2704 - The British campaign in Egypt, 1801. part 1
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If one was to ask about the contribution of the British army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, some of the immediate responses would concern the Duke of Wellington, the Peninsular War and the Battle of Waterloo. These subjects have acquired great fame over the past two decades, thanks in part to Bernard Cornwall's popular Sharpe novels, and to the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo in 2015. However, the battles fought at Waterloo and in the Spanish Peninsula were only a fraction of those fought by the British army during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. One British campaign that has largely been forgotten was fought in Egypt in 1801. Although the numbers of men who fought in Egypt were far smaller than in later campaigns in Spain, Portugal and Belgium, Egypt nevertheless proved a turning point in the fortunes of the British army. The significance of the Egyptian campaign can still be felt to this day.
This episode was written by Simon Quinn
Simon is a postdoctoral research fellow in history at the University of York. He has recently completed a PhD studying the lives of British soldiers on campaign in Egypt in 1801.
Hello and welcome to the History Network.org podcast. Once again thanks for all of you who sponsored the podcast by becoming patrons at patreon.com/the History Network and this week. Special thanks to Stephen Lang author for signing up. Thank you to all of you once again who have become patrons. The History Network.org podcast season 27 episode four the British campaign in Egypt 1801 part one. This episode was written by Simon Quinn. Simon is a postdoctoral research fellow in history at the University of York. He has recently completed a PhD studying the lives of British soldiers on campaign in Egypt in 1801. If one were to ask about the contribution of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napodionic Wars some of the immediate responses would concern the Duke of Wellington, the Peninsula War and the Battle of Waterloo. These subjects have acquired a great fame over the past two decades thanks in part to Bernard Cornwall's popular sharp novels and to the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo in 2015. However the battles fought at Waterloo and in the Spanish Peninsula were only a fraction of those fought by the British Army during the Revolutionary and Napodionic Wars. One British campaign that has largely been forgotten was fought in Egypt in 1801. Although the numbers of men who fought in Egypt were far smaller than in later campaigns in Spain, Portugal and Belgium, Egypt nevertheless proved a turning point in the fortunes of the British Army. The significance of the Egyptian campaign can still be felt to this day. The origins of the Egyptian campaign began on the 1st of July 1798 when a French army of 40,000 men commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte disembarked from their transports at Alexandria and seized the city. By the end of July the French had defeated the forces of the ruling Mamluk regime and had occupied Cairo. News of the invasion alarmed the British government. Napoleon's battle-hardened army now posed a significant threat to the British Empire in India. This concern was short lived however. On 1st August 1798 a ratio Nelson's naval squadron annihilated the French fleet that had escorted Napoleon's army to Egypt at the battle of the Nile. On reading reports of Nelson's victory Lord Grenville, the foreign secretary, jubilantly wrote of his certainty that the French garrison would rot away through disease and homesickness. Subsequent events reinforced this view. In the spring of 1799 Napoleon's advance into Israel was halted at the walls of Acre and forced into retreat. By August 1799 Napoleon had abandoned his army and returned to France. Meanwhile the Royal Navy blockaded French ports along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coast preventing all but a trickle of supplies that the French army in Egypt required. It seemed the French occupation of Egypt could do little harm. All this changed as the war in Europe began to swing in France's favour. At the end of 1798 several European monarchical powers had joined military alliance against France known as the Second Coalition led by Austria, Britain and Russia. The coalition's goal was to contain the expansion of the new French Republic and restore the monarchy in France that had been overthrown by the Revolution in 1789. Within a year of its formation the coalition was close to collapse. After a disastrous campaign in Holland in the autumn of 1799 Russia abandoned the alliance. In the following summer Austria was defeated at Meringo in Italy and forced on the defensive in Germany. The Austrians attained a temporary armistice which became permanent after a crushing defeat at Honelinden on 3rd December 1800. Britain had bankrolled the second coalition and this huge expenditure was crippling the country's finances. Added to this poor harvests at home had brought riots and malnutrition to many cities. It was clear Britain would be unable to continue the war much longer. Cabinet ministers agreed to begin peace negotiations with the French but Egypt remained a sticking point. Napoleon's army was still in firm possession of the country. The French were determined to hold onto Egypt during peace negotiations and it seemed likely they would launch an invasion of India from Egypt as soon as war broke out again. For Henry Dundas the home secretary there was only one option an immediate military strike against the French occupation force in Egypt. As the director of the board of control for India Dundas had devoted many years of his career to the colony and refused to watch this be undone by the enemy. On 3rd October 1800 Dundas won the approval of the cabinet for an expedition to Egypt
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