Battle of Aboukir (land)
Egyptian Campaign (French Revolutionary Wars) · Aboukir Plains, near Alexandria, Egypt
Summary
On 25 July 1799, near Aboukir, Napoleon, with about 10,000 men and Murat's cavalry, defeated the Ottoman army of Mustafa Pasha landed by the British fleet, despite initial numerical inferiority.
Historical context
After the failure of the siege of Acre, Bonaparte had to repel the Ottoman landing of 14 July 1799 at Aboukir, where 16,000 men supported by the British retook the fort before marching on Cairo.
Tactics
The Turks, entrenched in a redoubt between their lines and the sea, were first held in check by French artillery; the pasha's sortie and mutilation of prisoners triggered a spontaneous charge, then Murat executed a flanking move and captured Mustafa Pasha.
Consequences
Victory annihilated the Ottoman army (thousands dead and drowned) and gave the French occupation several months' respite, but did not prevent Bonaparte from leaving Egypt in August 1799; the expedition would end with the capitulation of 1801.