Siege of Cairo (1801)
Who Fought
History & Significance
The siege of Cairo, also known as the Cairo campaign, took place during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. An Anglo-Ottoman army laid siege to French-held Cairo and captured it in the penultimate action of the invasion. British commander John Hely-Hutchinson advanced to Cairo, where he arrived after a few skirmishes in mid June. Joined by a sizeable Ottoman force Hutchinson invested Cairo and on 27 June the surrounded 13,000-strong French garrison under General Augustin Daniel Belliard, out-manned and out-gunned then surrendered. The remaining French troops in Egypt under Jacques-François Menou disheartened by this failure, retired to Alexandria.
With General Ralph Abercromby's death at the Battle of Canope, John Hely-Hutchinson succeeded as commander of the British force in August. On 26 April Major General Eyre Coote was left in command of the army before Alexandria while Hutchinson arrived at Rosetta to press home the operations against the French in the interior of the country that lead towards Cairo.
The British fifty gun ship HMS Leopard under Commodore John Blankett anchored in the road of Suez on 21 April along with three frigates and sloops and a number of transports. Native troops hired from the East India Company from Bombay amounting to about 6,000 were to support with those disembarked on the shore. On the 22nd at daybreak an officer and a party of the 86th regiment of foot landed from the Leopard and took possession of the town of Suez which the French garrison had previously evacuated. At 8 am the British Union Jack was hoisted on shore and afterwards the transports disembarked their troops. Soon after they consolidated their gains and set up camp while the rest of the force arrived.
On 5 May Hutchinson now with 8,000 British troops marched along the banks of the Nile towards the position of General Lagrange at El Aft accompanied on the river by a division of British and Ottoman gun boats. Meanwhile, Sir William Sidney Smith in HMS Tigre with Commander James Hillyar were expecting the arrival of Rear Admiral Joseph Antoine Ganteaume upon the coast in support of the French land forces. The French squadron under Gantheaume consisting of four ships of the line – a frigate, a corvette and five transports had been off the coast for some days. The men of war had between three and four thousand troops on board all. however Gantheaume fearing the approach of Sydney's ships which was in search of him cut his cables and stood off to sea. The five transports were empty of troops having been transferred to the ships. but the only occupants being many civilians were taken by Sydney's ships on the 7th and brought into Abu Qir Bay. The British took all the provisions and stores on board the transports and with the retreat of their fleet the French thus abandoned El Aft and retreated towards El Rahmaniya on 7 May. On the same evening allied troops entered El Aft and thus commenced the Cairo campaign.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Cairo (1801) lies on Teign Valley Group, bedrock that formed in the Namurian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
- France: 13,500 captured
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