The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden

Author:Conn Iggulden [Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9780007444403
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

The Battle of the Nile

Napoleon had taken control of Alexandria on 2 July 1798. He revered its founder, Alexander the Great, and it must have been a moment of special glory for him to be in that ancient place. His army pushed on to take Cairo by 24 July. Nelson was in Syracuse on the east coast of Sicily when he heard the news of the French fleet’s whereabouts in Aboukir Bay off the western mouth of the Nile. He put to sea immediately and on 1 August, a British lookout sighted the French at anchor. The French fleet had landed guns to defend their anchorage and felt themselves secure. What was to follow would deny Napoleon his chance of an eastern empire and cripple him at sea. In a very real sense, the future of the world pivoted on one man at that moment. It is possible there would not have been a British Empire to resist the Nazi machine 150 years later if Nelson had lost in Egypt.

The French fleet consisted of four frigates and thirteen ships of the line, including Napoleon’s own 120-gun flagship, the Orient. Under Admiral Brueys, they were anchored close to shore and were ready to fight at anchor, gaining the advantage of a steady firing platform. They had even dismounted cannon from the land side to fire out to sea.

In contrast, Nelson had thirteen ships of the line. He attacked as darkness fell, his ships cutting between the French fleet and the shore. The French were thrown into confusion. Their guns and crews were all on the wrong side for the action and Nelson’s captains hammered the enemy unmercifully. Within twenty minutes, the first three French ships had been silenced and the first five surrendered by eight o’clock.

During the battle, Nelson was struck by flying iron, tearing free a flap of skin that blinded his one good eye for a time. Seeing him stunned and bleeding copiously, his officers led him below, believing he was dying. He too considered the possibility and prepared letters to be sent to his wife. He refused treatment ahead of his men, and by the time he was finally stitched, news came that the Orient was on fire. Nelson insisted on being helped up on deck once more.

The Orient’s magazine exploded around ten o’clock that evening, an explosion that could be heard thirteen miles away in Alexandria. The French Admiral Brueys was amongst the dead. Nelson sent his only undamaged boat to pick up survivors, though the battle would not finish until the afternoon of the following day.

Not a single British ship was lost and only 218 killed. The French losses are estimated at around 1,700, with 3,000 more taken as prisoners. Nelson was made a baron and became an English hero. The French fought on to the very end, but of the seventeen ships that had faced the British in the beginning, only four survived, withdrawn by Admiral Villeneuve, a man who had a part yet to play in Nelson’s life.

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