Battle of Mahé Louis in December 1799 had restored absolute British control. The importance of the East Indies to British trade encouraged a number of French plans to threaten the region, of which the most advanced was the invasion, in 1798, of Egypt by a French Army under General Napoleon Bonaparte. Although the campaign saw initial success, the annihilation of the French Mediterranean Fleet by Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798 effectively doomed the campaign to failure. Later in the year Bonaparte considered building a squadron at Suez in the Red Sea, but the plans were
Battle of Coron (1793) Battle of Coron (1793) The Battle of Coron (18 September 1793) was fought between Royalist and Republican French forces near Coron during the War in the Vendée. A Republican division from Saumur led by Antoine Joseph Santerre beat Royalist Vendeans at Doué-la-Fontaine on 15 September and at Vihiers on the 17th. However, on 18 September Santerre's division blundered into an ambush between Vihiers and Coron set by Louis Marie de Lescure and Dominique Piron. The Republican column was routed and lost all its artillery. A few days later, a flanking Republican division under Charles François Duhoux was beaten in the