Editing Battle of the Nile (section)

===Mediterranean campaign===
{{further|Mediterranean campaign of 1798}}

[[File:HoratioNelson1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson'', [[Lemuel Francis Abbott]], 1800, [[National Maritime Museum]]. Visible on his cocked hat is the [[aigrette]] presented by the Ottoman Sultan as a reward for the victory at the Nile|alt=Portrait of a man in an ornate naval uniform festooned with medals and awards.]]

Bonaparte's armada sailed from Toulon on 19 May, making rapid progress through the [[Ligurian Sea]] and collecting more ships at [[Genoa]], before sailing southwards along the [[Sardinia]]n coast and passing [[Sicily]] on 7 June.<ref name="WLC353">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 353]]</ref> On 9 June, the fleet arrived off [[Malta]], then under the ownership of the [[Knights of St. John of Jerusalem]], ruled by [[List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller|Grand Master]] [[Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim]].<ref name="JC8">[[#Reference-Cole|Cole, p. 8]]</ref> Bonaparte demanded that his fleet be permitted entry to the fortified harbour of [[Valletta]]. When the Knights refused, the French general responded by ordering a [[French invasion of Malta|large scale invasion of the Maltese Islands]], overrunning the defenders after 24 hours of skirmishing.<ref name="RG21">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 21]]</ref> The Knights formally surrendered on 12 June and, in exchange for substantial financial compensation, handed the islands and all of their resources over to Bonaparte, including the extensive property of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] on Malta.<ref name="WJ151">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 151]]</ref> Within a week, Bonaparte had resupplied his ships, and on 19 June, his fleet departed for [[Alexandria]] in the direction of [[Crete]], leaving 4,000 men at Valletta under General [[Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois|Claude-Henri Vaubois]] to ensure French control of the islands.<ref name="RLA13">[[#Reference-Adkins|Adkins, p. 13]]</ref>

While Bonaparte was sailing to Malta, the Royal Navy re-entered the Mediterranean for the first time in more than a year. Alarmed by reports of French preparations on the Mediterranean coast, [[George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer|Lord Spencer]] at the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] sent a message to Vice-Admiral [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Earl St. Vincent]], commander of the Mediterranean Fleet based in the [[Tagus]], to despatch a squadron to investigate.<ref name="SM233">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 233]]</ref> This squadron, consisting of three [[Ship of the line|ships of the line]] and three [[frigates]], was entrusted to Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson.

Nelson was a highly experienced officer who had been blinded in one eye during [[Invasion of Corsica (1794)|fighting in Corsica in 1794]] and subsequently commended for his capture of two Spanish [[ships of the line]] at the [[Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797)|Battle of Cape St. Vincent]] in February 1797. In July 1797, he lost an arm at the [[Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797)|Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife]] and had been forced to return to Britain to recuperate.<ref name="PP109">[[#Reference-Padfield|Padfield, p. 109]]</ref> Returning to the fleet at the Tagus in late April 1798, he was ordered to collect the squadron stationed at [[Gibraltar]] and sail for the Ligurian Sea.<ref name="WJ148">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 148]]</ref> On 21 May, as Nelson's squadron approached Toulon, it was struck by a fierce gale and Nelson's flagship, {{HMS|Vanguard|1787|6}}, lost its topmasts and was almost wrecked on the Corsican coast.<ref name="JK44">[[#Reference-Keegan|Keegan, p. 44]]</ref> The remainder of the squadron was scattered. The ships of the line sheltered at [[San Pietro Island]] off Sardinia; the frigates were blown to the west and failed to return.<ref name="RLA9">[[#Reference-Adkins|Adkins, p. 9]]</ref>

On 7 June, following hasty repairs to his flagship, a fleet consisting of ten ships of the line and a [[fourth-rate]] joined Nelson off Toulon. The fleet, under the command of Captain [[Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet|Thomas Troubridge]], had been sent by Earl St. Vincent to reinforce Nelson, with orders that he was to pursue and intercept the Toulon convoy.<ref name="SM241">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 241]]</ref> Although he now had enough ships to challenge the French fleet, Nelson suffered two great disadvantages: He had no intelligence regarding the destination of the French, and no frigates to scout ahead of his force.<ref name="WLC354">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 354]]</ref> Striking southwards in the hope of collecting information about French movements, Nelson's ships stopped at [[Elba]] and [[Naples]], where the British ambassador, [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|Sir William Hamilton]], reported that the French fleet had passed Sicily headed  in the direction of Malta.<ref name="RG29">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 29]]</ref> Despite pleas from Nelson and Hamilton, [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|King Ferdinand of Naples]] refused to lend his frigates to the British fleet, fearing French reprisals.<ref name="EB176">[[#Reference-Bradford|Bradford, p. 176]]</ref> On 22 June, a brig sailing from [[Dubrovnik|Ragusa]] brought Nelson the news that the French had sailed eastwards from Malta on 16 June.<ref name="NM254">[[#Reference-Mostert|Mostert, p. 254]]</ref> After conferring with his captains, the admiral decided that the French target must be Egypt and set off in pursuit.<ref name="JK55">[[#Reference-Keegan|Keegan, p. 55]]</ref> Incorrectly believing the French to be five days ahead rather than two, Nelson insisted on a direct route to Alexandria without deviation.<ref name="NR459">[[#Reference-Rodger|Rodger, p. 459]]</ref>

On the evening of 22 June, Nelson's fleet passed the French in the darkness, overtaking the slow invasion convoy without realising how close they were to their target.<ref name="SM258">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 258]]</ref> Making rapid time on a direct route, Nelson reached Alexandria on 28 June and discovered that the French were not there.<ref name="WJ154">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 154]]</ref> After a meeting with the suspicious Ottoman commander, Sayyid Muhammad Kurayyim, Nelson ordered the British fleet northwards, reaching the coast of [[Anatolia]] on 4 July and turning westwards back towards Sicily.<ref name="JK59">[[#Reference-Keegan|Keegan, p. 59]]</ref> Nelson had missed the French by less than a day—the scouts of the French fleet arrived off Alexandria in the evening of 29 June.<ref name="RG26">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 26]]</ref>

Concerned by his near encounter with Nelson, Bonaparte ordered an immediate invasion, his troops coming ashore in a poorly managed [[amphibious operation]] in which at least 20 drowned.<ref name="RLA17">[[#Reference-Adkins|Adkins, p. 17]]</ref> Marching along the coast, the French army stormed Alexandria and captured the city,<ref name="JC22">[[#Reference-Cole|Cole, p. 22]]</ref> after which Bonaparte led the main force of his army inland.<ref name="WLC356">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 356]]</ref> He instructed his naval commander, Vice-Admiral [[François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers]], to anchor in Alexandria harbour, but naval surveyors reported that the channel into the harbour was too shallow and narrow for the larger ships of the French fleet.<ref name="RLA21">[[#Reference-Adkins|Adkins, p. 21]]</ref> As a result, the French selected an alternative anchorage at [[Aboukir Bay]], {{convert|20|mi|km}} northeast of Alexandria.<ref name="NM257">[[#Reference-Mostert|Mostert, p. 257]]</ref>

Nelson's fleet reached [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] in Sicily on 19 July and took on essential supplies.<ref name="WJ155">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 155]]</ref> There the admiral wrote letters describing the events of the previous months: "It is an old saying, 'the Devil's children have the Devil's luck.' I cannot find, or at this moment learn, beyond vague conjecture where the French fleet are gone to. All my ill fortune, hitherto, has proceeded from want of frigates."<ref name="RLA19">[[#Reference-Adkins|Adkins, p. 19]]</ref> Meanwhile, the French were securing Egypt by the [[Battle of the Pyramids]]. By 24 July, the British fleet was resupplied and, having determined that the French must be somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean, Nelson sailed again in the direction of the [[Morea]].<ref name="SM265">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 265]]</ref>  On 28 July, at [[Koroni|Coron]], Nelson finally obtained intelligence describing the French attack on Egypt and turned south across the Mediterranean. His scouts, {{HMS|Alexander|1778|6}} and {{HMS|Swiftsure|1787|6}}, sighted the French transport fleet at Alexandria on the afternoon of 1 August.<ref name="WLC355">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 355]]</ref>