Corsica, invasion of

The invasion of Corsica is a campaign fought in the spring and summer of 1794 by combined British military and Corsican irregular forces against a French garrison, early in the French Revolutionary Wars.

The campaign centers on sieges of three principal towns in Northern Corsica; San Fiorenzo (often known as San Fiorenzo), Bastia and Calvi, which are in turn surrounded, besieged and bombarded until by August 1794 French forces have been driven from the island entirely.

Corsica is a large island in the Ligurian Sea; naval forces stationed on the island have the ability to exercise control over the waters off the coast of Southern France and Northwestern Italy.

This is a principal theater of the early French Revolutionary Wars, and the British commander in the region, Lord Hood, views control of Corsica as a vital component of his blockade of the French fleet based at Toulon.

Corsica had been annexed by France in 1768, and the population has been resentful and rebellious ever since.

The fervor of the French Revolution in 1789 had stirred their ambitions for independence, and their leader Pasquale Paoli appeals to Hood for support.

Hood is initially distracted by the Siege of Toulon, but in early 1794 turns his attention to Corsica.

Combining naval bombardments with amphibious landings of British soldiers and marines, and supported by Corsican irregulars, the British forces attack the defenses of San Fiorenzo, forcing the French to abandon the town and retreat to Bastia.

Hood now leads a force around the island and lays siege to the town, which surrenders after thirty-seven days of blockade.

This victory is sufficient for the Corsican people, through Paoli, to pledge allegiance to Britain

British reinforcements now laid siege to the last French-held fortress on the island, at Calvi, which is bombarded for two months, finally surrendering in August 1794.

Corsica proves a mixed asset for the British; the island's anchorages provide some relief for a fleet operating at the end of a long supply chain, but the instability of Corsican politics and repeated French efforts to disrupt British control consume valuable resources.

By late 1796, with the French victorious in Northern Italy and the Spanish declaration of war on Britain following the Treaty of San Ildefonso, British control of Corsica is no longer tenable.

British forces withdrew from the island, which is rapidly seized once more by the French.

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