WITH PORTRAITS OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS OF THE AGE, AND ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS, PLANS, AND CHARTS. VOL. II. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW ; BY EDWARD BAINES, LEEDS. HISTORY OF THE WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. CHAPTER I. FOREIGN HISTORY: Invasion of Naples by the French under Joseph Bonaparte-Battle of THE events of the campaign of 1805, Consummated by the treaty of Presburg, had drawn round the eastern frontier of France a cordon of feudatory sovereigns, indebted to the Emperor Napoleon for their recent elevation, and bound to his service by the combined operation of policy and gratitude. Possessing too much collision of interest to unite in opposition to his authority, they exhibited a mighty bulwark against the attacks of his enemies, and seemed to free the empire of France from all the dangers of future molestation. The kingdom of Italy derived also from this treaty advantages in territory and population of the highest importance; and the iron crown of the Lombards was strengthened and enriched on the field of Austerlitz. 1806 The consequences of Bonaparte's successes BOOK IV. against Austria were particularly unfortunate for the kingdom of Naples. A treaty of neutrality CHAP. I. between France and that country had been concluded at Paris, on the 21st of September, 1805, and ratified at Portici, by the King of Naples, on the 8th of the following month. By this treaty, the Neapolitan court engaged to remain neutral in the war between France and the allied powers, and to repel by force every incroachment on her neutrality. But scarcely had six weeks elapsed after the ratification of this treaty, when a squadron of English and Russian vessels appeared in the bay of Naples, and were permitted, without opposition, to land a body of forces in that city and its vicinity. This gross violation of the stipulations of the treaty of Portici, was considered by the French emperor as an act of perfidy deserving of the severest punishment; and on the morning after the signature of the treaty of Presburg, Bonaparte issued a proclamation from his head-quarters at Vienna, in which he declared, "that the Neapolitan dynasty had ceased to reign." That no time might be lost in carrying this threat into execution, the French army, under Joseph Bonaparte, marched, in three divisions, against the kingdom of Naples; the right, commanded by General Regnier, proceeding against Gaeta, and the centre, under Marshal Massena, through Capua, while the left advanced through Istria, under General Lacy. On the 12th of February, Capua was invested by the French troops, and on the But triumphant as was the treaty of Presburg to Bonaparte, in the same proportion was it humiliating to the house of Austria. Her losses were deplorable, and her influence in the affairs of Germany was drawing fast to a termination. Her splendid dependents, her mitred ecclesiastics, and the long catalogue of princes who formed the minor stars in the imperial constellation, were many of them for ever extinguished; and with impaired influence in the west of Europe-influence which at that period it appeared scarcely possible she should ever regain, she seemed by this treaty retrograde from the world of civilization, and likely to be shut out from those political concerns, in which she had borne so commanding and pre-eminent a part for a succession of ages. 909643 1806 BOOK IV. 13th, a deputation from the city waited on Prince Joseph, and signed a capitulation, by which CHAP. I. Capua, Gaeta, Peschieri, Naples, and the other fortresses of that kingdom, were surrendered into the hands of the enemy. But notwithstanding this capitulation, it afterwards appeared, that Gaeta was far from being conquered; and the Prince of Hesse Philipsthal, having been summoned by General Regnier to surrender, answered with heroic firmness, that it was his intention to justify the confidence reposed in him by his sovereign. The zeal and activity of the governor in defending the fortress committed to his charge was most distinguished. With slight intervals of rest and refreshment, he was occupied night and day in the fortifications, and by his exhortations and example he stimulated his troops to sustain the pressure of their situation with constancy, and to repel all attacks upon the garrison with heroism. The valour with which this place was defended, and the advantages obtained by the garrison over the besieging army, excited the attention and admiration of all Europe; and the spirit which animated the governor and the troops at Gaeta, began to diffuse themselves over the whole kingdom. Even within the city of Naples, the apathy which had in the first instance paralized the exertions of the inhabitants, and induced them to open their gates without resistance to the legions of the conquerors, gave place to more patriotic feelings; and the population of Calabria became at length actuated by so decided a spirit of hostility towards their invaders, that large unorganized masses of peasantry were led to oppose the disciplined forces of the conquerors of Europe. The ardour of patriotism was mingled with the thirst of vengeance; the first instances of opposition from the insurgents had been punished with inexorable severity; and these violent inflictions animated the spirit of opposition in the Calabrians, and increased the deadliness of their hatred. Mutual exasperation gradually led to the establishment, by the French, of military commissions at Naples, and thoughout the country; the constitution of which was intrusted to Massena, a man whose feelings never warred against his interests, and whose long acquaintance with the trade of war had steeled his heart against the voice of humanity. The triumphant entrance of Joseph Bonaparte into his capital, to take upon himself the sovereignty of his kingdom, to which he had been appointed by his brother, to the exclusion of the recent dynasty, was attended by those acclamations and addresses which can always be procured by power. But these external demonstrations of joy could not conceal the real situation of his newly acquired conquests. The invader and the patriot were still in determined and active hostility; and the feelings of the contending parties had attained the utmost paroxysm of rage. Military tyranny, mortified and incensed at the resistance of an enemy which it despised, gave free scope to its fury, in all those excesses which it has been the pride of modern warfare to mitigate. The brave Calabrians, maddened by the infliction of such horrors on men whose crime consisted only in the defence of their country, resolved, if possible, to out-do them in retaliation. The disposition to an exterminating contest seemed mutual. The excess of resentment seemed to destroy every feeling of humanity, and in the weaker party all regard to the chances against their success. Impulse superseded calculation; passion imparted energy to weakness; and the want of discipline often seemed supplied by the frenzy of revenge. After the evacuation of Naples by the Russian and British troops, Sir James Craig had retired to Sicily with the English army, accompanied by the royal family of Naples, and had established his head-quarters at Messina. At this place he remained till the month of April, when bad health compelled him to resign his command to Sir John Stuart, who was soon after intrusted by his Sicilian Majesty with the defence of the eastern coast from Melazzo to Cape Passaro. The army continued at Messina till the end of June, without attempting any offensive operation against the enemy; at which period the English general, at the urgent solicitations of the court of Palermo, consented to land with a part of his army in Calabria, and to make trial of the loyalty and affection of the people to their former sovereign. The troops destined to this expedition amounted to about four thousand eight hundred effective men; with this small force, Sir John Stuart landed without any material opposition, on the morning of the 1st of July, in the gulf of St. Eufemia, near the northern frontier of Lower Calabria. The French General, Regnier, having been apprised of the debarkation of the English army, made a rapid march from Reggio, uniting his detached corps as he advanced, and anticipating, with his characteristic confidence, the defeat of the British troops. On the morning of the 3d, he advanced into the neighbourhood of Maida, about ten miles distant from the English army, and took up his position on a ridge of heights. His force at that moment consisted of about four thousand infantry, and three hundred cavalry, together with four pieces of artillery, and he was in daily expectation of being joined by three thousand more troops, who were marching after him in a second division, and who joined the French army on the night of the 3d. Perceiving that no time was to be lost, Sir John Stuart determined to advance towards the posi |