26th May

On this day in 1798 Monge left Italy with Napoleon's expeditionary force to Egypt. The expedition included the mathematicians Fourier and Malus as well as Monge. The expedition was at first a great success. Malta was occupied on 10 June 1798, Alexandria taken by storm on 1 July, and the delta of the Nile quickly taken. However, on 1 August 1798 the French fleet was completely destroyed by Nelson's fleet in the Battle of the Nile, so that Napoleon found himself confined to the land that he was occupying.