On March 21, 1807 AD, the local Ottoman force in Rashid, led by its governor Ali Bey Al-Selaniki, confronted the advancing British troops led by General Fraser, two years after Muhammad Ali assumed power in Egypt. The British had arrived in Egypt during the struggles between the governor Muhammad Ali and the Mamluks. The British signed a treaty with Muhammad Bey Al-Alfy, the leader of the Mamluks, to ensure his support of the British campaign, in exchange for a British guarantee that the Mamluks would establish control over Egypt if the British expedition was successful. However, Al-Alfi died before this expedition reached Egypt.