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
Action of 27 June 1798 the secret French recognition codes. This appears to have convinced the French that the strangers were not enemy ships, and no move was made against them, Foote and Gage free to observe the French anchorage in Aboukir Bay before striking out along the African coast in search of Nelson. The British admiral was at this time resupplying his ships at Syracuse on Sicily, and when he sailed on 25 July he passed eastwards to Morea where he learned of the French invasion of Egypt from the Turkish governor of Coron. Striking directly southwards, Nelson arrived at Aboukir Bay on 1