Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 Alexandria on 29 June and immediately invaded, rapidly advancing inland and defeating the Mamluk rulers of Egypt at the Battle of the Pyramids on 21 July. While the army had pushed inland, the fleet, under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, had anchored in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria, and was found there in the afternoon of 1 August by Nelson's fleet. Despite the growing darkness, Nelson attacked at once and in the three-day Battle of the Nile destroyed or captured eleven ships of the line and two frigates. Just two ships of the line and two frigates escaped and among the more
Action of 24 June 1801 a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at Aboukir Bay on the Egyptian coast. The battle completely reversed the strategic situation in the Mediterranean: British forces had evacuated the region in 1796 after the Treaty of San Ildefonso brought Spain into the war on the French side, but they were now able to return in large numbers. As French maritime lines of communication were cut, the French "Armée d'Orient" under General Napoleon Bonaparte became trapped in Egypt. Unable to return to Europe by sea, the army attempted and failed to pass overland through Palestine