Siege of Toulon (1793): Difference between revisions

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The '''siege of Toulon''' (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the [[Federalist revolts]] and the [[War of the First Coalition]], part of the [[Campaigns of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary Wars]]. It was undertaken by forces of the [[First French Republic|French Republic]] against [[House of Bourbon|Royalist]] rebels supported by Anglo-Spanish forces in the southern French city of [[Toulon]]. It was during this siege that young [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] first won fame and promotion when his plan, involving the capture of fortifications above the harbour, was credited with forcing the city to capitulate and the Anglo-Spanish fleet to withdraw. The siege marked the first involvement of the British [[Royal Navy]] with the French Revolution.

 

{{See also|Reign of Terror}}

 

 

Toulon hoisted the royal flag, the [[fleur de lys]], and d'Imbert declared the eight-year-old [[Louis XVII of France|Louis XVII]] King of France on the first of October. This result produced a potentially mortal situation for the French Republic, as the city had a key naval arsenal and was the base for 26 [[Ship of the line|ships of the line]]<ref name="troude">{{Cite web|last=Troude|first=O.|date=April 1, 1867|title=Batailles navales de la Francev|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TwZv6FX-RpsC|publisher=Challamel ainé|location=Paris|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> (about one-third of the total available to the French Navy). Without this port, the French could not hope to challenge the Allies, and specifically the British, for control of the seas. In addition, Toulon's loss would send a dangerous signal to others preparing to revolt against the Republic.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=oOzcrC5e-LIC&q=The+Wars+of+the+French+Revolution+and+Napoleon Connolly, Owen. The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, 1792–1815. London: Routledge, 2005].</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=09AVBAAAQBAJ&q=d%27Imbert&pg=PA3 Mace, Martin, and John Grehan. British Battles of the Napoleonic Wars 1793–1806: Despatched from the Front. Pen and Sword, 2013].</ref> Although France had a large army due to its ''[[levée en masse]]'', the Republic could not easily rebuild its navy, which had been the third largest in Europe,<ref>{{Cite web|title=French Revolutionary wars {{!}} Causes, Combatants, & Battles|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/French-revolutionary-wars|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> if the Allies and Royalists destroyed or captured much of it. Both the strategic importance of the naval base and the prestige of the Revolution demanded that the French recapture Toulon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Toulon|title=Siege of Toulon &#124; Summary|date=14 May 2024 }}</ref>

The troops of the army said to be of the "[[Carmagnole]]s", under the command of General [[Jean François Carteaux]], arrived at Toulon on 8 September, after those troops had recovered Avignon and Marseille, and then [[Ollioules]]. They joined up with the 6,000 men of the Alpine Maritime Army, commanded by General [[Jean François Cornu de La Poype]], who had just taken [[La Valette-du-Var]], and sought to take the forts of [[Mont Faron]], which dominated the city to the East. They were reinforced by 3,000 sailors under the orders of Admiral {{ill|Jean René César de Saint-Julien de Chabon|fr|Jean René César de Saint-Julien de Chabon}}, who refused to serve the British with his chief, [[Jean-Honoré de Trogoff de Kerlessy]]. A further 5,000 soldiers under General La Poype were attached to the army to retake Toulon from the Army of Italy.<ref name="chandler20">Chandler 1966, p. 20</ref>

 

[[File:Napoleon à Toulon par Edouard Detaille.jpg|thumb|Bonaparte at the siege of Toulon, by [[Édouard Detaille]]]]

Despite the mutual dislike, Bonaparte was able to muster an artillery force that was sufficient for a siege of Toulon and the fortresses that were quickly built by the British in its immediate environs. He was able to requisition equipment and cannon from the surrounding area. Guns were taken from Marseille, Avignon and the [[Army of Italy (France)|Army of Italy]]. The local populace, which was eager to prove its loyalty to the republic which it had recently rebelled against, was blackmailed into supplying the besieging force with animals and supplies. His activity resulted in the acquisition of 100 guns for the force. With the help of his friends, the deputies Saliceti and Augustin Robespierre, who held power of life and death, he was able to compel retired artillery officers from the area to re-enlist. The problem of manning the guns was not remedied by this solution alone, and under Bonaparte's intensive training he instructed much of the infantry in the practice of employing, deploying and firing the artillery that his efforts had recently acquired.<ref>Chandler 1966, p. 24</ref> However, in spite of this effort, Bonaparte was not as confident about this operation as was later his custom. The officers serving with him in the siege were incompetent, and he was becoming concerned about the needless delays due to these officers' mistakes. He was so concerned that he wrote a letter of appeal to the Committee of Public Safety requesting assistance. To deal with his superiors who were wanting in skill, he proposed the appointment of a general for command of the artillery, succeeding himself, so that "... [they could] command respect and deal with a crowd of fools on the staff with whom one has constantly to argue and lay down the law in order to overcome their prejudices and make them take steps which theory and practice alike have shown to be axiomatic to any trained officer of this corps".<ref>''Correspondence of Napoleon I'', Vol. I, No. 2, p. 12</ref>

 

 

 

On 11 November, Carteaux was dismissed and replaced by [[François Amédée Doppet]], formerly a doctor, whose panic upon witnessing the death of his [[aide-de-camp]] beside him would cause an attempted attack against Fort Mulgrave on the 15th to fail.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Charles |title=Napoleon Bonaparte and the siege of Toulon |year=1902 |pages=35–36}}</ref> He was succeeded by a career soldier, [[Jacques François Dugommier|Dugommier]], who immediately recognised the virtue of Bonaparte's plan, and prepared for the capture of Little Gibraltar. On the 20th, as soon as he arrived, the battery "[[Jacobin]]" was established, on the ridge of l'Evescat. Then, on the left, on 28 November, the battery of the "Men Without Fear", and then on 14 December, the "Chasse Coquins" were constructed between the two. Two other batteries were organised to repel the eventual intervention of the allied ships, they were called "The Great Harbour" and the "Four Windmills".

Pressured by the bombardment, the Anglo-Neapolitans executed a sortie, and took hold of the battery of the "Convention". A counter-attack, headed by Dugommier and Bonaparte, pushed them back and the British general [[Charles O'Hara]] was captured. He initiated surrender negotiations with Robespierre the Younger and [[Antoine Louis Albitte]] and the Federalist and Royalist battalions were disarmed.

 

 

== Destruction of the French fleet ==

[[Category:Sieges of Toulon|Toulon 1793]]

[[Category:Napoleon]]