Alexandria expedition of 1807
| Alexandria expedition of 1807 | |||||
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| Part of Napoleonic Wars and campaigns of Muhammad Ali of Egypt | |||||
 Battle of Rosetta 1807 |
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| Belligerents | |||||
 United Kingdom
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 Egypt
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| General Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser |
Muhammad Ali Umar Makram |
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| Strength | |||||
| 6,000 regulars | Unknown | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 900 + | Unknown | ||||
Egyptian victory
The Alexandria expedition of 1807 or Fraser expedition (Arabic:حملة فريزر) was an operation by the Royal Navy and the British Army during the Anglo-Turkish War (1807–1809) of the Napoleonic Wars to capture Alexandria in Egypt with the purpose of securing a base of operations against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a part of a larger strategy against the Ottoman-French alliance of the Ottoman Sultan Selim III. It resulted in the occupation of Alexandria from 18 March to 25 September 1807. The people of Alexandria, being disaffected towards Muhammad Ali, opened the gates of the city to the British forces, allowing for one of the easiest conquests of a city by the British forces during the Napoleonic Wars. However, due to lack of supplies, and inconclusive operations against the Egyptian forces, the Expedition was forced to embark the transports again, and leave Alexandria, not having reached any specific goals towards influencing the Ottoman Empire's improving relations with France.
The Expedition began in mid-February 1807 when a force of British troops deployed in Calabria and Sicily was ordered by General Fox in Messina to embark on transports with a mission rumoured to be destined for Constantinople while John Thomas Duckworth, appointed second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet, sailed for Constantinople, but he failed to provide effective support for Dmitry Senyavin's Imperial Russian Navy in the Dardanelles Operation. After departure from Constantinople, as an Admiral of the White Squadron he was to rendezvous with the transports in Aboukir Bay. However, by 17 March the fleet of transports with nearly 6,000 British troops embarked on board approached off Alexandria under the command of General Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser.
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