‘Thank you, sir.’ Arthur was proud of his achievement, but now that Harris and his staff had arrived Arthur was seventh in seniority amongst the higher-ranking officers and it galled him that others would take credit for his labours. Worse still, he was now commanding only the men of his regiment, once again. A lowly line officer far removed from the direction of the war.

General Harris was watching him closely, and could not help smiling.‘You will have your chance to win recognition,Wellesley. Sooner than you think. I will not say any more at present, for fear that it might cause bad feeling amongst some of the other officers.’

‘I don’t understand, sir.’

‘You will. But you must be patient for just a little longer.’

Two days later General Harris summoned his senior officers to his headquarters. When all were present he produced a dispatch from inside his jacket.

‘Gentlemen, I have today received orders from the Governor General. The army is to break camp tomorrow and march on Seringapatam. The war has begun.’

Chapter 39 - Napoleon

Chapter 39

Napoleon

Alexandria, August 1798

Aboukir Bay reeked of death and destruction even several days after the battle.The beach was littered with shattered timbers and severed cordage. Bodies were still being washed up on the shore, blotched and bloated and often mutilated by the effects of cannon fire and explosions. What was left had been worried by the fish gorging themselves in the bay. In the now calm waters, wreckage floated on the surface and the masts of the ships that had been sunk rose stark and bare from their watery grave.

‘Sweet Jesus . . .’ Berthier muttered as he gazed across the scene. He opened his mouth to continue and then closed it again with a slight shake of the head.There were no words to describe the scale of the defeat that France had suffered at the hands of Lord Nelson and his fleet.

‘What was the final cost?’ asked Napoleon.

Berthier took a moment to collect his thoughts and reached for his pocket book. He flicked the pages open to the notes he had made earlier that morning after consulting the army’s chief surgeon, Dr Desgenettes. ‘Nearly two and a half thousand killed or wounded. Over three thousand taken prisoner when their ships were captured.’

Napoleon waved his hand dismissively. ‘What about the ships? How many did we lose?’

‘The L’Orient blew up.Three ships of the line were taken and burned by the Royal Navy, another nine ships of the line were captured and two frigates were sunk.’

‘And how many survived?’

‘Two ships of the line and two frigates. They escaped to the east. We haven’t heard anything from them yet.’