Just up the road ---The Battle of Maida

The Battle of Maida

Napoleonic Wars

San Pietro di Maida

4^th July, 1806

United Kingdom and Kingdom of Sicily

V

France -- Italy -- Switzerland -- Polish Legions

The Battle of Maida on 4 July 1806 saw a British expeditionary force fight a First French Empire division outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,200 British troops to victory over about 6,000 French soldiers under Jean Reynier, inflicting crippling losses while incurring relatively few casualties. Maida is located in the toe of Italy, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Catanzaro.

In early 1806, the French invaded and overran the Kingdom of Naples, forcing King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his government to flee to Sicily. The Calabrians revolted against their new conquerors and Stuart's expeditionary force tried to exploit the unrest by raiding the coast. While ashore, the British encountered Reynier's division and the two sides engaged in battle. The 19th century historians presented the action as a typical fight between French columns and British lines. This view of the battle has been called into doubt by at least one modern historian who argued that the French deployed into lines. Nobody questions the result which was a one-sided British tactical victory.

Ferdinand to flee to Sicily and concede the Neapolitan crown to the French. Napoleon then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Neapolitan throne.

After the battle, Stuart captured some isolated garrisons in Calabria and was transported back to Sicily by the British navy. Two weeks after the battle, the city of Gaeta fell to the French after a long siege. While Stuart succeeded in preventing a French invasion of Sicily and sustained the revolt in Calabria, he missed an opportunity to assist the defenders of Gaeta

Background

Following the decision by King Ferdinand to side with the Third Coalition against Napoleon I of France,French forces had invaded the Kingdom of Naples in the spring of 1806, after the British army supposedly defending the kingdom evacuated Italy altogether. The Neapolitan-Sicilian army was crushed at the Battle of Campo Tenese, forcing

By July 1806, the French had crushed all Neapolitan resistance except for the uprising in Calabria and a garrison at Gaeta. There, Massena’s force becomes embroiled in a lengthy siege. The British, rather than supporting the defenders or relieving the siege, decided to organise an expedition into Calabria to further the insurrection against the French, and prevent any potential invasion of Sicily.

The Battle

A British force of over 5,000 men commanded by Major-General John Stuart sailed from Messina on 27 June, landing in the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia three days later. At the same time a French force of 6,000 men under the command of General Jean Reynier, the only French force in Calabria, moved to confront them.

On 4 July 1806, the two combatants met on the plain of Maida, with the British occupying a low ridge. As Reynier advanced, the British held their fire, then released a series of devastating volleys at point-blank range. The French faltered, and when the British charged at bayonet point, were completely routed. The entire action lasted only fifteen minutes. Stuart then marched south and after a series of minor skirmishes, returned to Sicily, as he felt his force was too weak to go onto a full offensive against Masséna. His victory was much feted, and he received the Order of the Bath and an annuity of £1,000 a year from the British, and the title Count of Maida from King Ferdinand.