British frigates and surviving ships established the blockade while Nelson departed for Naples. Napoleon learned that he no longer had a fleet and found his army cut off from France. He blamed Blanquet for surrendering Franklin rather than confronting Brueys's decisions, further penalizing one of the fleet's more capable officers. Napoleon also threatened Egyptians who discussed the defeat, an attempt to suppress the political effect of maritime isolation. William Sidney Smith's intelligence work may even have shaped which European news reached Napoleon and when. The expedition had carried roughly 40,000 soldiers and 10,000 sailors, yet fewer than 1,500 personnel returned to France without first being killed or captured. The loss of maritime supplies also put an advance through Syria and the Ottoman Empire toward India beyond its reach. Napoleon eventually left the army under Kléber and returned to France in August 1799.
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Sea control turns Napoleon's army into an isolated expedition
British control off Alexandria severed Napoleon's communications and supplies, limiting his operations and ultimately leaving most of the expedition dead or captured.