The Siege of Calvi (1794)

Corsica joined France in 1769 as a result of the defeat inflicted on the troops of the Corsican Republic by the French Expeditionary Force at the . The leader of the Corsican separatists, Pasquale (Pascal) Paoli was forced to emigrate to England ^[1] . After the victory of the French Revolution, Paoli, who was considered a fighter against the old regime in Paris, returned from exile on April 3, 1789 and was appointed lieutenant general and commander of the 23rd division stationed in his native Corsica ^[2] .

In 1793, the French attempted , whose leadership was entrusted to Paoli. At the same time, Paoli himself was a clear opponent of the expedition. Between him and Napoleon Bonaparte, a conflict arose that intensified after the failure of the expedition ^[2] . Paoli was declared responsible for the failure, in February 1793 he was summoned to Paris for trial, but he not only refused to go, but declared Corsica an independent state. An uprising broke out on the island, as a result of which all of Corsica fell under the control of the paolists. Only 3 cities remained faithful to France: Saint-Florent , Bastia and Calvi ^[3] .

Shortly before this, England entered the war on the side of the anti-French coalition, and in the summer of 1793 a powerful British fleet under the command of Admiral Hood entered the Mediterranean Sea ^[4] . It was to England that Paoli turned for help in protecting the independence of Corsica ^[5] . According to the agreement, Corsica was to become a self-governing part of the British Empire ^[6] . However, Hood could not immediately help Paoli, since his main forces were involved in the siege of Toulon ^[7] .

Calvi is divided into two parts - the Upper Town, located on a high cliff on a prominent cape in the sea, and the Lower Town at its foot ^[8] . The total number of residents in both parts of the city during the period under review was 2000–2500 people ^[9] . Around the city at a distance of 300 to 1200 meters were located 4 carried from the fortress bastion ^[10] .

To prepare for the defense of the fortress from Paris to Calvi in ​​April 1793, two representatives of the Convention arrived: and Christophe Saliceti . Lacombe-Saint-Michel wrote in his report that Calvi was mediocre fortified, so the walls of the fortress in some places reached only the knee, but there were 47 cannons in the fortress ^[11] . However, despite the impressive artillery power, the weapons left much to be desired: some guns were more than a hundred years old (1686), the ammunition available did not always match the existing artillery weapons, which made it impossible to use them: for example, there were many howitzers, but only 140 cores for them, on the contrary - there were many bombs, but there were no mortars ^[12] .

Parisian emissaries undertook construction work to put the fortress in order. Under the command of the commander of the 23rd division, after the Paoli treason, General Rafael de Casabianca was trained in the artillery of the foot soldiers, and volunteers from the local population were trained in military affairs. Under the guidance of a local doctor, Dr. Damian Jubegi, a hospital was organized in which, despite the scarce equipment, they tried to deal with epidemics. Women of the town worked in the hospital, including the wife and daughters of the general ^[13] .

On June 3, 2,000 men of Corsican gendarmerie approached Calvi under the command of Paoli Leonetti's nephew. They tried to occupy the heights surrounding the city, but after a 12-hour battle the garrison threw them back ^[14] . On September 13, the French frigate Mignon entered the Calvi Bay under the command of Captain Liodan, who brought news of the surrender of Toulon to the British. The frigate was flooded in the bay, and his team and guns were transferred to the fortress. On September 15, an English ship arrived at the port, from which the proposal for surrender was handed over to the French, but Lacomb-Saint-Michel rejected it. In December 1793, the French conquered Toulon from the British, but this only complicated the position of the Calvi fortress, as the British fleet went to Corsica. Saliceti tried to send reinforcements from the conquered Toulon to the island, but the British did not let them through ^{[15] [16] [6]} .

In February 1794, the Anglo-Corsican troops stormed Saint-Florent, and on May 22 - Bastia. Calvi remained the only French fortress on the island ^{[17] [18] [19]} . After the fall of the Bastia, Lacombe-Saint-Michel left for the mainland and left the commander of Brigadier General Kazabyanka. His assistants were Brigadier General Jean-Pierre Abatucci , the commandant of the Gast Fortress and the commandant of the Raid Ge. Under their command were about 800 people, including the crews and armament of two ships sunk in the harbor: the Melpomene (44 guns) and the Mignon (32 guns), as well as a number of Corsican volunteers ^[10] .

March 19, 1794 for the selfless defense of Calvi, Rafael Cazabianca was promoted to the rank of division general ^[16] .

By that time, it had been almost a year since Calvi was blocked by paolists who constantly made sorties, destroying supplies and buildings in the vicinity. The garrison of the fortress was too small to seriously confront and control the heights around the city ^[20] .

On June 15, British infantrymen, under the command of General Charles Stewart , arrived to help the paolists, who became free after the fall of Bastia. The next day, 3 warships arrived ( Agamemnon , Dolphin and ) and 16 transport ships under the command of Captain Nelson , the future admiral and hero of the Battle of Trafalgar ^{[21] [22]} .

On June 18, 1,550 people landed on the shore in Port Agra - about 5 km from Calvi - not counting the officers. Nelson was going to occupy the dominant heights and deploy artillery on them. General Kazabyanka considered this impossible, since 26-pound guns would have to be transported about 130 km in the highlands, but the British managed to make this journey in two days. Kazabianka realized her mistake, sent 400 people - half of the garrison to drive out the enemy, but this venture failed ^{[21] [22]} .

On July 27, Nelson was forced to take the ships off the coast in order to wait out the storm. Hood managed to ship additional guns and ammunition ashore from his flagship Victory , commanded by captains and Walter Sorokold ^[23] . By July 1, the British installed a fortified battery at the height of Achilluchcha, and from that day the city was subjected to almost daily shelling ^[24] .

On the night of July 4-5, an English attack on Fort Jesco began, which lasted 4 days. Fort was commanded by Captain Leoni, at the disposal of which there were only 60 people, of whom 30 had died by the end of the siege. They were opposed by British and Corsican troops with a total of 1,200 people. During this fight, 22-year-old girl Marie-Angelique Duchman heroically showed herself , who took command in return for the murdered sergeant. Many years later, on August 15, 1851, Marie-Angelique received the Legion of Honor for this battle and became the first female cavalier ^{[24] [25]} .

The British subjected the city to daily shelling, which led to numerous casualties not only among the military, but also among the civilian population ^{[26] [27]} . That year the weather was very hot, there was no way to be in the protected basements, which further aggravated the number of victims among the townspeople ^[28] . The forts surrounding the city were subjected to the same massive shelling - so, according to Fort Modzello, guarded by a garrison of 60 people, 1,600 bombs and 8,500 bullets were fired from July 7 to 17 ^[29] .

In the first weeks after the start of shelling, the French stubbornly defended themselves and responded with fire, which caused a lot of trouble to the besiegers: first, the captain “Victory” Walter Sörokould died ^[30] , then on July 12, captain Nelson was wounded by a fragment and lost his right eye ^{[31] [32]} .

By mid-July, a famine began in the city ^[31] . Only about 200 people remained in service (¼ of the initial garrison), another 330 were injured and could not continue the battle. Meanwhile, the besiegers continued their onslaught - on the night of July 18-19, Corsican separatists under the command of Colonel Vinci took Fort Modzello ^[33] . After his fall, the fort of Saint-Francois (Marat), which was threatened by encirclement, also had to be evacuated. General Kazabyanka accused the commander of the fort Captain Frejus of cowardice, later he even appeared before the military tribunal in Toulon , but was acquitted ^[34] . Only two of the four forts remained in the hands of the defenders: Molino and Jesco ^[35] .

On July 19, the French had only 12 operational guns ^[36] . General Stuart sent a parliamentarian, Colonel Sampler, to the city, who submitted a proposal for surrender to General Kazabyanka and the mayor of Roffo. They refused ^{[37] [36]} . According to the calculations of the defenders, the resources available to them should have been enough for only 6 days. During this time, they hoped to receive reinforcements from France, which Saliceti promised them ^[35] .

On July 25, the defenders, lacking funds to treat the wounded, tried to transport 80 of them to France on a sailboat, but General Stuart intercepted the ship, captured the crew, and returned the wounded to the city ^[38] .

Despite the siege, on July 28 four small vessels broke through to the city, delivering food to them, but not the ammunition that was sorely lacking in Calvi ^[39] .

On July 30, General Stuart sent a second parliamentarian to the city - this time with a 12-day truce and surrender if the besieged people did not receive reinforcements during that time, but were refused a second time ^[40] .

Since July 31, the British artillery began to massively attack the besieged, firing an average of 360 shells per hour. On August 1, only 150 out of 800 people remained in service. Most of the houses in the city were destroyed. An English shell landed in a powder warehouse, producing an explosion of 3,000 pounds of gunpowder; other shells destroyed a food warehouse and water tanks ^[41] .

Under the circumstances, General Kazabyanka requested written reports from the division heads with their vision of further actions ^[41] . The artillery commander Vergen and the commander of engineering forces Kopen, as well as the person in charge of the hospital, reported an inability to continue the resistance. Now the besieged have requested a truce for 12 days with the condition of honorary surrender, but General Stuart gave them only a delay of 9 days ^[42] .

On August 5 (18th Thermidor ), the conditions for the possible surrender of the fortress garrison were signed. According to them, the besieged military had to hand over to the winners firearms, banners and guns, but they could save their swords and sabers. The surrendered military was given the opportunity to evacuate to the mainland. Particular attention was paid to the situation of the wounded, who were supposed to be evacuated as soon as possible, and non-transportable guaranteed care in Calvi. Civilians of the commune and the Corsican refugees who were within its walls were allowed to sail away with the troops of their choice or stay within the walls of the commune - in any case, they were guaranteed inviolability of property and the absence of harassment ^[43] .

On August 10 (23 Thermidors), at 10 a.m., the last 150 live and relatively healthy defenders of the fortress surrendered (according to other sources - 400 ^{[39] [44]} ). Under the command of the generals Kazabianca and Abbatucci, they left the ruins of the city, surrendered their weapons and banners, after which they were given the opportunity to sail to mainland France. A number of Corsicans also sailed with them ^[45] .

The generous conditions of surrender provoked protests from the allies of the British - Austria and Sardinia . There was also no unanimity among the British themselves - Hood in his reports accused Stewart of being "soft-headed" for his refusal to bombard French hospitals. Immediately after the surrender, the British fleet, under the command of Admiral Hood, left Calvi, leaving Stuart to deal with the fate of the city ^[27] .

During the 40-day siege, of which 28 Calvi was subjected to massive bombardment, the city was almost completely destroyed - 24,000 bullets, 4,500 bombs and 1,500 cores were fired at a fortress with a diameter of 234 meters. At the time of surrender, there were 450 wounded and sick people in the hospital ^[46] . Of the 800 people in the initial garrison, only a few were able to return to France, but their number varies greatly in the sources: according to French sources, from 80 ^[16] to 150 ^[46] military could leave Calvi; according to English - 300 French and 247 Corsicans ^[27] .

After the fall of Calvi, all of Corsica fell into the hands of the British, becoming a British colony for 2.5 years. Gilbert Elliott was appointed the island’s king-king, and on June 1 elections were held and Deputy Paoli Carlo-Andrea Pozzo di Borgo became president, the constitution was adopted on June 16 ^[47] . However, soon after the fall of Calvi, the new authorities lost their authority due to the brutal persecution of the Corsicans, who had previously collaborated with the French authorities ^[48] . The situation on the island deteriorated so much that by the beginning of 1796 it was on the verge of a civil war ^[49] , which forced the British to retire from the island - on October 24, 1796 they left the island, taking with them all the cannons except the largest ^{[50] [51 ] ]} .

On January 29, 1797, the Directorate awarded the city with an honorary tricolor with the inscription “In memory of the siege of Calvi, 1794” and a marble slab with the motto of the city: Civitas Calvi semper fidelis (from lat. - “The city of Calvi is always faithful”), which was placed on the city hall building ^[50] .

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