Nelson gave orders for the famous signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty," and the British fleet, at a slight disadvantage with 27 sail of the line, four frigates, a schooner and a cutter, sailed toward the enemy, led by Nelson's flagship Victory. By the end of the action, the Combined Fleet had only 11 sail of the line remaining. The rest were either captured by the British or destroyed, and Admiral Villeneuve had been taken prisoner. However, the British had lost Nelson, cut down by a French sniper's musket ball.
Four French sail of the line, commanded by Rear-Admiral Dumanoir, escaped south. They were unable to sail for Toulon because of the presence of Canopus and the other British ships returning from Gibraltar, so they sailed north and encountered the frigate Phoenix. They chased the frigate, which led them back to the British squadron blockading Ferrol under the command of Captain Sir Richard Strachan, which engaged and eventually captured the four French ships. The French had 730 killed or wounded in the action while the British had only 135 casualties. (Parkinson 114)
The decimation of the fleet meant that Napoleon was forced to abandon his plan of invading England for the time being, so he decided to try to disrupt British trade in the West Indies, trade that helped finance the British war effort. Two French squadrons, commanded by Rear-Admiral Willaumez and Vice-Admiral Leissegues, were able to break the blockade at Brest and sailed for the West Indies. "When news of Leissegues' operations reached Vice-Admiral Sir John Duckworth, who, with six sail of the line and two frigates, was blockading Cadiz, he sailed with six sail of the line for Madeira. He finally caught up with the French squadron off Santo Domingo in the West Indies. Here the five French ships were all captured or driven on shore, only the smaller vessels escaping. There were heavy losses again, over 1,500 men in all, over 500 of them aboard the three-decked flagship Imperial." (Parkinson 114)
Frank's official description of the action is reported by Nokes: "'Five minutes before seven,' Frank wrote in his log, 'Enemy's ships are of the line.' At a quarter past ten, he noted, 'the Superb commenced to fire on the enemy's van'. By half past ten, he was in action himself; 'opened our fire on the first ship in the enemy's line...with one broadside brought her masts by the board...ten minutes to eleven, the dismasted ship struck...Engaged with the three-decker...ten minutes to twelve, gave her a raking broadside which brought down her mizzen mast...'" (299) Frank's letter to Mary Gibson was a little more descriptive: "(H)is first broadside from the Canopus 'brought our opponent's three masts down at once, and towards the close of the business we also had the satisfaction of giving the three-decker a tickling which knocked all his sticks away.'" (Tucker 173-174)
Canopus returned to Plymouth in early May, whereupon "Lloyd's Patriotic Fund presented (Frank) with a silver vase valued at 100 pounds as a memento of St. Domingo, and he also received a gold medal as he left the Canopus. This accession of honours and prize-money evidently encouraged him to think that he could now afford to marry Mary Gibson, and so the date of 24 July was chosen." (Austen-Leigh 137) It was not uncommon for first lieutenants of ships involved in a successful action to receive promotion, and a few years later, when Jane Austen created her fictional naval officer, she drew upon her brother's experiences. Commander Frederick Wentworth, who had been promoted but had not yet received a command, made his way to Somerset to spend the summer of the Year Six and pursue a romance of his own.
Between Trafalgar, the capture of the four escaped ships by Strachan, and the Battle of Santo Domingo, the French navy was severely crippled. Only 32 ships of the line remained, although the French were busily building 21 more, and could capture or ally themselves with other countries and make use of their navies. But the lessening of French naval power meant that the fear of imminent invasion of England was past, as well as establishing the prominence of the Royal Navy; it is easy to see why Captain Francis Austen received medals and prizes as a result of his participation in the action, and why an able young lieutenant who took part in the action was promoted to commander rank.