Battle of Abukir ( 1799 ) The Battle of Abukir ( or Abukir ) was Napoleon Bonaparte ' s decisive victory over Seid Mustafa Pasha ' s Ottoman army on 25 July 1799 during the French campaign in Egypt . No sooner had the French forces returned from a campaign to Syria , the Ottoman forces was transported to Egypt by Sidney Smith ' s British fleet to put an end to French rule in Egypt . Seid Mustafa Pasha was an experienced commander who had fought against the Russians . He knew that cavalry charges against the French squares was futile . So , he sought to avoid them by fortifying his beachhead with two defensive lines . From this beachhead Mustafa could carry out the invasion of Egypt . However , Napoleon immediately saw the flaw in the tactic as it meant that the Turks had nowhere to run if routed . The French attacked the Ottoman positions and quickly broke through the first defensive line before it was fully completed . The second line , however , proved tougher to defeat and the French withdrew for a while . As usual , the Ottoman army came out of their positions and began killing the wounded and mutilating the dead . At this point , cavalry general Murat saw his opportunity and attacked with his cavalry , quickly routing the exposed Turks . Murat ' s charge was so rapid that he burst inside Mustafa ' s tent and captured the Turkish commander , severing two of the Turk ' s fingers with his sabre . In return , Mustafa shot Murat in the jaw . Immediately , Murat was operated on and resumed his duties the next day . The Turkish army fled in panic . Some Ottomans drowned trying to swim to the British ships two miles away from shore , while others fled to Abukir castle , but they surrendered shortly thereafter . The Turks suffered about 8 , 000 casualties and the French only 1 , 000 . News of the victory reached France before Napoleon arrived in October and this made him even more popular , an important asset considering the troubles brewing in the French Directory . This battle temporarily secured France ' s control over Egypt . Pre - battle and campaign issues . The Ottoman army led by Britain , declared war on France . Two armies were to attack Egypt : one carried by the British fleet , the other concentrated in north Syria . As usual , Bonaparte chose to take the initiative in February and conquered Gaza , El Arish and Jaffa but failed before the town of Saint - Jean - d ' Acre after two months of siege . This city was defended by its governor , Djezzar Pasha and his former fellow student of the Ecole Militaire in Paris , Antoine de Phélippeaux , an excellent gunner . In addition , the city was continually replenished with men , food , water and other necessities by the British Navy . The French army being decimated by the plague , Napoleon ended his dreams of conquest in the East . He dreamed of taking Constantinople and then invading India to help the local insurgency against the British . He also dreamed that once in Constantinople , he could returned with his army to France through Vienna . On July 14 , 1799 , a British fleet of 60 ships landed with 16 , 000 men under the command of Mustapha Pasha , a veteran of the last Russo - Turkish war . They stormed the fortifications of the harbor and put 300 French troops under the command of Battalion Chief Godart , " hors de combat " . The peninsula changed hands and Turkish flags fluttered on the bastions of the city . Proud of this success , Mustapha Pasha was in no hurry to march on Cairo and Murad Bey , who managed to escape and join him , said , " The French dreaded that you could not support the presence , I watch , and they are fleeing before me " and Murad replied , " Pasha , thank the Prophet that it suits the French to withdraw , because if they turned , you would disappear before them like dust before the north wind . " Forces . Napoleon brought together as many troops as possible . Without waiting for Kleber , he approached Abukir with the divisions of Lannes , Desaix and Murat ' s cavalry , 10 , 000 men and 1 , 000 horsemen and the Turks gathered 18 , 000 men , 8 , 000 of whom were in a condition to fight . Battle . On 25 July , the Turks were on the defensive and relied on a strong redoubt between their lines and the sea . The British , too far from shore because of shallow waters , could not use their artillery against the French . Bonaparte established his artillery on the heights , but his launch of a first attack was a failure because Desaix stalled and Murat dared not to overload as he saw the shot that struck above his head . Then the Ottomans fell ; Pasha attacked the fort with his men and cut the heads of French soldiers killed . Rage seized the French , who without orders , rushed into the enemy ranks . Murat with his cavalry , operate a turning movement and then he completes the operation by loading so quickly that it passes through all the enemy lines and leads him behind the town , cutting off the retreat of Mustapha Pasha whom he captured in a single combat . Meanwhile , the rest of the Turkish army drowned while trying to regain the vessel . 3000 Ottomans succeeded in taking refuge in the fort but eventually surrendered , overcome by thirst and hunger . Murat was promoted to the General rank of the evening division . It is not the only one who performs miracles : Colonel Bertrand , twice wounded in battle , is startled when Bonaparte ordered to take charge of 25 men and the rabble , by being designated a column a thousand riders Mamluks . Balance sheet . The French suffered only 220 dead and 600 wounded while the Turkish losses were enormous : 2 , 000 dead on the battlefield , 4000 men drowned , 1 , 000 dead and 1 , 500 prisoners captured from the fort of Abukir . Consequences . Sidney Smith , admiral of the British fleet , blamed the defeat on the Ottoman chiefs as they did not follow his advice , especially to seize the town of Rosetta in order to isolate Alexandria . Furthermore , the Ottomans did not engage all their troops from the objective for the capture of Alexandria . Abukir gave the French a few months respite . Desaix , continued through Upper Egypt in search of Murad Bey . On August 23 , leaving the command to Kleber , Bonaparte embarked on the frigate Muiron , with Berthier , Murat , Lannes and others , because , from reading the British newspapers , he learned the recent defeats of the Management . On this occasion , he earned the nickname " General Good Catch " . In the medium term , a French presence in Egypt was impossible to maintain . Kleber did restore French rule over the country thanks to his victory at Heliopolis , March 18 , 1800 . But less than a month later he was murdered in his garden in Cairo by a student of theology . Kleber ' s successor , Menou , lacking the skills of a war leader , was defeated at Canopus and surrendered on September 2 . Under the convention , the British army came back in France . Egypt remained in French memory as an incredible adventure , and two or three hundred stragglers or deserters became " French Mamluks . " Thus , Chateaubriand could meet Gascons or Picards , renowned for their courage and whose beys and pashas quarreled services .