ABSTRACT
Menou's first response to the fall of Rosetta was to dispatch General Valentin with a small reinforcement to recapture the town. But he soon realised that he had underestimated the British thrust, and on 14 April he sent his chief of staff Lagrange with further reinforcements to take command on the Nile front. Lagrange reached Rahmanieh on 17 April and on the following day marched down the river to El Aft, where he joined Valentin and began to entrench the position with 3,900 men.
