Nelson had also distinguished himself by leading boarding parties onto two larger Spanish ships, San Nicolas and San Joseph, both of which surrendered. As a result of the victory, Jervis became Earl St. Vincent, and his headstrong commodore became Rear Adm. Sir Horatio Nelson. Clearly, Nelson was a dangerous customer, and he would never be satisfied with anything short of total victory.

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When the British government decided to send a fleet into the Mediterranean in 1798, they regarded it as merely a showing of the flag to encourage the Mediterranean states, such as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to join yet another coalition against Revolutionary France. 'When you are apprised,' First Lord of the Admiralty Earl George John Spencer wrote to Jervis, 'that the appearance of a British squadron in the Mediterranean is a condition on which the fate of Europe may at this moment be said to depend, you will not be surprised that we are disposed to strain every nerve and incur considerable hazard in effecting it.' He went on to add that such a squadron might be put under the command of Nelson.

Jervis had already put the plan in motion. American travelers from Italy had reached Cadiz, Spain, and somehow had managed to get word to Jervis' fleet, which was blockading the port, that an immense French expedition was gathering at Toulon. The Americans said that rumors indicated an attempted landing in England, or, more likely, Ireland, where a full-scale rising against British rule was in progress. Acting on that information, Jervis sent Nelson into the Mediterranean with three ships of the line to find out what was going on. There was no intention of fighting a battle at that point — only to obtain information. After receiving Spencer's message, however, Jervis, acting on his own initiative, decide to reinforce Nelson by sending another 10 ships of the line to join him.

Jervis had confidence in Nelson. When one of his captains complained about Nelson having disobeyed orders at Cape St. Vincent, Jervis — who, in fact, had planned to bring his whole line about one minute after Nelson did so on his own initiative — retorted roundly, 'I forgive him, and if you ever break your orders with such a result I'll forgive you, too.'

Not everyone shared Jervis' confidence. Some captains in the British fleet were furious that the command in the Mediterranean had been given to a young rear admiral not yet 40 years old. And, indeed, Nelson had no flash of inspiration in the early stages of his search for the French fleet. But he had written to Spencer in June 1798 that if the French passed Sicily he would believe 'they are going on their scheme of possessing Alexandria and getting troops to India.'

In fact, French engineers, intent on surveying Egypt, had landed at Alexandria in April; however, news of their arrival did not reach London for another three months. Misled by a false report that the French had left Malta on June 16, Nelson set sail for Alexandria, convinced his prey was in front of him. In fact, the French were behind him. Thus, when his lookouts saw sails on the far horizon on June 22, Nelson did not bother to investigate them. If he had, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble, for later it was established that those sails did indeed belong to the French fleet.

Nelson's fleet sped on. Captain James Saumarez of Orion said that they were going 'upon the merest conjecture only, and not on any positive information. Some days must now elapse before we can be relieved from our cruel suspense.'

On June 28, Nelson's fleet came in sight of Alexandria. There was, of course, no sign of the French, and Nelson immediately set off for the coast of the Levant. The very next day, as the British sails dropped over the horizon to the east, the French sails rose on the horizon to the west. Nelson had arrived a day too soon and had left a few hours too soon. The French congratulated themselves, and Bonaparte got on with the business of taking Egypt.

Nelson sailed on to the Gulf of Alexandretta, but not a word of the whereabouts of the French fleet could be obtained. He then battled against westerly winds and arrived at Syracuse on the east coast of Sicily by July 19, lamenting that 'the Devil's children have the Devil's luck!'

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