Siege of Alexandria
Part of theFrench invasion of Egypt and Syria
French fortifications east of Alexandria during the siege
Date 17 August – 2 September 1801 Location Alexandria,Ottoman Egypt 31°12′16″N29°52′48″E / 31.2045796°N 29.8800659°E /31.2045796; 29.8800659 Result British victory Capitulation of Alexandria
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France
Commanders and leaders
John Hely-Hutchinson Sidney Smith	Jacques Menou
Strength
20,000[1]	13,000 5 frigates 3 corvettes 1 hospital ship
Casualties and losses
Unknown	2,000 died of disease 10,000 captured[2] 5 frigates captured 3 corvettes captured 1 hospital ship captured
class=notpageimage| Location within Mediterranean

War of the Second Coalition:
Egypt and Syria

480km
298miles

6

5

4

Jaffa

3

Cairo

2

Alexandria

1

Malta

   

  current battle

  Napoleon in command till 23 August 1799

Thesiege of Alexandria (17 August – 2 September 1801) was fought during theFrench Revolutionary Wars between French and British forces. It was the last action of theFrench invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801). The French had occupiedAlexandria, a major fortified harbour city on theNile Delta in northernEgypt, since 2 July 1798, and the garrison there surrendered on 2 September 1801.

The battle between the British and French atCanope on 21 March 1801 resulted in a French repulse. The French under Menou, disheartened by this failure, retired to Alexandria. With Abercromby's death,John Hely-Hutchinson succeeded as commander of the British force in August. He now intended to lay siege to Alexandria and bottle Menou up.

Hutchinson leftCoote with 6,000 men and then sent part of the reserve withBaron Charles de Hompesch to captureRosetta. He then advanced toCairo, which he reached, after a few skirmishes, in mid June. Joined by a sizable Ottoman force, Hutchinson invested Cairo and on 27 June the 13,000-strong French garrison under GeneralAugustin Daniel Belliard, out-manned and out-gunned, surrendered. GeneralJohn Moore then escorted them to the coast via Rosetta.^[2]

Hutchinson, with Cairo out of the way, now began the final reduction of Alexandria. He had thirty five battalions in total. While the reserve feinted to the east, Coote, with the Guards and two other brigades, landed on 16 August to its west where fierce opposition was encountered by the garrison ofFort Marabout, which the54th Regiment of Foot eventually stormed. Both sides mounted combined assaults but the French soldiers, unable to break out and with food shortages and disease taking their toll, became increasingly disillusioned with the campaign. Menou knew he had no hope and on 26 August asked for terms; on 26 August he proposed formal terms ofcapitulation. The terms as amended by British commanders and put into effect are known as theCapitulation of Alexandria.

By 2 September, a of 10,000 French troops surrendered under terms which allowed them to keep their personal weapons and baggage, and to return to France on British ships. However, all French ships and cannons at Alexandria were surrendered to the British.

Of the warships captured in the harbour, the French frigatesÉgyptienne (48) andRégénérée (40), and the ex-Venetian frigateLéoben (26) went to Britain, while the French frigateJustice (44), the ex-Venetianhospital shipCausse (64) and frigateMantoue (26), and the ex-Ottoman corvettesHalil Bey,Momgo Balerie andSalâbetnümâ went to theOttoman Navy underKüçük Hüseyin Pasha.^[3]

Historians relate that the French garrison, feeling abandoned by an uncaring Republic, gradually abandoned the high standards of conduct and service characteristic of theFrench Revolutionary Army. Many soldiers refused to renew their oath to the Republic, or did so half-heartedly.^[4] In his memoirs, the surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon's Grand Army, BaronDominique-Jean Larrey, remembers how the consumption of themeat of young Arab horses helped the French to curb an epidemic ofscurvy. He would so start the 19th-century tradition of horse meat consumption in France.^[5]

After the surrender, a dispute arose over the fate of French archaeological and scientific discoveries in Egypt. One of the key artifacts was theRosetta Stone which had been discovered in mid-July 1799 by French scientists of theInstitut d'Égypte. Menou refused to hand them over, claiming they belonged to the institute. How exactly the stone came into British hands is disputed. ColonelTomkyns Hilgrove Turner, who escorted the stone to Britain, claimed later that he had personally seized it from Menou and carried it away on agun carriage.^[6] Turner brought the stone to Britain aboardEgyptienne, landing in February 1802. On 11 March it was presented to theSociety of Antiquaries of London. Later it was taken to theBritish Museum, where it remains to this day. Inscriptions painted in white on the artifact state "Captured in Egypt by theBritish Army in 1801" on the left side and "Presented by KingGeorge III" on the right.

• Media related toSiege of Alexandria 1801 at Wikimedia Commons

• Sieges of the French invasion of Egypt and Syria
• Sieges of the Anglo-French wars
• Conflicts in 1801
• Military history of Alexandria
• 1801 in Egypt
• August 1801
• September 1801
• 19th century in Alexandria
• Attacks on military installations in Egypt
• Battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving the United Kingdom

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