French fleet at the siege of Toulon

The fate of the French fleet at the

Royalist control of Toulon was not assured, particularly since there was a strong Republican faction in the fleet, led by Contre-amiral Saint-Julien [fr], and to establish which faction controlled the city Hood sent Lieutenant Edward Cooke into the harbour on 24 August with instructions to meet with the Royalist leader in Toulon. Cooke was forced to approach the harbour in darkness to avoid Republican boat patrols, but was successful in bypassing them, having visited the harbour under during temporary truce in July, and sending a message to the Royalist party. Julien learned of Cooke's presence and spread word that if he should capture Cooke he was to have him hanged, but Cooke, who had sheltered on shore overnight, returned to the city the following day to meet with the Royalist delegates. During the discussions he was able to negotiate for the seizure and disarmament of the French fleet by the British in exchange for protection for the city of Toulon, on the understanding that when the Republicans had been defeated and the French monarchy restored all would be returned to France.^[5] On his return to the British fleet, his boat was intercepted by a French frigate, and it was only by careful manoeuvres in shallow water under fire from the frigate's boats that he returned safely.^[6] On 26 August Cooke returned to the port with a Royalist naval officer, to discover that Julien had seized control of the fleet and promised to resist the British if they entered the port. To this end, Republican sailors had occupied Fort Lamalgue and other defensive positions on the western bluffs overlooking the harbour. On 27 August Hood landed a small expeditionary force under Captain George Elphinstone and drove the Republican forces off, Julien and more than 5,000 French sailors retreating inland.^[7]

With British forces controlling the batteries overlooking the harbour, the remaining Republicans capitulated. On 28 August those ships of the French fleet still anchored in the roads were moved into the arsenals as Hood brought the British fleet, supported by 17 Spanish ships of the line under Admiral

With the defences now fatally undermined, a council of the senior officers concluded that evacuation was the only option for the Allied forces. The defenders would conduct a fighting withdrawal to the docks while Lángara undertook to destroy the seized French fleet.[19] The plan was almost immediately undermined by a panic among the Neapolitan contingent, who abandoned their posts and fled into the city. By the evening of 18 December however all of the Allied troops had retreated to the waterfront in preparation for embarkation.^[20]

Destruction of the French fleet

Lángara ordered Don

At 20:00 Captain Charles Hare brought Vulcan into the New Arsenal, Smith halting the ship across the row of anchored French ships of the line. The fuses were lit at 22:00, although Hare was badly wounded by an early detonation as he attempted to leave the ship.[25] Simultaneously, fire parties set alight to the warehouses and stores ashore, including the mast house and the hemp and timber stores,^[26] creating a blazing inferno across the harbour as Vulcan's cannons fired a last salvo at the French positions on the shore.^[27] With the fires spreading through the dockyards and New Arsenal Smith began to withdraw, his force illuminated by the flames as an inviting target for the Republican batteries. As his boats passed the Iris however the powder ship suddenly and unexpectedly exploded, blasting debris in a wide circle and sinking two of the British boats. On Britannia all of the crew miraculously survived, but on Union the master and three men were killed.^[28]

With the New Arsenal in flames, Smith realised that the Old Arsenal appeared intact, only a few small fires marking the inefficient Spanish efforts at destroying the French ships anchored within. He immediately led Swallow back towards the arsenal but found that Republican soldiers had captured it intact, their heavy musketry driving him back.

Once the British and Spanish boat parties had departed, the galley slaves opened the dockyard gates, allowing dock workers and Republican troops to enter the Arsenal. Forming improvised fire-fighting teams, these men worked to extinguish the blaze, saving a number of burning ships, moving unburnt ships away from the inferno and putting-out fires in the grain store, rope house and gun store among other shore installations.[31]

Evacuation

With all available targets now on fire or in French hands, Smith withdrew once more, accompanied by dozens of small watercraft packed with Toulonnais refugees and Neapolitan soldiers separated during the retreat.^[24] As he passed the second powder hulk, Montréal, it too unexpectedly exploded. Although his force was well within the blast radius, on this occasion none of Smith's men were struck by falling debris and his boats were able to retire to the waiting British fleet without further incident. As Smith's boats had gone about their work Hood had ordered HMS Robust under Elphinstone and HMS Leviathan under Captain Benjamin Hallowell to evacuate the allied troops from the waterfront.^[23] The allied troops embarked in good order, protected by the rearguard of Sardinian soldiers under Major George Koehler and fire from the frigate HMS Romulus.^[32]

They were joined by

In addition to the soldiery, the British squadron and their boats took on board thousands of French Royalist refugees, who had flocked to the waterfront when it became clear that the city would fall to the Republicans; as many as 20,000 thronged the waterfront in search of a vessel. Among the evacuees was Trogoff and other senior French leaders of the garrison.[33] Robust, the last to leave, carried more than 3,000 civilians from the harbour and another 4,000 were recorded on board Princess Royal out in the roads. In total the British fleet reported rescuing 14,877 Toulonnais from the city; witnesses on board the retreating ships reported scenes of panic on the waterfront as stampeding civilians were crushed or drowned in their haste to escape the advancing Republican soldiers, who fired indiscriminately into the fleeing populace.^[34] A host of small craft carried refugees out of the harbour to the waiting British ships or safe harbours in Italy or Spain. Hundreds drowned.^[35] Modern historian Bernard Ireland estimates that the actual number of civilians evacuated was approximately 7,000.^[36]

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the fall of Toulon, Deputies

The ships in the orders of battle below are listed by class and then approximately grouped by their positions on 18 December 1793. Note that although the Rating system for ships of the line was a Royal Navy measure, it has been included below for comparative purposes.

•   Ships in this colour were seized on 17 December
•   Ships in this colour were destroyed beyond repair on 18 December

Citations