Villeneuve escapes

Ten minutes after the explosion Franklin opens fire again, but she is soon dismasted and surrenders to Swiftsure and Defence. Tonnant fights Majestic until 03:00. The French rear under Rear-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, downwind of the fighting, has fired only from a distance. At dawn on 2 August it exchanges fire with Alexander and Majestic, which Goliath and Theseus then join, and the crew of the frigate Artémise strike, set her on fire and abandon her.

Tonnant at the Battle of the Nile, painting by Louis Le Breton, 19th centuryWikimedia Commons, Louis Le Breton, Public domain (Tonnant LeBreton PX8975.jpg)

Heureux and Mercure have drifted onto the shoal and surrender within minutes. At 11:00 Villeneuve takes Guillaume Tell and Généreux with the frigates Justice and Diane out to sea, followed only by Zealous. Tonnant is run ashore and surrenders on 3 August, and the crew of the grounded Timoléon set her on fire and escape to the shore.

Of the 13 French ships of the line, 9 are taken and 2 destroyed. British casualties are 218 killed and about 677 wounded. French losses are estimated at 2,000 to 5,000 killed and wounded, about half of the dead on Orient, and 3,000 to 3,900 men are captured. The army in Egypt is cut off from France.

Sources

Oliver Warner, The Battle of the Nile (1960).
William James, The Naval History of Great Britain, volume 2 (1827).
N. A. M. Rodger, The Command of the Ocean (2004).

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