Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A cikin 1802, tashin hankali ya sake tashi tsakanin Birtaniyya da Faransa, ƙasar ta ƙarshe yanzu a ƙarƙashin mulkin First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. Sanin cewa komawa yaƙi kusan ba makawa, Napoleon ya umarci Sojojin ruwan Faransa su shirya wani karfi don tsawaita sabis a Tekun Indiya, wani karfi wanda zai iya haifar da asara mai yawa ga kasuwancin Burtaniya daga yankin. Babban jirgin ruwa na rundunar ya kasance jirgin ruwa mai sauri na layin "Marengo", jirgin ruwa mai bindiga 74 wanda Kwamandan Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois ya umurta. Linois ya kasance gogaggen jami'in da ya yi aiki tare da Birtaniyya a lokuta da yawa a lokacin Yaƙe-yaƙe na Juyin Juya Halin Faransa: a watan Mayu na 1794, an kama shi lokacin da jirgin ruwansa "Atalante" ya sauka a tsakiyar Atlantic ta. An yi musayar sauri, an kama jirginsa na gaba "Formidable" bayan tsayayyar kariya a yakin Groix, kuma a shekara mai zuwa an sake kama shi a cikin sabon jirginsa "Unité" kuma daga baya ya shiga cikin bala'in "Expédition d'Irlande" a cikin jirgin layin "Nestor" bayan musayar fursunoni na uku. Ya fi muhimmanci yaƙi a watan Yuli 1801, lokacin da ya umurci Faransa rundunar a lokacin da suka yi nasara a farko Battle of Algeciras
, inda aka kama shi. Har ila yau, ya kasance a cikin umarni a lokacin da aka ci nasara a karo na biyu na Algeciras bayan kwana hudu, amma aikin ya inganta sunansa a cikin Navy na Faransa a matsayin kwamandan nasara. "Marengo" ya kasance tare da frigates "Atalante", "Sémillante" da kuma kuma jigilar "Côte d'Or" da "Marie Françoise". A bayyane yake an tura wannan rundunar zuwa Tekun Indiya don mallakar Pondicherry da kuma sanya sabon gwamnan a cikin yankunan Faransa na Tekun Indiya, Janar Charles Decaen. Rundunar ta dauki sojoji 1,350 da wadatattun kayan aiki don tafiyar watanni hudu zuwa Indiya da kuma ayyukan da aka sa ran za su biyo baya.