Editing Muhammad Ali's rise to power (section)

===Fraser campaign===
On March 17, 1807, a British fleet appeared off Alexandria, with nearly 5,000 troops, under the command of General [[Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser]], and commenced the [[Alexandria expedition of 1807]]. The people of Alexandria, being disaffected towards Muhammad Ali, opened the city's gates to the British. Here they first heard of the death of al-Alfi, upon whose cooperation the expedition had counted for its success.

The British immediately despatched messengers to al-Alfi's successor and to the other Mamluk beys, inviting them to Alexandria. The British resident, Major Missett, having urged the importance of taking [[Rosetta]] and [[El Rahmaniya|Rahmaniya]] in order to secure supplies for Alexandria, General Fraser, with the concurrence of the admiral, Sir [[John Thomas Duckworth]], detached the 31st [[regiment]] and the [[Chasseurs Britanniques]], accompanied by some [[field artillery]] under Major-General Wauchope and Brigadier-General Meade. Those troops entered Rosetta without opposition; but as soon as they had dispersed among the narrow streets, the local garrison opened a deadly fire on them from the latticed windows and the roofs of the houses. The British retreated towards Aboukir and Alexandria, with 185 killed and 281 wounded, General Wauchope and three officers being among the former, and General Meade and nineteen officers among the latter. The heads of the slain were fixed on stakes on each side of the road crossing the Azbakeya in Cairo.

Muhammad Ali, meanwhile, had been conducting an expedition against the Mamluk beys in Upper Egypt, and after defeating them near [[Asyut]], he heard of the arrival of the British. Alarmed lest the surviving Mamluk beys should join the British, especially as they were already far north of his position, he immediately sent messengers to his rivals, promising to comply with all their demands if they should join him in expelling the invaders. His proposal being agreed to, both armies marched northwards towards Cairo on opposite sides of the river.

The possession of Rosetta being deemed indispensable, Brigadier-General Sir [[William Stewart (1774–1827)|William Stewart]] and Brigadier-General [[John Oswald (British Army officer)|John Oswald]] were sent there with 4,000 men. For thirteen days the town was bombarded without effect; and on April 20, news arrived from an advance guard at [[Al Hamed]] of sizeable reinforcements en route to rescue the besieged town. General Stewart was compelled to retreat, and a [[dragoon]] was despatched to Lieutenant-colonel Macleod, commanding at Al Hamed, with orders to fall back. However, the messenger was unable to penetrate the cordon around the British advance guard, by then besieged in Hamad, and the message was not delivered.

The advance guard in Hamad, consisting of a detachment of the 31st, two companies of the 78th, one of the 35th, and De Rolls regiment, with a picquet of dragoons, the whole mustering 733 men, was surrounded and, after a gallant resistance, the survivors, who had expended all their ammunition, became prisoners of war. General Stewart managed to regain Alexandria with the remainder of his force, having lost nearly 900 men. Some hundreds of British heads were now exposed on stakes in Cairo, and the prisoners were marched between the mutilated remains of their countrymen.