Ottomans, Allies Capture Acre

November 3, 1840

A coalition of Austrian, British and Ottoman forces commanded by Austrian Archduke Friedrich bombards the port city of Acre and drives out the Egyptian garrison. More than 1,100 Egyptians are killed in the brief battle.

The battle is part of the Second Egyptian-Ottoman War across the eastern Mediterranean from 1839 to 1941 between the Ottoman Empire and Muhammad Ali, an Albanian general for the Ottomans who carved out his own region of control in Sudan and Egypt after being name an Ottoman governor in 1805. European powers intervened because of their strategic interest in sustaining the Ottoman Empire. Acre was seen as Muhammad Ali’s last stronghold and the storage site for most of his artillery. He mistakenly thought he could count on France as an ally against the British, Austrians and Ottomans.

After the defeat at Acre, Muhammad Ali agrees Nov. 27 to the terms proposed in the Convention of London, signed in July 1840 by the European powers. He drops claims over Crete and western Arabia, downsizes his navy and army, and agrees to return a captured Ottoman fleet. In exchange, he is granted hereditary rule over Egypt and Sudan.