Siege of Malta (1798–1800)
French defeat in the War of the First Coalition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The siege of Malta, also known as the siege of Valletta or the French blockade (Maltese: L-Imblokk tal-Franċiżi), was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta and the Three Cities, the largest settlements and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta, between 1798 and 1800. Malta had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and garrisoned with 3,000 soldiers under the command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois. After the British Royal Navy destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798, the British were able to initiate a blockade of Malta, assisted by an uprising among the native Maltese population against French rule. After its retreat to Valletta, the French garrison faced severe food shortages, exacerbated by the effectiveness of the British blockade. Although small quantities of supplies arrived in early 1799, there was no further traffic until early 1800, by which time starvation and disease were having a disastrous effect on the health, morale, and combat capability of the French troops.
Siege of Malta | |||||||||
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Part of the naval operations and the Mediterranean campaign during the War of the First Coalition | |||||||||
Watercolour depicting French-occupied Valletta and Manoel Island as seen from Għargħar Battery, a rebel artillery position during the blockade | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Maltese insurgents Great Britain Portugal | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Emmanuele Vitale Francesco Caruana Vincenzo Borg Horatio Nelson Alexander Ball Domingos de Nisa [pt] |
Claude Vaubois Jean Perrée † Pierre-Charles Villeneuve | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
Maltese – 10,000 ~ British – 16 ships[1] Portuguese – 5 ships[2] | 6,000–7,000[1] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Maltese – 300[3] British – light |
4,000 surrendered 2,000 – killed, wounded, sick or dead to disease | ||||||||
20,000 Maltese civilians dead to disease[3] |
In February 1800, a significant convoy under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée sent from Toulon made a determined effort to resupply the garrison. The blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson intercepted the convoy within sight of the starving troops on Malta. Perrée was killed and his flagship captured in the ensuing and brief Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800); no supplies reached Malta. The following month, the ship of the line Guillaume Tell set sail from Valletta to Toulon, laden with soldiers, but this too was intercepted and in a hard-fought battle was forced to surrender to a larger British squadron. These defeats rendered the French position on Valletta untenable, and its surrender inevitable. Although Vaubois held out for another five months, he eventually surrendered on 4 September and Malta was taken by Britain.