sense of the completeness of the victory. It began: "Almighty God has blessed his Majesty's Arms in the late Battle, by a great victory over the Fleet of the Enemy." In a letter to his wife, Fanny, Nelson was less fo1m al, and more evocative: " Victory is not a name strong enough for such a scene." War is often a matter of perceptions, and the reaction of the ComptrollerGeneral of the French army in Egypt, ex pressed in a letter written after the battle, speaks volumes. He wrote, in part: "The fatal engagement ruined all our hopes; it prevented us from receiving the remainder of the fo rces which were destined for us; it left the field free fo r the English . ... [I]t was no longer possible fo r us to dream of giving the English an uneasiness in India." The importance of Nelson's victory at the Nile was not lost on Britain ' s allies. In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, fo r example, there was rejoicing that reached hysteria. Sir John Acton reported to Nelson from Naples: " [T]he stupendous news of the total destruction of the French Naval Force, at the Mouth of the Nile, by the brave and most energetic exertions of the Squadro n under your command has fi lled their Sicili an Majesties, and all their faithful subjects, with the most sensible joy, gratitude,
and extensive admiration ." In a similar vein , the Queen of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies wrote to a friend , "We are ready and eager to render ourselves worthy of being the friends and Allies of the brave defenders of the Seas." Aftermath After the Battle of the Nile, Napoleon led the French Army of Egypt as fa r as Acre on the Bay of Haifa . There, in 1799, hi s assault was repulsed and he was fo rced to return to Egypt. Not long after his failure at Acre, Napoleon realized that his Middle East ambitions were in shambles. He left his stranded army in Egypt and sailed back to France in August of 1799-if not totall y defeated, at least contained on the European Continent until his Waterloo. The virtual annihilation of the French fo rce at the Battle of the Nile also had a fa r-reaching effect on naval warfare. It was an important step in the creation of a new concept of combat at sea, one in which the total destruction of the enemy fo rce was a realistic objective. In the past, most sea battles tended to be fo ught to a point short of total destruction of either of the combatants. And it had only been in Nelson's time that sea battles had begun to be fo ught beyond the "bloody nose" stage. In hi s recent book, Sea Battles in Close -Up: The Age of
Nelson, author David Lyon describes this new dimension of sea warfare as " a new standard in naval victories-of abso lute victory with the loser depri ved of nearly all his ships." The B attle of the Nile also had a highl y significant personal impact on Nelson. A ny doubts about hi s warfighting capabilities that mi ght have ex isted after the B attle of Santa Cruz, were blown sky high in Aboukir Bay. "The Hero of the Nile" was set in a direction that led to the later victories at Copenhagen in 1801 and Trafalgar in 1805. Finall y, the events in Aboukir Bay established the fighting superiority of the British Royal Navy. On that bas is, the Royal Navy after the Battle of the Nile was enhanced as a prime fo rce in British diplomacy by Whitehall-and the rest of the world . For the next 100 years, no matter what the shifts in land power might be, there was little disagreement thatB ritannia ruled the waves. That fac t of geopolitica l life was to influence virtually every corner of the world fo r a century. J, Joseph F . Callo is a free lance writer on naval, travel and business subjects and a rear admiral, USNR (Ret.). His stories on Admiral Nelson have appeared in Sea History 71 and79.
THE NELSON ERA The legacy of Horati o Admi ral Lord Nelson is an enduring one that continues to capture popul ar, as we ll as scholarly, attention. As we draw ever cl oser to the 200th anniversary of the culminating Battle of Trafa lgar, more and more muse ums, universities and historical and military organi zati ons will hold ex hibits, conferences and events to commemorate pi votal points in Nelson 's career and personal life. In Britain, the Offic ial Nelson Celebrations Committee launched The Nelson Decade in 1995 to commemorate the major bicentenaries of Nelson's battles and achievements, to culminate in an international pu blic celebrati on on Trafalgar Day, 21 October 2005 . For further info rmati on, write to Christop her Gray, Correspondence Secretary ONCC, at ional Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London SE J0 9NF, UK. On 12 September 1998 , the 1805 Club, the Nelson Society, the Society fo r Nauti cal Research and the Royal Navy are sponsoring a confe rence on "The Nile Campaign" at the Victory Club, HMS Ne lson, Portsmo uth, England. For informati on, contact Louis Hodgkin, Mill Farm, Woolley, Nr., Bath, Avon BA I SAP, UK. On this side of the Pond, you mi ght check out the new ex hi bit at The Mariners' Museum , entitled "Nelson: A Time for Heroes," which will be on displ ay fro m 20 June through 8 September. It features more th an 200 items including paintings, engrav ings, a multimedia display, original manuscripts, watercolors, arti facts, an interacti ve area, and an inex haustible supply of collectibles termed "Nelsonia. " The three secti ons of the ex hi bit, "The Age of Heroes," "Life in Nelson's Navy: Old England 's Wooden Wall s" and "Nelson and His Legacy" ex plore not only Nelson, bu t other nava l
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heroes such as John Paul Jones, condilions in the navy for the thousands of men under Nelson's command, and the emergence and endu rance of the Nelson myth. (The Mari ners' Museum , 100 Museum Drive, Newport News VA 23606-3759; 757 596-2222; web site: www .mariner. org) 1-
This image of Nelson aboard ship , ca. 1799, is a11ributed to Leonardo Guzzardi. (From the collections of The Mariners' Museum)
SEA hIISTORY 85 , SUMMER 1998