The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis near Alexandria in Egypt.

The Battle of Alexandria fought on 21 March 1801 between the British and French armies as part of the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. Led by General Sir Ralph Abercromby, the British engaged a French force under Divisional-general Jacques-François Menou near the ruins of Nicopolis, on the narrow spit of land between the Mediterranean Sea and Abukir. The British routed Menou's army after several hours of fierce fighting, though Abercromby was mortally wounded. John Hely-Hutchinson, who replaced Abercromby, led the British army to Alexandria and laid siege to the city, which surrendered in September.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until 1927, when it evolved into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after the Irish Free State gained a degree of independence in 1922.

In the history of France, the First Republic, sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire on 18 May 1804 under Napoléon Bonaparte, although the form of government changed several times.

Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile River Delta. Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt's capital. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" and "Pearl of the Mediterranean Coast" internationally, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.