Egyptian – Ottoman War ( 1839 – 41 ) The Second Egyptian – Ottoman War or Second Turko – Egyptian War lasted from 1839 until 1841 and was fought mainly in Syria , whence it is sometimes referred as the ( Second ) Syrian War . In 1839 , the Ottoman Empire moved to reoccupy lands lost to Muhammad Ali in the First Turko - Egyptian War . After suffering a defeat at the Battle of Nezib , the Ottoman Empire appeared on the verge of collapse . Britain , Austria and other European nations , rushed to intervene and force Egypt into accepting a peace treaty . The Ottoman Empire invaded Syria , and Hafiz Pasha , accompanied by Moltke , marched an army into Syria . Battle of Nezib : Hafiz Pasha ' s army was routed by the Egyptian army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha . On July 1 , the Ottoman fleet sailed to Alexandria and surrendered to Muhammad Ali . From September to November 1840 , a combined naval fleet , made up of British and Austrian vessels , cut off Ibrahim ' s sea communications with Egypt . This is followed by the occupation of Beirut and Acre by the British . On November 27 , 1840 , the Convention of Alexandria took place . British Admiral Charles Napier reached an agreement with the Egyptian government , thereby abandoning claims to Syria and returned the Ottoman fleet . In February 1841 , Ibrahim left Syria and returned to Egypt . Origins . The war was the climax of the long power - struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the wily , aggressive Pasha of Egypt , Mehmet Ali , which had reached a point of crisis that threatened to destabilize the whole of the Levant . On June 29 , 1839 an invading Ottoman army was destroyed in Syria by Mehmet ' s general Ibrahim Pasha at the Battle of Nezib , putting him in possession of the whole of Syria , which threatened to place Constantinople itself and the rule of the entire Eastern Mediterranean within his grasp . A few days after the battle the Ottoman Sultan , Mahmud II , died , leaving his Empire in the hands of his 16 - year - old heir Abdülmecid . Meanwhile the Ottoman fleet had defected to Mehmet Ali . Britain , Russia and Austria were all pledged to support the tottering Ottoman Empire and to force Mehmed Ali ( who had the support of France and Spain ) to withdraw from Syria . Although the new Sultan ' s ministers moved to resolve the crisis by offering to cede the rule of Syria to Mehmet , the British , Austrian and Russian ambassadors forced them to rescind this offer and stand firm against him . There was even a possibility of war with France , who looked to Mehmet ' s success to increase its sphere of influence in the Near East . Naval intervention in Syria . In June 1840 Admiral Sir Robert Stopford , commanding the British Mediterranean Fleet , sent Commodore Charles Napier with a small squadron to the Syrian ( now the Lebanese ) coast . He was then ordered to proceed to Beirut to compel the Egyptians to withdraw . The situation on the ground was extremely volatile , and called for quick and decisive action ; this Napier provided , acting as if his was an entirely independent command . On August 11 , 1840 , Napier ' s ships appeared off Beirut and he called upon Suleiman Pasha , Mehmet ' s governor , to abandon the town and leave Syria , whose population shortly revolted against Mehmet ' s occupying army . With such a small force , there was little that Napier could do against fifteen - thousand Egyptian troops until September , when the Stopford ' s ships joined up with him . Open war broke out on September 11 , when Napier bombarded Beirut and effected a landing at Junieh with 1 , 500 Turks and Marines to operate against Ibrahim , who was prevented by the revolt from doing more than trying to hold the coastal cities . Sidon , Nahr - el - Kelb and Boharsef . Due to the illness of the Brigadier - General of the army , Sir Charles Smith , Napier was instructed to command the land force and made a successful sortie against a force of Albanians at Nahr - el - Kelb ( Kelbson ) . He then , with a mixed squadron of British , Turkish and Austrian ships , bombarded Sidon on September 26 and landed with the storming column . Sidon capitulated in two days . While preparing to attack the Egyptian positions on the heights of Boharsef , Napier received an order to retire from the command of the land forces to make way for Brigadier - General Smith , who had recovered from his illness , and also had received command of the Turkish force in the allied army . To do this , Napier would need to retreat from his position ; he decided to disobey the order and continued with the attack against Ibrahim ' s army . The fighting , on October 9 was furious but victory was secured . Napier then left the land forces to Smith . Meanwhile the Egyptians had abandoned Beirut on October 3 . Bombardment of Acre . The fleet was then instructed to retake Acre , which was the only coastal position left in Egyptian hands . The Mediterranean Fleet , commanded by Stopford , and supported by small Austrian and Turkish squadrons , moved into position against the western and southern sides of Acre on November 3 and opened fire at 14 : 00 . The ships anchored closer to the shore than expected , at 450 – 800 metres , and the Egyptian guns were aimed too high . The fire of the ships was devastatingly accurate thanks to the training associated with the Royal Navy ' s new gunnery school , HMS " Excellent " . The Egyptians had no opportunity to correct their error ; their guns were disabled by direct hits and by the walls of the fortifications falling on their crews . The sailing ships of the line were in two lines with steamers manoeuvring in between . At 16 : 20 a shell penetrated the main magazine in the south of the city , which exploded killing 1 , 100 men . The guns ashore fell silent and that night the city was occupied . British losses were light : 18 men killed and 41 wounded . The ships had fired 48 , 000 rounds . Resolution of the conflict . The rapid collapse of Mehemet Ali ' s power , with the prospect of bloody chaos in Egypt , was not part of the Allies ' plan , and Stopford sent Napier to command the squadron at Alexandria and to observe the situation . Here , acting independently again , he appeared before the city with part of his squadron on November 25 and enforced a blockade . Then without reference to his Admiral or the British government he personally negotiated a peace with Mehemet Ali , guaranteeing him and his heirs the sovereignty of Egypt , and pledging to evacuate Ibrahim ' s beleaguered army back to Alexandria , if Mehemet in turn renounced all claims to Syria , submitted to the Sultan and returned the Ottoman fleet . Stopford and the British ambassador were furious with this outcome . Stopford repudiated it immediately when he had heard the news and several of the Allied powers declared it void . Despite Napier ’ s long - standing personal friendship with Lord Palmerston , the arrangement was at first denounced by the British government ; but the formal treaty later concluded and confirmed by the Sultan used Napier ’ s original as the basis for negotiations and differed from it only in minor ways . References .