| The Battle of Alexandria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Philip James de Loutherbourg |
| Year | 1802 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 106.60 cm× 152.60 cm(41.97 in× 60.08 in) |
| Location | Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
The Battle of Alexandria is an oil on canvas history painting by the French-born British artist Philip James de Loutherbourg, from 1802. It is held at the Scottish National Gallery, in Edinburgh.
The artist was well known for his scenes of naval and land battles. He set this work around the Battle of Alexandria in March 1801, when a British army allied to the Ottoman Empire successfully defeated French forces who had launched an Invasion of Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte three years earlier.
Reminiscent of the battle scenes popularised by Benjamin West's Death of General Wolfe thirty years earlier, the painting focuses on the British high command while the battle rages in the background. [1] The British commander Ralph Abercromby, an experienced Scottish general, has been fatally wounded and is shown slumped back. [2] Gathered around him are various other senior officers including his successor the Irish general John Hely-Hutchinson as well as Robert Anstruther, John Moore, John Abercromby, Lord Ludlow, Eyre Coote and the naval officer Sir Sidney Smith. [3] Hely-Hutchinson succeeded him as commander and oversaw the successful Siege of Cairo that ended with a complete French surrender in Egypt.
It is now in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland, having been purchased in 1986. [4] Another artist Charles Orme also notably depicted the battle. [5]
Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, and was noted for his services during the French Revolutionary Wars, ultimately in the Egyptian campaign. His strategies are ranked amongst the most daring and brilliant exploits of the British army.
The Battle of Alexandria, or Battle of Canope, was fought on 21 March 1801 between the army of Napoleon's French First Republic under General Jacques-François Menou and the British expeditionary corps under Sir Ralph Abercromby. The battle took place near the ruins of Nicopolis, on the narrow spit of land between the sea and Lake Abukir, along which the British troops had advanced towards Alexandria after the actions of Abukir on 8 March and Mandora on 13 March. The fighting was part of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria against the Ottoman Empire, which began in 1798.
The War of the Second Coalition was the second war targeting revolutionary France by many European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria, and Russia and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples and various German monarchies. Prussia did not join the coalition, while Spain supported France.
Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith was a British Royal Navy officer. Serving in the American and French revolutionary wars and Napoleonic Wars, he rose to the rank of Admiral.
Philip James de Loutherbourg, whose name is sometimes given in the French form of Philippe-Jacques, the German form of Philipp Jakob, or with the English-language epithet of the Younger, was a French-born British painter who became known for his large naval works, his elaborate set designs for London theatres, and his invention of a mechanical theatre called the "Eidophusikon". He also had an interest in faith-healing and the occult, and was a companion of the confidence-trickster Alessandro Cagliostro.
Eyre Coote was an Irish-born British soldier and politician who served as Governor of Jamaica. He attained the rank of general in the British Army and was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath before being stripped of his rank and honours in 1816 after conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
The Abū Qīr Bay is a spacious bay on the Mediterranean Sea near Alexandria in Egypt, lying between the Rosetta mouth of the Nile and the town of Abu Qir. The ancient cities of Canopus, Heracleion and Menouthis lie submerged beneath the waters of the bay. In 1798 it was the site of the Battle of the Nile, a naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the navy of the French First Republic. The bay contains a natural gas field, discovered in the 1970s.
Lieutenant-General Sir John Abercromby GCB was a British Army officer and Member of Parliament (MP) for Clackmannanshire from 1815 to 1817.
General John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore, GCB, KC was a British Army officer and politician.
Events from the year 1801 in the United Kingdom. The Acts of Union 1800 came into force this year.
The siege of Alexandria was fought during the French Revolutionary Wars between French and British forces. It was the last action of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801). The French had occupied Alexandria, a major fortified harbour city on the Nile Delta in northern Egypt, since 2 July 1798, and the garrison there surrendered on 2 September 1801.
The Capitulation of Alexandria in August 1801 brought to an end the French expedition to Egypt.
The Battle of Mandora was a minor battle fought on 13 March 1801 between French forces under François Lanusse and the British expeditionary corps under Ralph Abercromby, during the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.
The siege of Cairo, also known as the Cairo campaign, was a siege that took place during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French and British with Ottoman forces and was the penultimate action of the Egyptian Campaign. 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.
Egypt was a battle honour awarded to units of the British and Indian armies that took part in the British expedition to Egypt under the command of General Sir Ralph Abercromby between 8 March and 26 August 1801, towards the end of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria. It was awarded to British units with the badge of the Sphinx and initially to Indian units simply as Egypt. Later, the badge of the Sphinx was taken into use by Indian units also.
The Convention of El Arish was signed on 24 January 1800 by representatives from France and the Ottoman Empire in the presence of a British representative. It was intended to bring to an end the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, with the repatriation of French troops to France and the return of all territory to the Ottomans.
La Bataille d'Aboukir by Antoine-Jean Gros is an oil-on-canvas painting commissioned by Joachim Murat in 1805 and completed in 1806. The painting is piece of Napoleonic propaganda known for its attention to historical detail and emotional intensity. It was in the National Palace of Naples in 1808 and was bought for the Musée du Luxembourg in 1833. Since 1835, it has been in the collection of the Palace of Versailles. An original sketch, Murat Defeating the Turkish Army at Aboukir, was completed before the larger painting, and it is now on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The final work served as Gros's submission for the Salon of 1806.
The Grand Attack on Valenciennes by the Combined Armies is a 1794 history painting by the French-born British artist Philip James de Loutherbourg. It depicts the gathering of Allies Generals during the Siege of Valenciennes in September 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary War. The Duke of York, second son of George III of Great Britain, commanded the coalition troops during the campaign. The taking of Valenciennes was a notable early Allied victory of the War of the First Coalition, but quickly the tide turned and the forces of Revolutionary France overran much of modern Belgium and in 1795 defeated and occupied the Dutch Republic The campaign gave rise to the nursery rhyme The Grand Old Duke of York.
The Capture of the Chevrette is an 1802 history painting by the French-born British artist Philip James de Loutherbourg. It depicts the cutting out of the French Navy's corvette Chevrette in 1801 during the Napoleonic Wars. The Chevrette was moored in Camaret Bay in Brittany under the protection of the artillery of shore batteries. Ship's boats from four ships of the British Royal Navy squadron blockading Brest, the Robust, Doris, Beaulieu and Uranie, moved in a cutting out move to storm the ship, overpower its French crew and take it out into British control.
The Landing of British Troops at Aboukir is an 1802 history painting by the French-born British artist Philip James de Loutherbourg. It depicts the Battle of Abukir fought on 8 March 1801 during the French invasion of Egypt. British forces led by Ralph Abercromby made an amphibious landing, but came under intense fire from French troops. The British took casualties, but made a successful landing and two weeks later won a further victory at the Battle of Alexandria. Although Abercromby does not appear in the scene himself, it features depictions of the Royal Navy officer Sidney Smith and the British Army officer Eyre Coote.
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