Siege of Calvi
Siege of Calvi | |||||||
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Part of the Invasion of Corsica during the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
Loss of his Eye Before Calvi, National Maritime Museum | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Great Britain Corsica | France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Raphaël Casabianca | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,300 Mediterranean Fleet |
5,000 2 frigates 2 brigs 1 gunboat | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
88 killed or wounded 1,000 sick |
700 killed or wounded 2 frigates captured 2 brigs captured 1 gunboat captured |
The siege of Calvi was a combined British and Corsican military operation during the
Calvi was a heavily fortified position, defended by two large modern artillery forts. Stuart therefore prepared for a long siege, seizing the mountainous heights over the approaches to the town and opening a steady fire, which was vigorously returned. Both sides took casualties; among the British wounded was Captain
Background
The
Hood was unable to immediately supply reinforcements to Paoli due to an unexpected Royalist uprising in
A deal was negotiated by which in exchange for British military support against the French-held towns of San Fiorenzo,
Landings at Port-Agra
Calvi was heavily defended, the approaches to the port protected from attack by two modern forts. On the west side of the town was Fort Mozello, a
Stuart landed his forces at the cove of Port-Agra, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Calvi, escorted by a squadron led by Nelson in the
During this process Nelson and the squadron had to retreat off-shore for five days to allow a gale to pass,[14] but Hood appeared off Port-Agra on 27 June in Victory, and landed additional cannon.[16] The British admiral had been distracted by a short French naval campaign which had left the French fleet blockaded in Gourjean Bay near Fréjus.[12] The British batteries were not all in place until 4 July, with each fort facing a mortar battery, each supported by two cannon batteries. These were emplaced overnight, so that the French were reportedly unaware of their presence until the barrage commenced; one battery was only 750 yards (690 m) from Fort Mozello.[13]
Bombardment of Calvi
The first fire was opened two days earlier than planned, against Fort Mollinochesco. So heavy was the British bombardment that by 6 July the fort had been badly damaged.
British efforts then focused on Fort Mozello, subjecting the fort to a heavy fire for a further twelve days, at which point a breach had been blown in the western wall of the badly-damaged fort.
With the main French defences in British hands, the town came under heavy close bombardment, shattering houses and causing heavy casualties among the garrison and townspeople;[19] only 12 cannon were still in operation by the time Stuart sent terms of surrender to Casabianca on 19 July. The French commander responded however with the town's Latin motto "Civtas Calvis semper fidelis" ("Calvi is always loyal").[20] Stuart responded by siting new batteries 650 yards (590 m) from the city walls, but did not initially resume the bombardment. On July Casabiana sent a message to Stuart notifying the British general that if supplies and reinforcements had not arrived within 25 days he would surrender the city. Stuart conferred with Hood on Victory, the admiral having returned from his blockade, leaving his fleet under the command of Admiral William Hotham.[20]
Hood and Stuart agreed that they would not permit Calvi to hold beyond 10 August, but on the evening of 28 July four small vessels carrying supplies slipped through the meagre British blockade, to cheers from the defenders. The offer of surrender was withdrawn, and firing resumed once more on both sides at 17:00, but these ships brought no ammunition, for which Calvi was desperately short,[21] and on 31 July a new offer of a truce was made and accepted by Stuart, to last six days. On 10 August, after 51 days of siege, Casabianca capitulated as arranged, his men marching from the town and laying their arms down before the commander signed terms with Stuart that guaranteed his repatriation to France with his surviving garrison.[19]
Aftermath
British battle casualties were 30 killed and 58 wounded,[17] but the end of the siege was an urgent necessity for Stuart as the summer heat was severely affecting his troops,[10] which were severely reduced in number by malaria and dysentery which had swept though the camp so virulently that just 400 men were still fit for duty at the surrender of Calvi.[22][21] This explains the generous terms, by which 300 French soldiers and 247 Corsican supporters were given safe passage back to France. The surrender provoked angry protests from Britain's allies Austria and Sardinia, whose armies were fighting the French in Italy, but these complaints were dismissed by the new viceroy of Corsica Sir Gilbert Elliot, who suggested that they would have less to complain about if they were more effective opponents of the French.[19] Lord Hood also complained about the terms, criticising Stuart in letters to political allies in Britain. He accused the army commander of "great tenderness", due to his refusal to bombard French hospitals during the siege, opining that this unnecessarily prolonged the operation. Historian Desmond Gregory suggests that this was motivated more by his omission from Stuart's dispatches to London, and notes that Hood immediately reembarked the sailors stationed ashore and departed following the surrender, leaving Stuart to handle management of the captured town and stores with his severely reduced forces.[23]
Those stores were extensive, and included 113 cannon, mortars and howitzers of various sizes and grades. Also taken were Melpomene, Mignonne, two small
Corsica was now in British hands, with Elliott appointed viceroy to the government of Paoli. Elections had been held on 1 June and a constitution was announced on 16 June.[24] After the fall of Calvi, Paoli's deputy Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo was appointed president of Corsica, with Stuart as one of his councilors, but within a few weeks of the fall of Calvi Paoli and Elliott had fallen out over the former's ruthless pursuit of Corsicans who had collaborated with the French.[25] Shortly thereafter Elliott and Stuart also fell out over who held military authority on the island, their relationship deteriorating into a bitter personal feud.[26] The situation in Corsica became so bad that, under the influence of French secret agents, it almost led to civil war in early 1796,[27] a situation which continued until the British forces were forced to withdraw from the island at the end of the year.[28]
References
- ^ Gregory, p.25
- ^ Gregory, p.26
- ^ Ireland, p.213
- ^ James, p.65
- ^ Gardiner, p.86
- ^ Ireland, p.214
- ^ Ireland, p.284
- ^ a b Gregory, p.51
- ^ Clowes, p.244
- ^ a b Gardiner, p.110
- ^ Gregory, p.57
- ^ a b James, p.193
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "No. 13698". The London Gazette. 2 September 1794. p. 883.
- ^ a b c Bennett, p.37
- ^ James, p.191
- ^ Clowes, p.245
- ^ a b c James, p.192
- ^ Bennett, p.40
- ^ a b c Gregory, p.63
- ^ a b Bennett, p.38
- ^ a b c Bennett, p.39
- ^ Gregory, p.59
- ^ Gregory, p.64
- ^ Gregory, p.65
- ^ Gregory, p.72
- ^ Gregory, p.74
- ^ Gregory, p.122
- ^ Gregory, p.161
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-141391-29-4.
- ISBN 1-86176-012-4.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996]. Fleet Battle and Blockade. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-363-X.
- 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.
- ISBN 0-85177-905-0.
42°33′37″N 8°45′05″E / 42.56028°N 8.75139°E