Siege of Calvi

The siege of Calvi was a combined British and Corsican military operation during the Invasion of Corsica in the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars. The Corsican people had risen up against the French garrison of the island in 1793, and sought support from the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet under Lord Hood. Hood's fleet was delayed by the Siege of Toulon, but in February 1794 supplied a small expeditionary force which successfully defeated the French garrison of San Fiorenzo and then a larger force which besieged the town of Bastia. The British force, now led by General Charles Stuart, then turned their attention to the fortress of Calvi, the only remaining French-held fortress in Corsica.

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 Horatio Nelson, who was blinded in one eye. After several weeks the French positions were sufficiently damaged and Stuart launched a major assault, driving the French out of the forts in turn and into the town. Stuart and the French commander Raphaël de Casabianca then engaged in extended negotiations which led to first a truce and then, on 10 August, a capitulation. The terms of the surrender were generous, and the French troops repatriated to France. With the conclusion of the siege the island of Corsica now became a British colony, and remained a British base of operations for two years.

Background

The French Revolution of 1789 encouraged the rise of nationalist sentiment in Corsica, a French-held island in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. The French had invaded and captured the island in 1768, but in the aftermath of the Revolution the Corsican leader-in-exile Pasquale Paoli returned home and rapidly consolidated his power, driving out his opponents, including the powerful Bonaparte family, and taking control of Corsica.Gregory, p.25 In 1793 however the National Convention, alarmed by the increasing autonomy of Corsica and in the grip of the Reign of Terror, ordered Paoli's arrest.Gregory, p.26 Determined to resist, Paoli raised an irregular army and drove the French garrison into three fortified ports on the northern coast. He simultaneously sent envoys to the British ambassadors in Italy requesting assistance.Ireland, p.213 Britain had recently joined the French Revolutionary Wars, and a large British fleet had arrived in the Mediterranean in the summer of 1793 under the command of Admiral Lord Hood.James, p.65

Hood was unable to immediately supply reinforcements to Paoli due to an unexpected Royalist uprising in Toulon, the principal French naval base in the Mediterranean.Gardiner, p.86 The ensuing Siege of Toulon consumed most of Hood's attention and resources for several months, although a small squadron was sent to the port of San Fiorenzo in October, but was driven off with heavy casualties.Ireland, p.214 In December Toulon fell to a French army, and Hood was forced to make a desperate retreat from the port. In the process half of the French Mediterranean fleet anchored in the harbour, was burned and Hood removed 7,000 Royalist refugees.Ireland, p.284 Bereft of a base in the Ligurian Sea, Hood turned his attention to Corsica.Gregory, p.51

A deal was negotiated by which in exchange for British military support against the French-held towns of San Fiorenzo, Bastia and Calvi, Corsica would become a self-governing part of the British Empire, providing Hood with a base of operations against the French coast. The French garrison on the island, comprising some 6,000 French troops and Corsican militia was led by the pro-revolutionary Corsican Raphaël de Casabianca, based in Calvi. In February a British expeditionary force landed near San Fiorenzo, laid siege to the town and captured it in a short campaign.Clowes, p.244 In April, the much larger town of Bastia was besieged and starved into surrender by May, with the surviving French garrison repatriated to France. Only Calvi remained. These campaigns were marked on the British part by internecine squabbles between the British commanders, with a succession of generals resigning rather than continue to work with the overbearing Lord Hood. The most recent replacement was Charles Stuart,Gregory, p.57 whose naval counterpart was Captain Horatio Nelson, as Hood has sailed to Gourjean Bay in pursuit of a French fleet.James, p.193

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 star fort mounting ten cannon and supported by a smaller battery to the east. To the southwest of the town was a second fortification, Fort Mollinochesco, which dominated the main road through the mountains from the Corsican interior. In the Bay of Calvi the French frigates ''Melpomène'' of 40 guns and ''Mignonne'' of 28 guns were anchored in a position to provide enfilading fire on any attacking force. The British commanders knew that if they delayed an assault into the summer of 1794 that their troops would suffer in the "unhealthy season" when malaria was rife on the island and their conquest might be significantly delayed. Stuart and Hood thus resolved to attack as soon as practicable.

Stuart landed his forces at the cove of Port-Agra, from Calvi, escorted by a squadron led by Nelson in the ship of the line HMS ''Agamemnon'' and the store frigates HMS ''Dolphin'' and HMS ''Lutine'', accompanied by 16 transports.Bennett, p.37 Stuart's plan was, as at Bastia, that the British forces would haul artillery up the steep slopes of the mountains which overlooked the town and fire on the forts below with relative impunity. This was a highly complex operation which required roads to be built to access the mountainsides; Nelson estimated that one 26-pounder cannon had had to be hauled over of mountainous terrain simply to reach its intended position. Unloading the supplies at Port-Agra took two days, and on the latter reinforcements arrived, Hood sending a detachment of sailors from his flagship HMS ''Victory'' with additional stores under the command of captains Benjamin Hallowell and Walter Serocold.James, p.191

During this process Nelson and the squadron had to retreat off-shore for five days to allow a gale

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