Editing Battle of the Nile (section)

==Aftermath==
{{blockquote|[I] went on deck to view the state of the fleets, and an awful sight it was. The whole bay was covered with dead bodies, mangled, wounded and scorched, not a bit of clothes on them except their trousers.|Account by Seaman John Nicol of ''Goliath''<ref name="OW103">[[#Reference-Warner|Warner, p. 103]]</ref>}}

[[File:Battle of the Nile PW4704.jpg|thumb|''A True Position of the French fleet as they were moored near the Mouth of the Nile and the manner in which Lord Nelson formed his attack on them'', [[Robert Dodd (artist)|Robert Dodd]], 1800, [[National Maritime Museum]]|alt=A map showing a line of 13 ships, mostly dismasted and two on fire. On either side are six ships flying British flags, some in a state of disrepair. Four other ships sit along the coastline, one on fire while a large ship and a small ship are grounded on a shoal which is surmounted by a burning fort.]]
British casualties in the battle were recorded with some accuracy in the immediate aftermath as 218 killed and approximately 677 wounded, although the number of wounded who subsequently died is not known.<ref name="RLA37"/> The ships that suffered most were ''Bellerophon'' with 201 casualties and ''Majestic'' with 193. Other than ''Culloden'' the lightest loss was on ''Zealous'', which had one man killed and seven wounded.<ref name="WLC357"/>

The casualty list included Captain Westcott, five lieutenants and ten junior officers among the dead, and Admiral Nelson, Captains Saumarez, Ball and Darby, and six lieutenants wounded.<ref name="WLC370" /> Other than ''Culloden'', the only British ships seriously damaged in their hulls were ''Bellerophon'', ''Majestic,'' and ''Vanguard''. ''Bellerophon'' and ''Majestic'' were the only ships to lose masts: ''Majestic'' the main and mizzen and ''Bellerophon'' all three.<ref name="WLC369">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 369]]</ref>

French casualties are harder to calculate but were significantly higher. Estimates of French losses range from 2,000 to 5,000, with a suggested median point of 3,500, which includes more than 1,000 captured wounded and nearly 2,000 killed, half of whom died on ''Orient''.{{Cref2|Note A|2}} In addition to Admiral Brueys killed and Admiral Blanquet wounded, four captains died and seven others were seriously wounded. The French ships suffered severe damage: Two ships of the line and two frigates were destroyed (as well as a bomb vessel scuttled by its crew),<ref name="OW121">[[#Reference-Warner|Warner, p. 121]]</ref> and three other captured ships were too battered ever to sail again. Of the remaining prizes, only three were ever sufficiently repaired for frontline service. For weeks after the battle, bodies washed up along the Egyptian coast, decaying slowly in the intense, dry heat.<ref name="JC110" />

Nelson, who on surveying the bay on the morning of 2 August said, "Victory is not a name strong enough for such a scene",<ref name="OW95">[[#Reference-Warner|Warner, p. 95]]</ref> remained at anchor in Aboukir Bay for the next two weeks, preoccupied with recovering from his wound, writing dispatches, and assessing the military situation in Egypt using documents captured on board one of the prizes.<ref name="SM273">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 273]]</ref> Nelson's head wound was recorded as being "three inches long" with "the cranium exposed for one inch". He suffered pain from the injury for the rest of his life and was badly scarred, styling his hair to disguise it as much as possible.<ref name="OW104">[[#Reference-Warner|Warner, p. 104]]</ref> As their commander recovered, his men stripped the wrecks of useful supplies and made repairs to their ships and prizes.<ref name="WJ183" />

Throughout the week, Aboukir Bay was surrounded by bonfires lit by Bedouin tribesmen in celebration of the British victory.<ref name="JC110">[[#Reference-Cole|Cole, p. 110]]</ref> On 5 August, ''Leander'' was despatched to [[Cadiz]] with messages for Earl St. Vincent carried by Captain Edward Berry.<ref name="WJ182">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 182]]</ref> Over the next few days the British landed all but 200 of the captured prisoners on shore under strict terms of [[Parole#Prisoners of war|parole]], although Bonaparte later ordered them to be formed into an infantry unit and added to his army.<ref name="WJ183">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 183]]</ref>  The wounded officers taken prisoner were held on board ''Vanguard'', where Nelson regularly entertained them at dinner. Historian Joseph Allen recounts that on one occasion Nelson, whose eyesight was still suffering following his wound, offered toothpicks to an officer who had lost his teeth and then passed a [[snuff (tobacco)|snuff-box]] to an officer whose nose had been torn off, causing much embarrassment.<ref name="JA213">[[#Reference-James|Allen, p. 213]]</ref> On 8 August the fleet's boats stormed Aboukir Island, which surrendered without a fight. The landing party removed four of the guns and destroyed the rest along with the fort they were mounted in, renaming the island "Nelson's Island".<ref name="WJ183" />

On 10 August, Nelson sent Lieutenant Thomas Duval from ''Zealous'' with messages to the government in India. Duval travelled across the Middle East overland via [[camel train]] to [[Aleppo]] and took the [[East India Company]] ship ''Fly'' from [[Basra]] to [[Bombay]], acquainting [[Governor-General of India]] [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Viscount Wellesley]] with the situation in Egypt.<ref name="RW115">[[#Reference-Woodman|Woodman, p. 115]]</ref> On 12 August the frigates {{HMS|Emerald|1795|6}} under Captain Thomas Moutray Waller and {{HMS|Alcmene|1794|6}} under Captain [[George Johnstone Hope]], and the sloop {{HMS|Bonne Citoyenne|1796|6}} under Captain Robert Retalick, arrived off Alexandria.<ref name="WLC373" /> Initially the British mistook the frigate squadron for French warships and ''Swiftsure'' chased them away. They returned the following day once the error had been realised.<ref name="WJ183" /> The same day as the frigates arrived, Nelson sent ''Mutine'' to Britain with dispatches, under the command of Lieutenant [[Thomas Bladen Capel]], who had replaced Hardy after the latter's promotion to captain of ''Vanguard''. On 14 August, Nelson sent ''Orion'', ''Majestic'', ''Bellerophon'', ''Minotaur'', ''Defence'', ''Audacious'', ''Theseus'', ''Franklin'', ''Tonnant'', ''Aquilon'', ''Conquérant'', ''Peuple Souverain,'' and ''Spartiate'' to sea under the command of Saumarez. Many ships had only [[jury masts]] and it took a full day for the convoy to reach the mouth of the bay, finally sailing into open water on 15 August. On 16 August the British burned and destroyed the grounded prize ''Heureux'' as no longer fit for service and on 18 August also burned ''Guerrier'' and ''Mercure''.<ref name="WJ183" /> On 19 August, Nelson sailed for Naples with ''Vanguard'', ''Culloden,'' and ''Alexander'', leaving Hood in command of ''Zealous'', ''Goliath'', ''Swiftsure,'' and the recently joined frigates to watch over French activities at Alexandria.<ref name="WJ184">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 184]]</ref>

The first message to reach Bonaparte regarding the disaster that had overtaken his fleet arrived on 14 August at his camp on the road between [[Salahieh]] and [[Cairo]].<ref name="JC110" /> The messenger was a staff officer sent by the Governor of Alexandria General [[Jean Baptiste Kléber]], and the report had been hastily written by Admiral Ganteaume, who had subsequently rejoined Villeneuve's ships at sea. One account reports that when he was handed the message, Bonaparte read it without emotion before calling the messenger to him and demanding further details. When the messenger had finished, the French general reportedly announced ''"Nous n'avons plus de flotte: eh bien. Il faut rester en ces contrées, ou en sortir grands comme les anciens"'' ("We no longer have a fleet: well, we must either remain in this country or quit it as great as the ancients").<ref name="WJ184" /> Another story, as told by the general's secretary, [[Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne|Bourienne]], claims that Bonaparte was almost overcome by the news and exclaimed "Unfortunate Brueys, what have you done!"<ref name="RLA38" /> Bonaparte later placed much of the blame for the defeat on the wounded Admiral Blanquet, falsely accusing him of surrendering ''Franklin'' while his ship was undamaged. Protestations from Ganteaume and Minister Étienne Eustache Bruix later reduced the degree of criticism Blanquet faced, but he never again served in a command capacity.<ref name="WJ184" /> Bonaparte's most immediate concern however was with his own officers, who began to question the wisdom of the entire expedition. Inviting his most senior officers to dinner, Bonaparte asked them how they were. When they replied that they were "marvellous," Bonaparte responded that it was just as well, since he would have them shot if they continued "fostering mutinies and preaching revolt."<ref name="JC111">[[#Reference-Cole|Cole, p. 111]]</ref> To quell any uprising among the native inhabitants, Egyptians overheard discussing the battle were threatened with having their tongues cut out.<ref name="JC112">[[#Reference-Cole|Cole, p. 112]]</ref>

===Reaction===
Nelson's first set of dispatches were captured when ''Leander'' was intercepted and defeated by ''Généreux'' in a fierce engagement off the western shore of Crete [[Action of 18 August 1798|on 18 August 1798]].<ref name="NR460"/> As a result, reports of the battle did not reach Britain until Capel arrived in ''Mutine'' on 2 October,<ref name="WLC373">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 373]]</ref> entering the Admiralty at 11:15 and personally delivering the news to Lord Spencer,<ref name="OW147">[[#Reference-Warner|Warner, p. 147]]</ref> who collapsed unconscious when he heard the report.<ref name="EB212"/> Although Nelson had previously been castigated in the press for failing to intercept the French fleet, rumours of the battle had begun to arrive in Britain from the continent in late September and the news Capel brought was greeted with celebrations right across the country.<ref name="SM277">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 277]]</ref> Within four days Nelson had been elevated to Baron Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe, a title with which he was privately dissatisfied, believing his actions deserved better reward.<ref name="J&R219">[[#Reference-Jordan|Jordan, p. 219]]</ref> [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] addressed the [[Parliament of Great Britain|Houses of Parliament]] on 20 November with the words:

{{Blockquote|The unexampled series of our naval triumphs has received fresh splendour from the memorable and decisive action, in which a detachment of my fleet, under the command of Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson, attacked, and almost totally destroyed a superior force of the enemy, strengthened by every advantage of situation. By this great and brilliant victory, an enterprise, of which the injustice, perfidy, and extravagance had fixed the attention of the world, and which was peculiarly directed against some of the most valuable interests of the British empire, has, in the first instance, been turned to the confusion of its authors and the blow thus given to the power and influence of France, has afforded an opening, which, if improved by suitable exertions on the part of other powers, may lead to the general deliverance of Europe.|King George III, quoted in [[William James (naval historian)|William James]]' ''The Naval History of Great Britain During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars'', Volume 2, 1827|<ref name=WJ186>[[#Reference-James|James, p. 186]]</ref>}}

Saumarez's convoy of prizes stopped first at Malta, where Saumarez provided assistance to a  rebellion on the island among the [[Maltese people|Maltese population]].<ref name="RG67">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 67]]</ref> It then sailed to Gibraltar, arriving on 18 October to the cheers of the garrison. Saumarez wrote that, "We can never do justice to the warmth of their applause, and the praises they all bestowed on our squadron." On 23 October, following the transfer of the wounded to the military hospital and provision of basic supplies, the convoy sailed on towards [[Lisbon]], leaving ''Bellerophon'' and ''Majestic'' behind for more extensive repairs.<ref name="JM21">[[#Reference-Musteen|Musteen, p. 20]]</ref> ''Peuple Souverain'' also remained at Gibraltar: The ship was deemed too badly damaged for the Atlantic voyage to Britain and so was converted to a guardship under the name of HMS ''Guerrier''.<ref name="WLC372"/> The remaining prizes underwent basic repairs and then sailed for Britain, spending some months at the [[Tagus]] and joining with the annual merchant convoy from Portugal in June 1799 under the escort of a squadron commanded by Admiral [[Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner|Sir Alan Gardner]],<ref name=WJ265>[[#Reference-James|James, p. 265]]</ref> before eventually arriving at [[Plymouth]]. Their age and battered state meant that neither ''Conquérant'' nor ''Aquilon'' were considered fit for active service in the Royal Navy and both were subsequently hulked, although they had been bought into the service for £20,000 (the equivalent of £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|.02|1799|r=1}}|0}} million as of {{Inflation/year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK}} each as HMS ''Conquerant'' and HMS ''Aboukir'' to provide a financial reward to the crews that had captured them.<ref name="WJ185">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 185]]</ref> Similar sums were also paid out for ''Guerrier'', ''Mercure'', ''Heureux'' and ''Peuple Souverain'', while the other captured ships were worth considerably more. Constructed of Adriatic [[oak]], ''Tonnant'' had been  built in 1792 and ''Franklin'' and ''Spartiate'' were less than a year old. ''Tonnant'' and ''Spartiate'', both of which later fought at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]], joined the Royal Navy under their old names while ''Franklin'', considered to be "the finest two-decked ship in the world",<ref name="WJ185"/> was renamed HMS ''Canopus''.<ref name="RG39"/> The total value of the prizes captured at the Nile and subsequently bought into the Royal Navy was estimated at just over £130,000 (the equivalent of £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|.13|1799|r=1}}|0}} million as of {{Inflation/year|UK}}).<ref name="JM21"/>

[[File:Battle of the Nile Medal Gold.png|thumb|right|Battle of the Nile Medal in Gold. Normally worn from a wide blue ribbon. Grades: 4, awarded by rank. Gold: awarded to Nelson and his captains. Silver: awarded to lieutenants and warrant officers. Copper-Gilt: awarded to petty officers. Bronzed copper: awarded to ratings, marines, etc.]]
Additional awards were presented to the British fleet: Nelson was awarded £2,000 (£{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|2000|1798|r=-4}}|0}} as of {{Inflation/year|UK}}) a year for life by the [[Parliament of Great Britain]] and £1,000 per annum by the [[Parliament of Ireland]],<ref name="WJ187"/> although the latter was inadvertently discontinued after the [[Act of Union 1800|Act of Union]] dissolved the Irish Parliament.<ref name="OW146">[[#Reference-Warner|Warner, p. 146]]</ref> Both parliaments gave unanimous votes of thanks, each captain who served in the battle was presented with a specially minted gold medal and the first lieutenant of every ship engaged in the battle was promoted to commander.<ref name="WLC373"/> Troubridge and his men, initially excluded, received equal shares in the awards after Nelson personally interceded for the crew of the stranded ''Culloden, ''even though they did not directly participate in the engagement.<ref name="WJ187"/> The [[Honourable East India Company]] presented Nelson with £10,000 (£{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|10000|1798|r=-4}}|0}} as of {{Inflation/year|UK}}) in recognition of the benefit his action had on their holdings and the cities of [[London]], [[Liverpool]] and other municipal and corporate bodies made similar awards.<ref name="WJ187">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 187]]</ref> Nelson's own captains presented him with a sword and a portrait as "proof of their esteem." Nelson publicly encouraged this close bond with his officers and on 29 September 1798 described them as "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers", echoing [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]''. From this grew the notion of the [[Nelsonic Band of Brothers]], a cadre of high-quality naval officers that served with Nelson for the remainder of his life.<ref name="ODNBBoB">{{cite ODNB |last=Lambert |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Lambert |title=Nelson's Band of Brothers (act. 1798) |year=2007 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/96379 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/96379 |access-date=21 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112230227/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/96379 |archive-date=12 November 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nearly five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the [[Naval General Service Medal (1847)|Naval General Service Medal]], awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.<ref name="LG4">{{London Gazette|issue=20939|pages=236–245|date=26 January 1849}}</ref>

[[File:Nelson crocodiles.jpg|thumb|''The Gallant Nellson bringing home two Uncommon fierce French Crocadiles from the Nile as a Present to the King'', [[James Gillray]], 1798, [[National Maritime Museum]]. The crocodiles represent Fox and Sheridan.|alt=An engraved print showing a man in a distinctive naval uniform dragging two crocodiles with human heads. To the right of the image a man in a peasant's smock cheers approvingly.]]
[[File:Victors of the Nile (with 15 cameo portraits of naval officers) (proof) RMG PY5670.jpg|thumb|right|'Victors of the Nile', a celebratory engraving published five years after the Battle of the Nile, depicting Nelson and his 14 captains.]]
Other rewards were bestowed by foreign states, particularly the [[Ottoman Emperor]] [[Selim III]], who made Nelson the first Knight Commander of the newly created [[Order of the Crescent]], and presented him with a [[chelengk]], a diamond studded rose, a sable fur and numerous other valuable presents. Tsar [[Paul I of Russia]] sent, among other rewards, a gold box studded with diamonds, and similar gifts in silver arrived from other European rulers.<ref name="RG40">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 40]]</ref> On his return to Naples, Nelson was greeted with a triumphal procession led by [[Ferdinand IV of Naples|King Ferdinand IV]] and Sir William Hamilton and was introduced for only the third time to Sir William's wife [[Emma, Lady Hamilton]], who fainted violently at the meeting,<ref name="RLA40">[[#Reference-Adkins|Adkins, p. 40]]</ref> and apparently took several weeks to recover from her injuries.<ref name="EB212">[[#Reference-Bradford|Bradford, p. 212]]</ref> Lauded as a hero by the Neapolitan court, Nelson was later to dabble in Neapolitan politics and become the Duke of Bronté, actions for which he was criticised by his superiors and his reputation suffered.<ref name="RG41">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 41]]</ref> British general [[John Moore (British Army officer)|John Moore]], who met Nelson in Naples at this time, described him as "covered with stars, medals and ribbons, more like a Prince of Opera than the Conqueror of the Nile."<ref name="PP135">[[#Reference-Padfield|Padfield, p. 135]]</ref>

Rumours of a battle first appeared in the French press as early as 7 August, although credible reports did not arrive until 26 August, and even these claimed that Nelson was dead and Bonaparte a British prisoner.<ref name="IG56">[[#Reference-Germani|Germani, p. 56]]</ref> When the news became certain, the French press insisted that the defeat was the result both of an overwhelmingly large British force and unspecified "traitors."<ref name="IG61"/> Among the anti-government journals in France, the defeat was blamed on the incompetence of the French Directory and on supposed lingering Royalist sentiments in the Navy.<ref name="IG63">[[#Reference-Germani|Germani, p. 63]]</ref> Villeneuve came under scathing attack on his return to France for his failure to support Brueys during the battle. In his defence, he pleaded that the wind had been against him and that Brueys had not issued orders for him to counterattack the British fleet.<ref name="NM275">[[#Reference-Mostert|Mostert, p. 275]]</ref> Writing many years later, Bonaparte commented that if the French Navy had adopted the same tactical principles as the British:

{{Blockquote|Admiral Villeneuve would not have thought himself blameless at Aboukir, for remaining inactive with five or six ships, that is to say, with half the squadron, for twenty four hours, whilst the enemy was overpowering the other wing.|Napoleon Bonaparte, ''Mémoires'', Volume 1, 1823. Quoted in translation in Noel Mostert's ''The Line Upon a Wind'', 2007<ref name="NM706">[[#Reference-Mostert|Mostert, p. 706]]</ref>}}

By contrast, the British press were jubilant; many newspapers sought to portray the battle as a victory for Britain over anarchy, and the success was used to attack the supposedly pro-republican [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] politicians [[Charles James Fox]] and [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]].<ref name="IG67">[[#Reference-Germani|Germani, p. 67]]</ref>

In the United States, the outcome of the battle led President [[John Adams]] to pursue diplomacy with France to end the [[Quasi-War]], as the French naval defeat rendered the prospect of an invasion of the United States less likely.<ref>Herring, George C. (2008). ''From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 88. {{ISBN|978-0-19-972343-0}}. {{OCLC|299054528}}.</ref>

There has been extensive historiographical debate over the comparative strengths of the fleets, although they were ostensibly evenly matched in size, each containing 13 ships of the line.<ref name="JC108">[[#Reference-Cole|Cole, p. 108]]</ref> However, the loss of ''Culloden'', the relative sizes of ''Orient'' and ''Leander'' and the participation in the action by two of the French frigates and several smaller vessels, as well as the theoretical strength of the French position,<ref name="OW72"/> leads most historians to the conclusion that the French were marginally more powerful.<ref name="RLA23"/> This is accentuated by the [[weight of broadside]] of several of the French ships: ''Spartiate'', ''Franklin'', ''Orient'', ''Tonnant'' and ''Guillaume Tell'' were each significantly larger than any individual British ship in the battle.<ref name="WLC370"/> However inadequate deployment, reduced crews, and the failure of the rear division under Villeneuve to meaningfully participate, all contributed to the French defeat.<ref name="WJ179">[[#Reference-James|James, p. 179]]</ref>

===Effects===
The Battle of the Nile has been called "arguably, the most decisive  naval engagement of the great age of sail",<ref name="SM272">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 272]]</ref> and "the most splendid and glorious success which the British Navy gained."<ref name="WLC371">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 371]]</ref> Historian and novelist [[C. S. Forester]], writing in 1929, compared the Nile to the great naval actions in history and concluded that "it still only stands rivalled by [[Battle of Tsushima|Tsu-Shima]] as an example of the annihilation of one fleet by another of approximately equal material force".<ref name="CSF120">[[#Reference-Forester|Forester, p. 120]]</ref> The effect on the strategic situation in the Mediterranean was immediate, reversing the balance of the conflict and giving the British control at sea that they maintained for the remainder of the war.<ref name="NM274">[[#Reference-Mostert|Mostert, p. 274]]</ref> The destruction of the French Mediterranean fleet allowed the Royal Navy to return to the sea in force, as British squadrons set up [[blockade]]s off French and allied ports.<ref name="PP132"/> In particular, British ships cut Malta off from France, aided by the rebellion among the native Maltese population that forced the French garrison to retreat to Valletta and shut the gates.<ref name=WJ189>[[#Reference-James|James, p. 189]]</ref> The ensuing [[Siege of Malta (1798–1800)|siege of Malta]] lasted for two years before the defenders were finally starved into surrender.<ref name="RG70">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 70]]</ref> In 1799, British ships harassed Bonaparte's army as it marched east and north through [[Ottoman Palestine|Palestine]], and played a crucial part in Bonaparte's defeat at the [[Siege of Acre (1799)|siege of Acre]], when the barges carrying the siege train were captured and the French storming parties were bombarded by British ships anchored offshore.<ref name="JHR144">[[#Reference-Rose|Rose, p. 144]]</ref> It was during one of these latter engagements that Captain Miller of ''Theseus'' was killed in an ammunition explosion.<ref name=WJ294>[[#Reference-James|James, p. 294]]</ref> The defeat at Acre forced Bonaparte to retreat to Egypt and effectively ended his efforts to carve an empire in the Middle East.<ref name="RG62">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 62]]</ref> The French general returned to France without his army late in the year, leaving Kléber in command of Egypt.<ref name="DC226">[[#Reference-Chandler|Chandler, p. 226]]</ref>

The [[Ottoman Empire]], with whom Bonaparte had hoped to conduct an alliance once his control of Egypt was complete, was encouraged by the Battle of the Nile to go to war against France.<ref name="NR461">[[#Reference-Rodger|Rodger, p. 461]]</ref> This led to a series of campaigns that slowly sapped the strength from the French army trapped in Egypt. The British victory also encouraged  the [[Austrian Empire]] and the [[Russian Empire]], both of whom were mustering armies as part of a [[Second Coalition]], which declared war on France in 1799.<ref name="RG13"/> With the Mediterranean undefended, an [[Imperial Russian Navy]] fleet entered the [[Ionian Sea]], while Austrian armies recaptured much of the Italian territory lost to Bonaparte in the previous war.<ref name="RG14">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 14]]</ref> Without their best general and his veterans, the French suffered a series of defeats and it was not until Bonaparte returned to become [[First Consul]] that France once again held a position of strength on [[Continental Europe]].<ref name="SM275">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 275]]</ref> In 1801 a British Expeditionary Force defeated the demoralised remains of the French army in Egypt. The Royal Navy used its dominance in the Mediterranean to invade Egypt without the fear of ambush while anchored off the Egyptian coast.<ref name=RG78>[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 78]]</ref>

In spite of the overwhelming British victory in the climactic battle, the campaign has sometimes been considered a strategic success for France. Historian [[Edward Ingram (historian)|Edward Ingram]] noted that if Nelson had successfully intercepted Bonaparte at sea as ordered, the ensuing battle could have annihilated both the French fleet and the transports. As it was, Bonaparte was free to continue the war in the Middle East and later to return to Europe personally unscathed.<ref name=EL142>[[#Reference-Ingram|Ingram, p. 142]]</ref> The potential of a successful engagement at sea to change the course of history is underscored by the list of French army officers carried aboard the convoy who later formed the core of the generals and marshals under Emperor Napoleon. In addition to Bonaparte himself, [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]], [[Auguste de Marmont]], [[Jean Lannes]], [[Joachim Murat]], [[Louis Desaix]], [[Jean Reynier]], [[Antoine-François Andréossy]], [[Jean-Andoche Junot]], [[Louis-Nicolas Davout]] and [[Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas|Dumas]] were all passengers on the [[Mediterranean campaign of 1798|cramped Mediterranean crossing]].<ref name=SM259>[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 259]]</ref>

===Legacy===
The Battle of the Nile remains one of the Royal Navy's most famous victories,<ref name="J&R216">[[#Reference-Jordan|Jordan & Rogers, p. 216]]</ref> and has remained prominent in the British popular imagination, sustained by its depiction in a large number of cartoons, paintings, poems, and plays.<ref name="IG69">[[#Reference-Germani|Germani, p. 69]]</ref> One of the best known poems about the battle is ''[[Casabianca (poem)|Casabianca]]'', which was written by [[Felicia Dorothea Hemans]] in 1826 and gives a fictional account of the actual death of the French Captain Casabianca's son on ''Orient'', i.e. the boy who famously "stood on the burning deck" was French.<ref name="ODNBHemans">{{cite ODNB |last=Sweet |first=Nanora |title=Hemans, Felicia Dorothea |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/12888 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12888 |access-date=21 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305165349/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12888 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Monuments were raised, including [[Cleopatra's Needle (London)|Cleopatra's Needle]] in London. [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] gave the monument in 1819 in recognition of the battle of 1798 and the campaign of 1801 but Great Britain did not erect it on the [[Victoria Embankment]] until 1878.<ref name="MB93">[[#Reference-Baker|Baker, p. 93]]</ref> Another memorial, the [[Nile Clumps]] near [[Amesbury]], consists of stands of [[beech]] trees purportedly planted by [[Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry|Lord Queensbury]] at the behest of Lady Hamilton and [[Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet|Thomas Hardy]] after Nelson's death. The trees form a plan of the battle; each clump represents the position of a British or French ship.<ref name="Clumps">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5230560/Battle-of-the-Nile-tree-clumps-pinpointed-for-visitors-by-National-Trust.html|title=Battle of the Nile tree clumps pinpointed for visitors by National Trust|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=27 April 2009|author=Richard Savill|access-date=20 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220035134/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5230560/Battle-of-the-Nile-tree-clumps-pinpointed-for-visitors-by-National-Trust.html|archive-date=20 December 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

On the Hall Place estate, Burchetts Green, Berkshire (now [[Berkshire College of Agriculture]]), a double line of oak trees, each tree representing a ship of the opposing fleets, was planted by William East, Baronet, in celebration of the victory. He also constructed a scale-sized pyramid and a life-sized statue of Nelson on the highest point of the estate.

The composer [[Joseph Haydn]] had just completed the [[Missa in Angustiis]] (mass for troubled times) after [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] had defeated the Austrian army in four major battles. The well received news of France's defeat at the Nile however resulted in the mass gradually acquiring the nickname ''Lord Nelson Mass''. The title became indelible when, in 1800, Nelson himself visited the [[Palais Esterházy]], accompanied by his mistress, [[Emma, Lady Hamilton|Lady Hamilton]], and may have heard the mass performed.<ref name="Deutsch">Deutsch pp. 60–62</ref>

The Royal Navy commemorated the battle with the ship names {{HMS|Aboukir}}, {{HMS|Nile}} and {{HMS|Canopus}},{{sfnp|Manning|Walker|1959|pp=68, 128, 316}} and in 1998 commemorated the 200th anniversary of the battle with a visit to Aboukir Bay by the modern frigate {{HMS|Somerset|F82|6}}, whose crew laid wreaths in memory of those who lost their lives in the battle.<ref name="Somerset">{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewscentre.co.uk/nelson/decade.htm |title=Decade to mark the naval hero's battles |location=Portsmouth |year=1998 |author=Adrian Wills |access-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908043425/http://www.thenewscentre.co.uk/nelson/decade.htm |archive-date=8 September 2008 }}</ref>

In [[John le Carré]]'s novel [[Smiley's People]] there is mention of a bar on Battle of the Nile Street named 'The Defeated Frog'.

==== Archaeology ====
Although Nelson biographer [[Ernle Bradford]] assumed in 1977 that the remains of ''Orient'' "are almost certainly unrecoverable,"<ref name="EB208">[[#Reference-Bradford|Bradford, p. 208]]</ref> the first archaeological investigation into the battle began in 1983, when a French survey team under Jacques Dumas discovered the wreck of the French flagship. [[Franck Goddio]] later took over the work, leading a major project to explore the bay in 1998. He found that material was scattered over an area {{convert|500|m|yd}} in diameter. In addition to military and nautical equipment, Goddio recovered a large number of gold and silver coins from countries across the Mediterranean, some from the 17th century. It is likely that these were part of the treasure taken from Malta that was lost in the explosion aboard ''Orient''.<ref name="FGSinterview">{{cite web|url=http://www.franckgoddio.org/Sitemap/Project/ProjectArticel.aspx?ProjectName=Napoleon&Layout=B&XmlDocument=0003.xml|title=Interview with Franck Goddio, June 28, 1999|publisher=Franck Goddio Society|date=28 June 1999|access-date=20 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929041618/http://www.franckgoddio.org/Sitemap/Project/ProjectArticel.aspx?ProjectName=Napoleon&Layout=B&XmlDocument=0003.xml|archive-date=29 September 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2000, Italian archaeologist Paolo Gallo led an excavation focusing on ancient ruins on Nelson's Island. It uncovered a number of graves that date from the battle, as well as others buried there during the 1801 invasion.<ref name="BBC1">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/women_nelson_navy_05.shtml|title=Burials on Nelson's Island|work=BBC History|date=15 February 2004|author=Nick Slope|access-date=20 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213044239/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/women_nelson_navy_05.shtml|archive-date=13 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> These graves, which included a woman and three children, were relocated in 2005 to a cemetery at [[Shatby]] in Alexandria. The reburial was attended by sailors from the modern frigate {{HMS|Chatham|F87|6}} and a band from the [[Egyptian Navy]], as well as a descendant of the only identified burial, Commander James Russell.<ref name="BBC2">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4444643.stm|title=Nelson's troops reburied in Egypt|work=BBC News|date=14 April 2005|access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref>