ABSTRACT
Across the stony plain of Sidi Gabir the two armies faced each other in deadlock. What more could Hutchinson do to break it, now that his offer of repatriation had been rejected, an offer which his brother Christopher had regarded as ludicrous? If Menou was determined to sit tight in Alexandria and play for time, the British force might seal the eastern side of Alexandria and hope that enough reinforcements would arrive from Europe and India to allow siege-works to be opened. In the meantime the Grand Vizir might arrive from Palestine and deal with the remaining French forces in the interior - forces whose numbers Hutchinson greatly underestimated. For the moment he could see no surer course, and on the evening after the battle he sent off to Minorca and Malta for reinforcements from their garrisons. On 29 March he learned from an intercepted French vessel that Pitt had resigned and been succeeded by the ministry of Henry Addington, with Lord Hobart replacing Dundas at the War Department.!
