Mediterranean campaign of 1798

Overview

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.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 formed a central operational arc of the early War of the Second Coalition, pitting French strategic ambition against British naval power across the eastern Mediterranean. France's objective was the seizure of Egypt as a base from which to threaten British India and pressure Britain into peace negotiations, while simultaneously supporting Tipu Sultan. Bonaparte departed Toulon with over 40,000 troops and hundreds of ships, first neutralizing Malta — whose control of the Central Mediterranean made it a strategic priority — by rapidly overwhelming the Knights of St. John and securing Valletta. Nelson's pursuit, hampered by an absence of scouting frigates and unreliable intelligence, failed to intercept the French fleet despite shadowing it across the Mediterranean; his squadron passed the French during the night of 22 June without detection and reached Alexandria before Bonaparte's force arrived. The campaign thus set the conditions for the subsequent contest over Egypt, with the French successfully executing the first phase of their strategic design while the British, despite effort, failed to interdict the crossing.

Tactics

Commanders (8)