Round the head of the French line

Brueys first orders his ships to sail, then cancels the order when the British slow down, believing they will wait for the next day. His ships are cleared for action only on their seaward side, with the landward guns blocked by stores. At 18:20 Guerrier and Conquérant, at the head of the line, open fire on the leading British ships, Goliath and Zealous.

The Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798, painting by Nicholas Pocock, 1808Wikimedia Commons, Nicholas Pocock, Public domain (Pocock's Battle of the Nile.jpg)

Captain Thomas Foley of Goliath sees room between Guerrier and the shoal, crosses the head of the French line and anchors off the bow of Conquérant on the landward side. Zealous anchors beside Guerrier, and Orion, Theseus and Audacious follow inside the line, while Orion wrecks the frigate Sérieuse with one broadside. Nelson in Vanguard, with Minotaur and Defence, anchors on the seaward side, so that the leading French ships are fired on from both sides.

The Battle of the Nile, painting by Thomas Whitcombe, 1799Wikimedia Commons, Thomas Whitcombe, Public domain (Thomas Whitcombe - The Battle of the Nile 1798 (cropped).jpg)

Bellerophon and Majestic sail on to the French centre, where Bellerophon finds herself under the guns of the 120-gun Orient. Troubridge’s Culloden runs aground on the shoal off Aboukir Island in the dusk and takes no part in the battle. Before 19:00 Conquérant has lost all three masts and is boarded.

Sources

Oliver Warner, The Battle of the Nile (1960).
William James, The Naval History of Great Britain, volume 2 (1827).
Noel Mostert, The Line upon a Wind (2007).

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