Siege of San Fiorenzo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Siege of San Fiorenzo |
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| Part of the Invasion of Corsica | |||||||
 San Fiorenzo. anonymous, c.1790s. NMM. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Great Britain Corsica |
 France |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
David Dundas Robert Linzee Pasquale Paoli |
 Antoine Gentili |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 1,400 Mediterranean Fleet |
700 2 frigates |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 104 killed and wounded | 102 killed and wounded 101 captured 2 frigates sunk |
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The Siege of San Fiorenzo was a military operation by the British and Corsican people against the French. It happened early in the French Revolutionary Wars in 1794. The battle took place at San Fiorenzo, a town on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea.
The people of Corsica had risen up against the French. This happened after the French tried to arrest their leader, Pasquale Paoli. The French soldiers were pushed back into three fortified towns. These towns were San Fiorenzo, Calvi, and Bastia. Paoli asked the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet for help. The fleet was led by Lord Hood.
In late 1793, Lord Hood was busy with the Siege of Toulon. But he did send a small group of ships to attack San Fiorenzo. This attack had some early success. However, strong defenses at the Torra di Fornali pushed them back. After Toulon fell in December 1793, Hood focused on Corsica. He ordered a joint attack on San Fiorenzo. This attack involved both sea and land forces.
Over two weeks, the main defenses of the town were defeated. British cannons destroyed French ships in the harbor. On February 18, the French soldiers left San Fiorenzo. They moved across the island to Bastia. Bastia was then attacked later that spring. By August 1794, the French were completely driven out of Corsica. Corsica then became a self-governing part of the British Empire.
Contents
Why the Siege Happened
After the French Revolution in 1789, the Corsican leader Pasquale Paoli came back to the island. People were very happy to see him. Paoli had been in exile since 1768. That was when France took over Corsica. Great Britain had supported Paoli during his exile.
Paoli quickly became the main leader of Corsica again. But he didn't want the French government to control Corsica. In 1793, a period called the Reign of Terror began in France. Orders were given to arrest Paoli.
Paoli responded by gathering a small army of Corsican fighters. These fighters were known for being good snipers. They made it very hard for French troops to move around the island. The French soldiers had to retreat to three fortified port towns. These towns were San Fiorenzo, Calvi, and Bastia. Paoli's fighters were not strong enough to attack these towns. The towns could get supplies and more soldiers by sea. So, Paoli asked Great Britain for help.
British diplomats in Italy had wanted Britain to get involved in Corsica for a while. They had tried to contact Paoli before, but he had ignored them. By the summer of 1793, a large British fleet arrived in the area. Their job was to blockade French ports. The main target was the French fleet base at Toulon. The British fleet, led by Admiral Lord Hood, needed a safe place to anchor. Corsica seemed perfect.
However, Hood was soon busy with a Royalist uprising in Toulon. Royalists in Toulon offered the city to Hood. He entered the port, took the French fleet, and occupied the town in August. French Republican forces then laid siege to the city. Hood had few soldiers to spare for Paoli.
Early Attack by Linzee
Lord Hood sent a group of ships to help Paoli in September. This group included the large warships HMS Alcide, HMS Courageux, and HMS Ardent. It also had the smaller frigates HMS Nemesis and HMS Lowestoft. Commodore Robert Linzee led this force.
Linzee was ordered to offer the French soldiers a chance to surrender. If that didn't work, he was to blockade the ports. He was also told to attack and capture them if possible. The French ignored the surrender offer. Linzee's ships were too few to effectively blockade the Corsican coast. Smugglers could still sail to Italy.
So, Linzee decided to attack San Fiorenzo. This town was important because it had a large, sheltered bay. The bay was protected by forts called Torra di Mortella and Torra di Fornali. On September 19, Linzee sent Nemesis and Lowestoft to attack Mortella Tower. The French soldiers left the tower undamaged after just three shots from Lowestoft. British sailors landed and entered the tower. But they returned to their ships the next day.
Linzee waited a week before attacking Fornali Tower. This was a much stronger position. It was protected by coastal batteries.
On October 1, at 3:30 AM, Linzee sent Ardent, Alcide, and Courageux to bombard Fornali. The ships faced heavy fire from the tower and batteries. They were also fired upon by cannons in San Fiorenzo town. Some of these cannons fired heated shot (red hot cannonballs). These hot cannonballs started fires on the British ships. At 8:15 AM, the ships had to retreat. All three ships were damaged. Nineteen sailors were killed and 35 were wounded. The attack had little effect on Fornali Tower.
Linzee claimed he was given wrong information about the forts' strength. He said he only attacked because he thought Corsican forces would attack from land. But they never did. Lord Hood later said Paoli was "full of tricks and lies" about this event.
The British ships left. In late October, French frigates brought more soldiers to San Fiorenzo. These frigates escaped an attack by HMS Agamemnon, led by Captain Horatio Nelson. This happened off Sardinia. The French frigates Minerve and Fortunée anchored safely in the bay. During this time, the Mortella Tower was taken back by the French.
British Invasion of Corsica
The British situation at Toulon became very difficult. The French army, partly led by a young artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte, took over the hills above the harbor. They began to fire cannons at the British fleet. The British had to leave quickly. Half of the French fleet was burned. Seven thousand refugees were rescued. Then, French Republican forces stormed the city. Many people who stayed were killed.
Corsica now became very important for Lord Hood. His fleet was anchored temporarily at the Îles d'Hyères. Paoli was happy about the French defeat at Toulon. He saw his chance for British help. He talked with Hood's representative, Sir Gilbert Elliot. They agreed that Corsica would become a self-governing part of the British Empire. This would happen if Hood could drive the French out.
On January 24, 1794, Hood ordered a combined attack on San Fiorenzo. The fleet sailed from Îles d'Hyères. A storm forced them back. They sheltered at Portoferraio. On February 4, a force of 1,400 British soldiers sailed for San Fiorenzo Bay. General David Dundas led these troops. Linzee was with them in Alcide along with HMS Egmont, HMS Fortitude, Lowestoft, and HMS Juno.
Dundas was the highest-ranking army officer. He took command of the land forces. But he and Hood did not get along. Dundas was careful and serious. He didn't like Hood telling him what to do. Hood didn't understand the challenges of fighting on land. Hood often wrote letters to London criticizing Dundas. On February 7, the troops landed on the coast west of Mortella Tower without any fighting.
Attacking Mortella Tower
On February 8, Linzee ordered Juno and Fortitude to fire at Mortella Tower from the sea. Meanwhile, engineers led by Lieutenant-Colonel John Moore pulled cannons up the steep hills. These hills overlooked the fort. The British ship fire didn't do much to the tower. Hot shots from the tower's two 18-pounder long guns hit Fortitude. An ammunition box exploded, killing six sailors and wounding 56. The ship's main mast was badly damaged. The ship's captain, William Young, had to pull back.
The next day, Moore moved his cannons to a better spot on land. He began firing at Mortella Tower. The tower's guns couldn't fire back well. Eventually, a shot caused an explosion and fire on the tower's top. The tower's commander, Ensign Thomas le Tellier, decided to surrender. His 33 soldiers had two killed. The rest were taken prisoner. Moore immediately started moving his cannons again. He wanted a new position to overlook a new fort. This new fort was called the Convention Redoubt. It was built between Mortella and Fornali.
Outsmarting the Convention Redoubt
Since Linzee's attack in September 1793, the French had made San Fiorenzo's defenses stronger. They added 21 heavy cannons to an open battery. This position was too strong to attack by sea. It was also too well protected to storm directly by land. However, Moore realized there were higher spots the French thought were too hard to use. These spots overlooked the Redoubt.
Starting February 12, Moore's artillery teams, made of sailors, pulled cannons up the hills. They moved four 18-pounder cannons, a large howitzer, and a 10-inch mortar. They pulled them to a spot 700 feet (213 m) above sea level. The only way to get there was a narrow path along a steep cliff. The guns were moved using ropes and pulleys over the rocky ground.
By February 16, the guns were in place. For two days, the Convention Redoubt was under constant fire. Another gun reached the top on February 17. Another was placed on the shore. This was to stop French frigates from firing at British positions from the sea.
On the evening of February 17, Moore got his forces ready to attack the Redoubt. He formed three groups. Moore led the right group. It had soldiers from the Royals and the 51st Regiment. The middle group had men from the 50th Regiment. The left group followed the shoreline. It was made up of men from the 25th Regiment.
The three groups attacked at the same time. They were covered by fire from the new battery on the hill. Despite heavy fire from the French, they entered the redoubt. They pushed the French soldiers out the back. They fought hand-to-hand with bayonets. Corsican fighters helped with a fake attack to the right of Moore's group. In the fighting, about 100 French soldiers were killed or wounded. Seventy were taken as prisoners of war. The British lost 17 men killed and 36 wounded.
The remaining French soldiers left the Convention Redoubt. They crossed a valley to the defenses around the Torra di Fornali. This fort had stopped Linzee's ships in 1793. It was a strong position and not damaged by the cannons. The British worried it would cause many casualties to attack. But the French were scared and worried about being trapped. So, during the night, they left the tower and batteries. The French soldiers went back to San Fiorenzo, along with their frigates.
French Leave San Fiorenzo
With Fornali Tower in British hands, Linzee's ships anchored there. British cannons began to fire at the town and harbor on February 18. Cannon fire hit the French frigate Minerve. It sank in shallow water. The next morning, the French were clearly planning to leave the town. Dundas sent a message offering them a chance to surrender. But they refused.
In response, Corsican forces were sent to the mountain road. This road connected Bastia and San Fiorenzo. Their job was to stop the French from retreating. At 4:00 PM on February 19, the last frigate, Fortunée, was set on fire and destroyed in the bay. At the same time, a boat rowed to the British. It announced that the town had been left empty.
What Happened Next
On February 20, Moore's forces entered and took over the town. They captured 32 cannons. The French were able to leave without being stopped by the Corsican forces. The Corsicans were reportedly busy taking things from the bodies of French soldiers. The French retreated 8 miles (13 km) over the Serra Mountains to Bastia. They set up defenses along the way at Tichime, a mountain on the road. Linzee's ships anchored in San Fiorenzo Bay. They took the wreck of Minerve. It was later fixed and joined the Royal Navy.
The French expected more fighting. They started getting ready to leave Bastia. Dundas sent Corsican forces to check the defenses. These troops fought with French outposts in the mountains. But Dundas pulled them back because of the freezing weather. Captain Horatio Nelson had landed sailors to check the town on February 19. He gave a hopeful report on its readiness. However, on February 23, the French stopped preparing to leave. They began to make the town's defenses stronger.
Dundas then decided not to move on Bastia. He waited for more soldiers to arrive from Britain. He pulled his forces back to the edge of San Fiorenzo. Hood disagreed with this order. He tried to go around Dundas by talking to his deputies, Moore and Lieutenant Colonel William Villettes. This was against the rules of the chain of command. Moore told Dundas. Dundas was very angry. On March 11, he resigned and gave command of the land forces to Colonel Abraham D'Aubant.
The Siege of Bastia began in April 1794. It involved a blockade and bombardment for six weeks. Then the city surrendered. This left only Calvi as the last French-held town in Corsica. Calvi was attacked by British and Corsican forces in July. It surrendered a month later after heavy bombing. Corsica became a self-governing kingdom under the British Empire. But it was left only two years later. This happened after the Treaty of San Ildefonso and Spain declaring war on Britain.
The siege had an unusual lasting impact. The Torra di Mortella became famous in Britain for its fight against Fortitude. Royal Engineers drew sketches of it after the siege. In 1804, during the early Napoleonic Wars, people worried France might invade Britain. These sketches were found again. More than a hundred towers were ordered to be built along the south and east coasts of Britain. These towers were called Martello Towers. The name was a changed version of "Mortella." By the time they were finished, the invasion threat was over.
Images for kids
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San Fiorenzo. anonymous, c.1790s. NMM.
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Sketch of the "Mortella Tower". "C.F.D., 1794, NMM.
