The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India and support Tipu Sultan, and thus force Great Britain to make peace. Departing Toulon in May 1798 with over 40,000 troops and hundreds of ships, Bonaparte's fleet sailed southeastwards across the Mediterranean Sea. They were followed by a small British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, later reinforced to 13 ships of the line, whose pursuit was hampered by a lack of scouting frigates and reliable information. Bonaparte's first target was the island of Malta, which was under the government of the Knights of St. John and theoretically granted its owner control of the Central Mediterranean. Bonaparte's forces landed on the island and rapidly overwhelmed the defenders, securing the port city of Valletta before continuing to Egypt. When Nelson learned of the French capture of the island, he guessed the French target to be Egypt and sailed for Alexandria, but passed the French during the night of 22 June without discovering them and arrived off Egypt first.
Unable to find Bonaparte, Nelson turned back across the Mediterranean, eventually reaching Sicily on 19 July. While Nelson was returning westwards, Bonaparte reached Alexandria and stormed the city, capturing the coast and marching his army inland. His fleet, entrusted to Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, was anchored in a line of battle in Aboukir Bay. On 1 August, Nelson, who had returned to the Egyptian coast after reports gathered at Coron revealed the French invasion, arrived off Aboukir Bay. Although it was late afternoon and the British fleet had no accurate charts of the bay, Nelson ordered an immediate attack on the French van. Brueys was unprepared, and his ships were unable to manoeuvre as the British split into two divisions and sailed down either side of the French line, capturing all five ships of the vanguard and engaging his 120-gun flagship Orient in the centre. At 21:00, Orient caught fire and exploded, killing most of the crew and ending the main combat. Sporadic fighting continued for the next two days, until all of the French ships had been captured, destroyed or fled. At the Battle of the Nile, eleven French ships of the line and two frigates were eliminated, trapping Bonaparte in Egypt and changing the balance of power in the Mediterranean.
With the French Navy in the Mediterranean defeated, other nations were encouraged to join the Second Coalition and go to war with France. Portugal, the Kingdom of Naples, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire all subsequently deployed forces to the Mediterranean. The Russians and Turks participated in the blockade of Egypt and operations in the Adriatic Sea while the Portuguese joined the Siege of Malta, which was distantly conducted by Nelson from his lodgings in Naples. Nelson, who had been wounded at the Battle of the Nile, became involved in Neapolitan politics and encouraged King Ferdinand to go to war with France, resulting in the loss of his mainland kingdom. In the Western Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Earl St Vincent, who commanded the Mediterranean fleet from off Cádiz, deployed forces against Menorca, rapidly captured the island and turned it into an important naval base.
The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India and support Tipu Sultan, and thus force Great Britain to make peace. Departing Toulon in May 1798 with over 40,000 troops and hundreds of ships, Bonaparte's fleet sailed southeastwards across the Mediterranean Sea. They were followed by a small British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, later reinforced to 13 ships of the line, whose pursuit was hampered by a lack of scouting frigates and reliable information. Bonaparte's first target was the island of Malta, which was under the government of the Knights of St. John and theoretically granted its owner control of the Central Mediterranean. Bonaparte's forces landed on the island and rapidly overwhelmed the defenders, securing the port city of Valletta before continuing to Egypt. When Nelson learned of the French capture of the island, he guessed the French target to be Egypt and sailed for Alexandria, but passed the French during the night of 22 June without discovering them and arrived off Egypt first.
Unable to find Bonaparte, Nelson turned back across the Mediterranean, eventually reaching Sicily on 19 July. While Nelson was returning westwards, Bonaparte reached Alexandria and stormed the city, capturing the coast and marching his army inland. His fleet, entrusted to Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, was anchored in a line of battle in Aboukir Bay. On 1 August, Nelson, who had returned to the Egyptian coast after reports gathered at Coron revealed the French invasion, arrived off Aboukir Bay. Although it was late afternoon and the British fleet had no accurate charts of the bay, Nelson ordered an immediate attack on the French van. Brueys was unprepared, and his ships were unable to manoeuvre as the British split into two divisions and sailed down either side of the French line, capturing all five ships of the vanguard and engaging his 120-gun flagship Orient in the centre. At 21:00, Orient caught fire and exploded, killing most of the crew and ending the main combat. Sporadic fighting continued for the next two days, until all of the French ships had been captured, destroyed or fled. At the Battle of the Nile, eleven French ships of the line and two frigates were eliminated, trapping Bonaparte in Egypt and changing the balance of power in the Mediterranean.
With the French Navy in the Mediterranean defeated, other nations were encouraged to join the Second Coalition and go to war with France. Portugal, the Kingdom of Naples, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire all subsequently deployed forces to the Mediterranean. The Russians and Turks participated in the blockade of Egypt and operations in the Adriatic Sea while the Portuguese joined the Siege of Malta, which was distantly conducted by Nelson from his lodgings in Naples. Nelson, who had been wounded at the Battle of the Nile, became involved in Neapolitan politics and encouraged King Ferdinand to go to war with France, resulting in the loss of his mainland kingdom. In the Western Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Earl St Vincent, who commanded the Mediterranean fleet from off Cádiz, deployed forces against Menorca, rapidly captured the island and turned it into an important naval base.
In the early spring of 1798, Bonaparte left his command at Boulogne and returned to Paris, reporting that continued British naval supremacy in Northern European waters made an invasion impossible in the near future. With operations to the north impossible, Bonaparte directed his attention southwards to Toulon, the principal French seaport on the Mediterranean. There a French army and fleet had begun assembling for a secret location, speculated by French commentators to be aimed at a wide variety of places, including among others Britain, Sicily, Malta and the Crimea. The expedition's intended target was actually Egypt, which formed an important link in the chain of communications between Britain and the economically vital colony of British India. Bonaparte considered the capture of Egypt as the most important step in neutralising the massive economic benefits that Britain gained from trade with India and bringing Britain to terms: in August 1797 he wrote "The time is not far away that we will feel that, in order to truly destroy England, we must take Egypt." Possession of Egypt could grant the French control of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, forcing severe delays to dispatches sent between Britain and India and obstructing trade worth £2.7 million (the equivalent of £300,000,000 as of 2025) to the British economy. In addition, a successful invasion of Egypt could be followed by a direct attack on British territory in India, possibly in conjunction with the anglophobic Tippoo Sultan of Seringapatam. The French Mediterranean Fleet was unopposed at the start of 1798 – following the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796, in which Spain formed an alliance with France and declared war on Britain, the Royal Navy had withdrawn from the Mediterranean bases of Corsica and Elba. By early 1798, their Mediterranean Fleet was based at the Tagus River in Portugal, their one remaining continental ally. With no permanent British fleet in the Mediterranean and an uprising imminent in Ireland, Bonaparte firmly believed that the Royal Navy would be unable to intervene in his plans, even if they should discover them.
With passage to Egypt seemingly unopposed Bonaparte gave orders for a fleet of thirteen ships of the line, led by the 120-gun Orient under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers and numerous smaller warships, including the entire Venetian Navy, captured the previous year, to prepare for sea. The fleet was to be accompanied by up to 400 transport ships, which were to carry the 35,000 men detailed for the invasion. On 3 May, Bonaparte departed Paris, arriving at Toulon five days later to oversee the final preparations. On 9 May he reviewed the assembled army and gave a speech announcing that the expedition was bound for an unspecified foreign land. The speech was met with an enthusiastic response from his soldiers and a revised version subsequently appeared in Le Moniteur Universel and was widely distributed throughout France as a poster. Despite Bonaparte's pronouncement the French departure was delayed: a strong headwind prevented the fleet from sailing for another nine days, conditions finally lifting on 18 May that permitted the 22 warships and 120 transports that made up the French fleet to sail the following day.
St. Vincent's response
Britain was not unaware of French preparations at Toulon and along the Mediterranean coast, but despite sustained efforts by British agents in France the destination of the French fleet was unknown. Egypt was not seriously considered by the British government: when Secretary of State for WarHenry Dundas suggested it, he was urged by Foreign SecretaryLord Grenville to think "with a map in your hand, and with a calculation of distances." Letters reached London and St. Vincent at the Tagus describing extensive preparations right along the French and Italian Mediterranean coastlines, but the distances between the base in the Tagus and Toulon prevented any sustained observation of French movements. Urgent orders were sent from Lord Spencer at the Admiralty to Vice-Admiral Earl St. Vincent, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet at the Tagus, to despatch a squadron to investigate under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson. Nelson had returned to the fleet three days earlier at Lord Spencer's order, following recovery in Britain from the loss of an arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in July 1797.
St. Vincent had already been preparing for an expedition to Toulon with Nelson in mind, and the rear-admiral departed the Tagus in his flagship HMS Vanguard on 2 May. St Vincent was overjoyed to be able to place Nelson in command of the mission, writing that "the arrival of Admiral Nelson has given me new life ... his presence in the Mediterranean is so very essential". His preference for Nelson over the more senior admirals Sir William Parker and Sir John Orde provoked a storm of protest, which eventually culminated in Orde challenging St Vincent to a duel, and being subsequently ordered to return to Britain. On 9 May Nelson collected the ships of the line HMS Alexander and HMS Orion under Captains Alexander Ball and Sir James Saumarez the frigates HMS Emerald and HMS Terpsichore under Captains Thomas Moutray Waller and William Hall Gage and the sloopHMS Bonne Citoyenne under Captain Robert Retalick at Gibraltar, and passed into the Mediterranean. Despite leaving under cover of darkness, Nelson's departure was observed by Spanish forces at Cadiz, and the fort at Cape Carnero fired several shot, striking Alexander but inflicting negligible damage.
On 17 May Terpsichore captured the privateerLa Pierre off Cape Sicié, and from the crew Nelson learned that Bonaparte's departure was imminent, although the destination was still unknown. On 21 May, as his squadron reached the Îles d'Hyères near Toulon, they were struck by strong winds that snapped Vanguard's topmasts and brought the wreckage down onto the deck, killing two men. Vanguard was left struggling in heavy seas, blown 75 nautical miles (139 km) southwards in one night. So severe was the damage that Vanguard was almost wrecked on the Corsican coast on the following day and Nelson even ordered Captain Ball, who had managed to attach a towline to the flagship, to abandon him. Ball refused the order and the British ships of the line rode out the storm together. Although Alexander was able to tow Vanguard to San Pietro Island off Sardinia for repairs, the gale had forced the squadron's frigates to separate from the larger ships.
Thomas Waller on Emerald was divided from the other frigates, and his lookouts had observed Vanguard in its dismasted state at the height of the storm. The other two frigates had reefed their sails and ridden out the storm together, Captain Gage turning towards the Spanish coast when the storm abated and on 29 May encountered HMS Alcmene under Captain George Johnstone Hope, which had been sent by St. Vincent to augment Nelson's force. Two days later Hope's squadron encountered Emerald, which had captured two merchant ships, and together they sailed for the prearranged rendezvous point 60 miles (97 km) off Cape St. Sebastian near Barcelona. Hope ordered Terpsichore and Bonne Citoyenne to cruise off Sardinia and on 3 June encountered the brig HMS Mutine under Captain Thomas Hardy, the scout of a fleet sent by Earl St. Vincent that was approaching the rendezvous. Knowing of the damaged suffered by Vanguard and aware that the French had left Toulon, Hope then took the unilateral decision to search for the French himself, dispersing the frigates across the Western Mediterranean. Hope's ships failed to find either the British or French fleets and none of the frigates returned to Nelson's command until after the Battle of the Nile.
Malta
Departing Toulon on 19 May, Bonaparte's fleet passed along the coast of Provence to Genoa, where 72 additional transport ships were collected. Sailing south, the fleet reached Corsica on 23 May and collected a fleet of 22 transports from Ajaccio on 28 May. The convoy remained within sight of the eastern coastline until 30 May, crossing the Strait of Bonifacio and following the coastline of Sardinia in anticipation of combining with fleets of transports sailing from Civitavecchia. On 3 June, a message reached Bonaparte reporting the presence of Nelson's squadron at San Pietro and the French general sent a French squadron to investigate, although by that time Nelson had sailed and the harbour was empty. Abandoning the wait for the Civitavecchia force, which had still not arrived, Bonaparte gave orders for his fleet to turn southeast, passing Mazara on Sicily and the island of Pantelleria on 7 June. There a report from a captured British merchant brig warned Bonaparte that Nelson was only a short distance behind his force with a powerful Royal Navy fleet and, concerned for his transports, Bonaparte gave urgent orders for the French fleet to steer for Malta, arriving off Valletta at 05:30 on 9 June, shortly after uniting with the 56 ships of the Civitavecchia convoy, which had missed the rendezvous and continued to Malta alone.
The report on Nelson's activity submitted to Bonaparte on 7 June was inaccurate: Repairs to Vanguard in San Pietro took six days, the squadron sailing on 27 May for Toulon, arriving off the harbour on 31 May. Nelson had already learned of the departure of the French fleet from a captured Marseille merchant ship, but without reinforcements or knowledge of the French direction he could not begin a pursuit. On 5 June, the brig HMS Mutine arrived off Toulon and reported that a British fleet was only a few days away, consisting of ten ships of the line and a fourth rate sent by Earl St Vincent from the Tagus on 24 May under Captain Thomas Troubridge in HMS Culloden. St Vincent, acting under urgent orders from London to send a fleet to the Mediterranean had opted to split his forces, rather than risk taking all of his ships into the Mediterranean and leaving the Spanish at Cadiz unattended. Troubridge was considered by St Vincent to be the best officer in the fleet, and Nelson, who also held a high opinion of Troubridge, immediately sailed his squadron to the scheduled rendezvous point. On 6 June, his squadron briefly intercepted a Spanish merchant convoy and captured two ships, before the admiral called off the pursuit to ensure he arrived at the agreed time. On 7 June at 12:00 the fleets combined, Nelson now commanding 13 74-gun ships of the line, one 50-gun ship and one brig. Noticeable by their absence were frigates, vital for scouting operations in a campaign of this nature; After his encounter with Hope, Hardy reported to Nelson that the frigates were cruising independently, to which the admiral bitterly responded "I had thought that Hope would have known me better".