Campaigns of 1798 in the French Revolutionary Wars 1798 was a relatively quiet period in the French Revolutionary Wars . The major continental powers in the First coalition had made peace with France , leaving France dominant in Europe with only a slow naval war with Great Britain to worry about . The leaders of the Directory in Paris feared Napoleon Bonaparte ' s popularity after his victories in Italy , so they were relieved when he proposed to depart France and mount an expedition to Egypt to gain further glory . Campaign in Egypt . At this time , Egypt was a province of the Ottoman Empire , but Napoleon viewed invading Egypt as a way to threaten British dominance in the Mediterranean Sea and threaten the British position in India , and to gain prestige for revolutionary arms . Napoleon raised a large army including scientists and cultural experts , and sailed from Toulon on 19 May . Stopping to capture Malta on 12 June , he landed near Alexandria on 2 July and took the city . Napoleon ' s army proceeded to march against the Mameluke armies in Cairo , and met them at the Battle of the Pyramids on 21 July . Facing a huge army , Napoleon organized his army into squares and used his artillery to disperse the Mameluke attacks . The Mameluke army retreated into Syria , leaving Napoleon dominant in Egypt . Battle of the Nile . However , the British were threatened by this move , and admiral Horatio Nelson rushed to the coast of Egypt . There , he came upon the French fleet at anchor and systematically destroyed it in the Battle of the Nile . Without a fleet , Napoleon ' s army was trapped in Egypt , and the majority would never return to France . Napoleon consolidated his base in Egypt for the remainder of the year . However , the local population in Cairo , encouraged by the battle of the Nile and annoyed by various taxes and impositions by the French , revolted in October , killing many of the French but eventually being suppressed . Damage to mosques sustained during this revolt embittered the Egyptian population against the French . Campaigns in Europe . The French were also under pressure in Belgium and Luxembourg where the local people revolted against conscription and anti - religious violence ( Peasants ' War ) . French troops deposed Pope Pius VI , establishing a republic in Rome . Switzerland . On 5 March 1798 , French troops overran Switzerland at the invitation of French - speaking factions in Vaud , and the Old Swiss Confederation collapsed . On 12 April 1798 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic , " One and Indivisible " . The new régime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudal rights . The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the French Revolution . Ireland . An expeditionary force was sent to County Mayo in Ireland to assist in the rebellion against Britain in the summer of 1798 . On 22 August , nearly two months after the main uprisings had been defeated , about 1 , 000 French soldiers under General Humbert landed in the north - west of the country , at Kilcummin in County Mayo . Joined by up to 5 , 000 local rebels , they inflicted a humiliating defeat ( known as the " Castlebar races " to commemorate the speed of the British retreat ) on the British at the Battle of Castlebar and set up a short - lived " Republic of Connacht " , before final defeat at the Battle of Ballinamuck , in County Longford , on 8 September 1798 . Second Coalition . By the end of the year , the European powers , having recovered from their previous defeats and emboldened by Napoleon ' s absence , organized a new Second Coalition . The only military activity before the end of the year was in Italy , where Naples captured Rome on 28 October but was driven out by the end of the year .