French expedition to Sardinia

Coordinates: 40°00′N 09°00′E / 40.000°N 9.000°E / 40.000; 9.000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
French expedition to Sardinia
Part of War of the Pyrenees

Contemporary print of the French bombardment of Cagliari, 1793
Date21 December 1792 – 25 May 1793
Location
Sardinia, Mediterranean Sea
40°00′N 09°00′E / 40.000°N 9.000°E / 40.000; 9.000
Result Spanish-Sardinian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Sardinia Sardinia
Spain
France
Commanders and leaders
Domenico Millelire
Juan de Lángara		 Laurent Truguet
Strength
10,000 5,000
Mediterranean Fleet
Casualties and losses
Minor 300 killed and wounded
200 captured
2 frigates sunk
French expedition to Sardinia is located in Europe
French expedition to Sardinia
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Location within Europe

The French expedition to Sardinia was a short military campaign fought in 1793 in the

French Republic in the Mediterranean during the conflict, and was directed at the island of Sardinia, part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Sardinia was neutral at the time, but immediately joined the anti-French coalition. The operation was a failure, with attacks directed at Cagliari in the south[1] and La Maddalena in the north[2]
both ending in defeat.

The operation was launched by the French Mediterranean Fleet, led by Contre-amiral Laurent Truguet, under instructions from the National Convention. The government had issued orders to invade Sardinia, strategically important to the Mediterranean, which they believed would bring an easy victory. Delays in assembling the invasion force gave the Sardinians sufficient time to raise an army, and when the French fleet arrived off the capital Cagliari, the Sardinians were ready. The first attack was dispersed by a gale, but the second went ahead on 22 January 1793. French troops subsequently landed on 11 February but were driven off in fighting at Quartu Sant'Elena.

A subsequent attack on the island of La Maddalena off the northern coast of Sardinia also failed, partly due to sabotage by

Spanish fleet recaptured the small islands of San Pietro and Sant'Antioco, the last of the French garrisons on Sardinia. The legacies of the campaign included a series of popular revolts in Sardinia against the Savoyard rulers, a temporary breakaway of Corsica from France, and a rebellion at the French naval base of Toulon leading to the capture and near destruction of the entire French Mediterranean Fleet by a British Royal Navy
fleet.

Background

The French Revolutionary Wars began in April 1792 when the French declared war against the Austrian Empire, allied to the Kingdom of Prussia. Although the Kingdom of Sardinia, split between Savoy and Piedmont in the continent and the large Mediterranean island of Sardinia, was not part of this coalition, it was identified as a primary target of French military operations. The island of Sardinia was agriculturally rich and strategically important in the Mediterranean, and it was felt in France that its capture would intimidate the mainland part of the Kingdom and the other nations of the Italian peninsula, and spread republicanism beyond the borders of France.[3] Moreover, a successful attack on the island was thought to be easily achievable, and orders were given for an expeditionary force to assemble at Toulon, the principal French Mediterranean naval base.[4]

Command of this operation was given to Contre-amiral Laurent Truguet, commander of the Mediterranean fleet, who had difficulty raising the necessary troops.[5] France in general and the French navy in particular were undergoing severe social and political upheaval, and it was not until December that a sufficient expeditionary force had been prepared. Truguet and the Mediterranean fleet then sailed with a French army, carried on transports, arriving off the capital of Sardinia, Cagliari on the southern coast, on 21 December 1792.[4]

On Sardinia warnings of the impending French attack had arrived months earlier, although the political authority based with King

Catholics, and the persecution of Catholic clergy in the aftermath of the French Revolution incited considerable opposition among the Sardinian people; the local government, the Stamenti, were able to raise more than 4,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry, although the garrison was very short of artillery.[5]

Storm and siege

As the French fleet of 36 vessels entered the

Palmas on the southwestern coast of the island. There Truguet landed troops on the islands of San Pietro and Sant'Antioco, both of which were taken without fighting.[4] He also landed parties on the Sardinian mainland, although they were driven off by Sardinian irregular forces sniping from the hillsides. The Sardinians attributed the storm to St Thomas the Apostle, on whose feast day it occurred.[4]

Truguet remained off Palmas for a month, gathering his ships in preparation for another attack. On 22 January he again entered the Golfo di Cagliari, and sent a boat party of an officer and 20 men to demand the Sardinian surrender. The Sardinians, assembled for the feast day of

Swedish merchant vessel.[6] Truguet was furious and ordered a heavy bombardment of the town on 25 January. By this point, Truguet had amassed 82 vessels for the invasion, including 41 transports, but his attack proved ineffective; the strength of the shore batteries and their use of heated shot inflicted significant damage to several French ships, which were unable to seriously damage the town.[6]

Landing at Quartu Sant'Elena

On 11 February a French detachment landed 1,200 soldiers at Quartu Sant'Elena. The troops advanced westwards towards Cagliari but were driven back by Sardinian cavalry. Attacks on the Cagliari lazaretto and a tower at Calamosca were also beaten off, but the French regrouped, landing additional forces until 5,000 French troops were encamped outside Quartu Sant'Elena.[6] The town and Calamosca were attacked again on 15 February, with heavy artillery support from the French fleet, but without success. The force sent against Quartu Sant'Elena was struck by grapeshot fired from improvised barricades and retreated in disarray, while the other attack was defeated by a Sardinian counter-attack. Truguet withdrew his forces to the beachhead, leaving 300 dead and 100 prisoners in Sardinian hands; the victorious Sardinians were said to have dismembered the dead French soldiers and carried their body parts around as trophies.[7]

On 16 and 17 February Truguet bombarded Cagliari again, to little effect. On the second day, another storm swept the bay and his fleet was again scattered. Several ships were lost, most notably the 74-gun

frigates to garrison San Pietro and Sant'Antioco.[7]

La Maddalena debacle

As Truguet sailed impotently off Cagliari, a second French force had been prepared for operations in Northern Sardinia. This force had drawn heavily from

Napoleon Bonaparte.[10]

The force was delayed by storms at Ajaccio, and only reached La Maddalena on 22 February 1793, anchoring in the Santo Stefano channel.[10] Napoleon advocated a night attack, but was overruled by Cesari. The following morning French-Corsican troops assaulted and captured Santo Stefano and used the fort on the island to bombard La Maddalena on 24 February, Cesari announcing his intention to conduct an amphibious landing the following day. During the night however, there was a mutiny reported aboard a corvette accompanying the force and Cesari immediately withdrew, abandoning the attack and Santo Stefano.[10] Napoleon was furious, not least because Cesari did not warn him and he and his men were nearly left behind on Santo Stefano and vulnerable to a Sardinian counter-attack. In the retreat to the landing zone, Napoleon's men were forced to spike and abandon their cannon when insufficient boats were sent to collect them. He later accused Cesari of faking the mutiny on the orders of Paoli.[11]

Aftermath

The final act of the campaign came three months after both Truguet and Cesari had withdrawn. Truguet's garrison remained on the islands of San Pietro and Sant'Antioco on the western side of Sardinia until 25 May.

Helène, was captured in an attempt to escape the Spanish blockade, while Richmond was set on fire and scuttled by the crew to prevent its capture.[7]

Although the operation had ended in complete failure it had a number of repercussions. On Sardinia the robust defence of the island encouraged the

Charles Emmanuel IV, was forced to flee to the island following the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition.[15]

On Corsica the recriminations which followed the failure at La Maddalena saw the Buonaparte faction driven from the island, Napoleon narrowly escaping an assassination attempt.[11] Efforts by the National Convention to hold Paoli to account for the actions of his supporters in the operation led to a breakdown in the relationship between Paoli and the French government and a large-scale rebellion on Corsica which saw the French garrison driven into three fortified positions on the Northern Coast.[9] In early 1794 a British force invaded Corsica and defeated the French, Paoli seceding from France and agreeing to the incorporation of Corsica as a self-governing kingdom within the British Empire.[16] Following political conflict, Paoli was driven into exile in late 1795,[17] and the British remained on Corsica until late 1796, at which point the island rejoined the French Republic.[18]

In France the defeat led to the recall of Truguet to Paris to explain events to the National Convention, and his temporary replacement by

Siege of Toulon the climactic assault which retook the heights over the city in December 1793 was led by Napoleon, who was wounded in the attack.[24] He later became one of the most effective generals of the French Republic and subsequently seized control of the country and pronounced himself Emperor of France.[25]

References

  1. ^ Tommaso Napoli, Relazione di quanto è avvenuto dalla comparsa della flotta francese in Cagliari sino alla totale ritirata di essa nel 1793/94
  2. ^ a b La Maddalena, 22/25 February 1793, Military Subjects
  3. ^ McLynn, p.58
  4. ^ a b c d e Smyth, p.54
  5. ^ a b Smyth, p.53
  6. ^ a b c Smyth, p.55
  7. ^ a b c d Smyth, p.57
  8. ^ Ireland, p.145
  9. ^ a b Gregory, p.26
  10. ^ a b c McLynn, p.59
  11. ^ a b McLynn, p.60
  12. ^ Chandler, p.xxiv
  13. ^ Smyth, p.59
  14. ^ Smyth, p.60
  15. ^ Smyth, p.62
  16. ^ Gregory, p.65
  17. ^ Gregory, p.107
  18. ^ Gregory, p.158
  19. ^ Ireland, p.81
  20. ^ Ireland, p.158
  21. ^ Ireland, p.163
  22. ^ Ireland, p.170
  23. ^ Ireland, p.177
  24. ^ Ireland, p.264
  25. ^ McLynn, p.302

Bibliography

  • ISBN 1-84022-203-4
    .
  • Gregory, Desmond (1985). The Ungovernable Rock: A History of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom and its role in Britain's Mediterranean Strategy During the Revolutionary War (1793-1797). London & Toronto: Associated University Presses.
  • ISBN 0-3043-6726-5
    .
  • McLynn, Frank (1998). Napoleon: A Biography. London: Pimlico.
    ISBN 0-7126-6247-2
    .
  • Smyth, William Henry (1828). Sketch of the Present State of the Island of Sardinia. London: John Murray. Truguet.

External links

Preceded by
Battle of Famars 		French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns
French expedition to Sardinia 		Succeeded by
Battle of Kaiserslautern

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