Siege of Toulon (1793): Difference between revisions

After the weeeee[[Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793|arrest of the Girondist deputies on the 2 June 1793]], there followed a series of insurrections within the French cities of [[Lyon]], [[Avignon]], [[Nîmes]], and [[Marseille]] known as [[Federalist revolts]]. In Toulon the revolutionaries evicted the existing [[Jacobin Club|Jacobin]] faction but were soon supplanted by the more numerous [[French emigration (1789–1815)|royalists]]. Upon the announcement of the recapture of Marseille and of the reprisals which had taken place there at the hands of the revolutionaries, the royalist forces, directed by the [[Xavier Lebret d'Imbert|Baron d'Imbert]], requested support from the Anglo-Spanish fleet. On the 28th of August, the British and Spanish commanders of the fleet, Admiral [[Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood|Sir Samuel Hood]] ([[Royal Navy]]) and Admiral [[Juan de Lángara]] ([[Spanish Navy]]), responded with 13,000 troops of [[British Army|British]], [[Spanish Army|Spanish]], [[Royal Army of Naples|Neapolitan]] and [[Royal Army of Sardinia|Piedmontese]] origin. Baron d'Imbert delivered the port of Toulon to the British navy. 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}}</ref>