Battle of Alexandria | |||||||
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Part of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria during the War of the Second Coalition | |||||||
The Battle of Alexandria, 21 March 1801, Philip James de Loutherbourg | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ralph Abercromby (DOW) John Hely-Hutchinson John Moore (WIA) Eyre Coote John Doyle John Stuart Sidney Smith (WIA) |
Jacques Menou François Lanusse † Jean Reynier Antoine-Guillaume Rampon César Antoine Roize † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000[1]–14,200[2][3] | 10,000[3]–16,000[4][5] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,500[6][3] | 1,700[2]–5,000[3][6][7] | ||||||
The Battle of Alexandria, or Battle of Canope, was fought on 21 March 1801 between the army of Napoleon's French First Republic under General Jacques-François Menou and the British expeditionary corps under Sir Ralph Abercromby. The battle took place near the ruins of Nicopolis, on the narrow spit of land between the sea and Lake Abukir, along which the British troops had advanced towards Alexandria after the actions of Abukir on 8 March and Mandora on 13 March. The fighting was part of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria against the Ottoman Empire, which began in 1798.[8]