The history of the British Empire is littered with small wars, but for the most part they have been largely forgotten.  One such is the British Campaign in Syria, where a large force was sent to support its ally, the Ottoman Sultan. 

At the time, and for many years preceding it, the vast Ottoman Empire had been in decline. On paper it was still huge covering modern day Turkiye, nearly all of the Middle East, and Egypt. However, holding the disparate parts together was increasingly difficult and local revolts were commonplace.

The Governor/Viceroy of Egypt (variously known as Muhammad/Mehmet/Mehemet Ali) technically ruled his land on behalf of the Sultan. In reality, it was his own domain and he long craved full autonomy. The ongoing tension was briefly dissipated by the Convention of Kutahya in 1833. It ceded effective control of Syria to Ali, but he wanted more.

Over the next few years he built up an army and navy that was well-equipped and well-trained. Weapons were imported from Europe and so was expertise in the form of experienced officers. Most of those were French, many veterans of Napoleon's armies. 

By 1839 Ali was ready to flex his military muscles against his supposed overlord, the Sultan.

On 24th June at the Battle of Nezib (Nizip in the south east of Turkiye) the Egyptian army under Ali's son, Ibrahim, crushed the Ottoman forces. The Sultan's force of 40,000, largely Kurdish conscripts, stood little chance against Ibrahim's army. Although it was roughly the same size, it was better disciplined, better prepared, and better led.

On hearing of the defeat, the Ottoman fleet chose pragmatism over loyalty.  It sailed south to the port of Alexandria in Egypt and promptly surrendered without a shot being fired. 

With no army in the field and a navy now sailing under the flag of the Egyptian Viceroy, the Ottomans turned to their allies for help. France determined to stay neutral. Russia and Prussia voiced support, but offered no troops. Only Britain and Austria answered the call for what would now be known as boots on the ground.

The aid principally came from the British Mediterranean Squadron, commanded by Admiral Sir Robert Stopford. Britain sent an ultimatum to the Viceroy of Egypt - withdraw all your troops back to your own territory or else.

Muhammad Ali would never be willing to give up all the lands he had schemed so long to conquer. A new war was inevitable. 

On 9th September, the British fleet arrived at Beyrout Point (modern Beirut).  When Egyptian troops were mustered to see off the expected landing, they were mercilessly bombarded by the guns of the Royal Navy. It was a pattern that was to be repeated throughout the short campaign.

Troops were taken to shore by British steamers which, because of their shallower drafts than the larger sailed warships, could get very close before Marines and seaman had to board landing craft.  That afternoon they landed unopposed at D'Jouni Bay.

The high ground above the bay was occupied by Turkish Ottoman troops. Royal Marines helped other Turkish soldiers to cross the Dog River to the south and hold the position. 

Advancing inland, a mixed force of Turks and Royal Marines seized a convent which was strategically placed to prevent Egyptian reinforcements from advancing along the Baalbec road.

After fortifying those positions, the rest of the force was brought up. It included eighteen artillery pieces,  1500 Royal Marines, 200 Austrians, and 5000 Turks.

With them firmly entrenched to the flank of the Egyptian defenders, the navy continued a daily bombardment of Beyrout city. 

Next, HMS Dido and HMS Carysfort were sent to D'Jebel (Gebail) along the coast to encourage the Albanian allies of the Viceroy to surrender the castle that they held there. They found the Albanians were in no mood to surrender.. 

On 12th September, HMS Cyclops arrived. It carried four Companies of Marines (over 200 men) under Captain Robinson, and 150 Ottoman Mountaineers.  The siting of the castle was such that it was almost immune to naval fire. Robinson had no choice than to assault the castle. After a difficult climb they were ready to attack. 

The advance met with limited opposition. It should have rung warning bells but it did not. When they got to within thirty yards of the castle, Albanian muskets appeared on the parapet and at loopholes lower down.. The Marines were driven back and eventually retreated to the beach. By nightfall they were back on the ships. Robinson had lost five men and another seventeen had been wounded.  It was the first reverse of the campaign, and pretty much the only one.  The losses were made even more poignant by the fact that as the Marines settled into their hammocks that night, the Albanians abandoned the castle. Within days, Turkish troops simply walked in and took it over.

The shelling of Beyrout continued and in the second half of September, the British probed the Egyptian defences at Tortosa and Marouba. Neither were deemed worthy of all out assault.

On 23rd September, HMS Castor and HMS  Pique bombarded Caiffa, before a landing party destroyed its guns and defences. 

The following day the same two ships attacked Tyre. It was occupied by 5000 Egyptian troops.  At dawn Marines and seamen from the ships landed.  Some of the Egyptians withdrew to avoid the ships' canons. Others to join the bulk of the army, some 15, 000 men a couple of miles away. Those that remained put up little fight and the town was soon under British control. 

The next city to be attacked was Sidon. It was an important port and stronghold. It was surrounded on three sides by the sea and backed into hillsides behind it. An old Crusader castle that jutted out into the Mediterranean was joined to the city by a narrow road. The city had high walls and a substantial garrison.. Aside from a second castle in the centre of the city it housed a modern barracks.  A mixed force of British Royal Marines, ships' men, Turks and Austrians was readied.

Captain Morrison's Marine Battalion landed on the beach to the north. Captain Whylock's detachment, with a hundred Austrian Marines under the command of Prince Frederick, landed to the south., The Turks were tasked with capturing the sea castle. 

The guns of HMS Gorgon blew a breach in the old castle. Turks entered by boat. Fighting was fierce, but eventually they overwhelmed the defenders.  Despite taking a battering, the Egyptian barracks in the north of the city resisted the invaders. The fight tied up Morrison's battalion for much of the day.. Meanwhile,  Captain Whylock and the Austrians landed with relative ease. Suffering only light casualties, they occupied a small fort and then marched on the main castle cum citadel in the heart of the city. 

By afternoon, the Allied force converged on the city's centre from three sides.  The stiffest opposition was provided by Hassan Bey, the Egyptian Commander. He made a stand at a grand house. After a staunch defence and refusing to surrender he was killed in action. 

By October almost every coastal city of note, including Beyrout, was in British hands.  Only Acre remained.  With winter approaching there was some debate about whether it should be left until the following Spring, but the British Government told Stopford to press on. 

A fleet of seventeen warships was despatched to Acre. On 2nd November they anchored two miles offshore.  At 2.00pm the next day a bombardment began. It would last over two hours. It only paused when a massive explosion rocked the city.  It was said the force of it could be felt on the ships.  It transpired that a lucky hit had blown up the Egyptian munitions stores. Apart from destroying all the buildings around it, the explosion killed or incapacitated most of the Egyptian soldiers stationed in the city.

After scant thought for the wellbeing of the city or its inhabitants, the Royal Navy resumed its shelling and continued until it was too dark to carry on.  

Overnight, most of the remaining Egyptian garrison proceeded to loot the town before fleeing into the hinterland.

When Royal Marines landed on 4th November under the command of Colonel Smith, they met no resistance and the two thousand Egyptians who had stayed at their posts quickly surrendered.. 

With the British and their allies controlling every major city and, with it, every major coastal road leading to the Ottoman Empire, the campaign was over. Muhammad Ali could no longer supply his troops and he had no appetite for a threatened British expedition into his own lands. Should Cairo or Alexandria be ravaged by British bombardment he could well face a rebellion of his own. He had no cards left to play. He was forced to the peace table.  

Later that year The London Treaty was concluded. It resulted in Egypt being stripped of all its newly acquired territories and deprived of the fruits of its earlier victory.  The Viceroy was compelled to withdraw all his forces from Ottoman territory.  In addition,  he had to agree to reducing the size of his army from over 300,000 men to no more than 18,000.  Finally, Muhammad Ali was made to acknowledge publicly that his rule over Egypt and Sudan was only by permission of the Ottoman Sultan.

For the British, the campaign was a success both militarily and politically.  

Despite Egypt becoming a true regional power with armed forces to be feared, it could be no match for the British and, especially, the incomparable firepower of the Royal Navy. Egyptian casualties numbered thousands. British casualties were a few dozen. For Admiral Stopford and his key commanders like Admiral Napier, they had been given a clear military objective by their masters in London and had achieve it with the minimum of fuss.

For the British Government, the campaign had propped up the rule of an ally and demonstrated again the long reach that its navy gave it on every continent. It was a message to friends and enemies alike.