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Battle of MaidaPart of the War of the Third Coalition

Battle of Maida, painted by Philip James de Loutherbourg

Date 4 July 1806

Location San Pietro di Maida (present­day Italy)

Result British tactical victory

Belligerents United Kingdom Kingdom of Sicily

France

Italy Polish

Legions Switzerland

Commanders and leaders John Stuart Jean Reynier

Strength5,236, 3 guns 5,400, 4 guns

Casualties and losses327 2,082, 722 captured

Battle of MaidaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Maida on 4 July 1806 was a battlebetween the British expeditionary force and a FirstFrench Empire division outside the town of Maida inCalabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuartled 5,200 British troops to victory over about 6,000French soldiers under Jean Reynier, inflictingsignificant losses while incurring relatively fewcasualties. Maida is located in the toe of Italy, about 30kilometres (19 mi) west of Catanzaro.

In early 1806, the French invaded and overran theKingdom of Naples, forcing King Ferdinand I of theTwo Sicilies and his government to flee to Sicily. TheCalabrians revolted against their new conquerors andStuart's expeditionary force tried to exploit the unrest byraiding the coast. While ashore, the British encounteredReynier's division and the two sides engaged in battle.The 19th­century historians presented the action as atypical fight between French columns and British lines.This view of the battle has been called into doubt by atleast one modern historian who argued that the Frenchdeployed into lines. Nobody questions the result whichwas a one­sided British tactical victory.

After the battle, Stuart captured some isolated garrisonsin Calabria and was transported back to Sicily by theRoyal Navy. Two weeks after the battle, the city ofGaeta fell to the French after a long siege. While Stuartsucceeded in preventing a French invasion of Sicily andsustained the revolt in Calabria, he missed anopportunity to assist the defenders of Gaeta.

Contents

1 Background2 Battle3 Aftermath4 Orders of battle5 Historical reanalysis6 References

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7 Sources

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 supposedlydefending the kingdom evacuated Italy altogether. The Neapolitan­Sicilian army was crushed at the Battleof Campo Tenese, forcing Ferdinand to flee to Sicily and concede the Neapolitan crown to the French.Napoleon then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Neapolitan throne.

By July 1806, the French had crushed all Neapolitan resistance except for the uprising in Calabria and agarrison at Gaeta. There, André Masséna's force become embroiled in a lengthy siege. The British, ratherthan supporting the defenders or relieving the siege, decided to organise an expedition into Calabria tofurther the insurrection against the French, and prevent any potential invasion of Sicily.

Battle

A British force of over 5,000 men commanded by Major­General John Stuart sailed from Messina on 27June, landing in the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia three days later. At the same time a French force under thecommand of General Jean Reynier, the only French force in Calabria, moved to confront them. The exactsize of the French force is unknown.[1] Contemporary French sources range between 5050 and 5450.[1]Some later historians have suggested a force as large as 6400 but the most recent estimates are closer to5400.[1]

On 4 July 1806, the two combatants met on the plain of Maida, with the British occupying a low ridge. AsReynier advanced, the British held their fire, then released a series of devastating volleys at point­blankrange. The French faltered, and when the British charged at bayonet point, were completely routed. Theentire 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 victorywas much feted, and he received the Order of the Bath and an annuity of £1,000 a year from the British, andthe title Count of Maida from King Ferdinand.[2]

On the morning of 4 July, Reynier broke camp and advanced toward level terrain along the shallow LomatoRiver. Believing his army superior in numbers, Stuart marched toward the same location nearly parallel tothe French column. As both forces deployed from march column, they ended up in echelon formation. Onthe French side, the left flank was leading, while on the British side the right flank was leading. On theFrench left, General of Brigade Louis Fursy Henri Compère was echeloned forward, with the 1st LightInfantry Regiment on the left and the 42nd Line Infantry Regiment to its right. The center, commanded byGeneral of Brigade Luigi Gaspare Peyri, included two battalions of Poles and the 4th battalion of the 1stSwiss Regiment. On the right flank, General of Brigade Antoine Digonet trailed the other two formations.Digonet's command comprised the 23rd Light Infantry and 9th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments and the fieldguns. Opposing the French was Colonel James Kempt's Advanced Guard on the British right flank,echeloned forward. To Kempt's left rear was Colonel Wroth Palmer Acland's 2nd Brigade. Well to Acland's

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Sir James Kempt

left rear marched Colonel John Oswald's 3rd Brigade, which formed the center. Colonel Lowry Cole's 1stBrigade deployed on the left flank with the artillery. Cole was closer to the French than Oswald. Offconducting diversionary actions was the 20th Foot, which would be late.[3]

Only when the armies were nearly in contact did Stuart realize that he was outnumbered, but he allowed thebattle to commence without changing any orders. Kempt detached the Royal Corsican Rangers andSicilians as skirmishers. These got into a brawl with Compère's voltigeurs (light companies) and fell back.Kempt sent the Flankers of the 35th Foot and the light company of the 20th Foot to help. Once the Britishtroops halted the French skirmishers, they rejoined Kempt. At this time, Compère launched the 1st Light atKempt, while the 42nd Line aimed to strike Acland. Since it had a head start, 1st Light's attack columns metKempt's troops first. At 150 yards, the Advanced Guard fired its first volley but the 1st Light continued toadvance. Kempt's second volley was fired at a range of 80 yards, wounding Compère, who neverthelessurged his men on. Though disordered by their losses, the French closed to 20 yards, where they absorbed athird volley. This fire completely broke up the 1st Light and its soldiers turned and fled. Compère, wholiterally rode into the British line, and others were captured in the brief melee that followed.[4]

As the 1st Light's attack collapsed, Kempt's men charged their shaken enemies. As the French formationdisintegrated, the Advanced Guard went out of control, chasing the fleeing French as far as Maida.Meanwhile, the 42nd advanced on Acland in two battalion columns. The British fired at a range of 300yards and blazed away until the French attack ground to a halt. Aware that their neighboring regiment wasfleeing from the battlefield, the 42nd also decamped.[4] Seeing his left wing in rout, Reynier sent Peyri's

brigade to face Acland. After a briskaction, the Poles were routed atbayonet point. The Swiss, however,maintained order and gave a goodaccount of themselves. After Stuartsent reinforcements into the fight,the Swiss battalion fell back to joinDigonet's brigade. Acland and Colenow advanced on Digonet and theSwiss. The 9th Chasseurs charged,forcing the British battalions to formsquare. Oswald's brigade appearedon the scene, but Digonet still heldhis ground, supported by the cavalryand the guns. Finally, the 20th Footarrived from the coast and beganfiring at the exposed right flank ofthe 23rd Light. At this, Digonet andthe Swiss began an orderly retreat and the battle was over.[5]

Stuart's 5,196­man force suffered 45 killed and 282 wounded for atotal of 327 casualties. Out of a total of 6,440 soldiers, Reynier lost490 killed and 870 wounded. In addition, the British captured 722French soldiers and four cannon.[6] Another authority asserts that theFrench saved their guns. The 1st Light Infantry lost 50% of itsstrength between killed, wounded, and prisoners.[5]

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Map of the Battle on Maida showingthe British march to the battlefield.

Admiral Sidney Smith

Jean Reynier

Aftermath

Stuart ordered Kempt's AdvancedGuard to observe Reynier's

withdrawal while he discussed what to do with Sidney Smith. On 6 July,they decided to move south and pick off Reynier's garrisons.[5] That day, ahalf­battalion of the Polish­Italian Legion in the town of Vibo Valentia(Monteleone di Calabria) surrendered to Stuart.[7] On 7 July, three morecompanies of Poles laid down their arms in Tropea when summoned byCaptain Edward Fellowes in the frigate HMS Apollo.[8] Reggio Calabriasurrendered on 9 July to Brigadier General Broderick with 1,200 British andNeapolitan troops. The allies were transported from Sicily in the frigateHMS Amphion under Captain William Hoste. On this occasion, 632 soldiersfrom the 1st Light and 42nd Line Infantry Regiments were captured.[9]

Marching south, Stuart reached Reggio on 23July. Before returning to Sicily, he and Smith mopped up all of Reynier'sgarrisons in southern Calabria.[10] On 24 July, the fortress of Scilla and 281soldiers of the 23rd Light Infantry surrendered to Oswald. The Britisher hadone battalion each of the 10th Foot, 21st Foot, and Chasseurs Britanniques. The3rd battalion of the Polish­Italian Legion, 500 strong, surrendered to CaptainHoste in the Amphion and the 78th Foot at Crotone on 28 July.[9]

The allies suffered a major setback on 18 July when the long Siege of Gaetaended. After the French siege artillery breached Gaeta's walls, the Neapolitan garrison capitulated. Bymarching south, Stuart and Smith missed a chance to intervene in the siege or to land at Naples and attemptto overthrow Joseph's government. The surrender freed Masséna's force for operations in Calabria. InStuart's defence, his expedition had successfully accomplished its main objective, which was to prevent anyearly invasion of Sicily. He also lengthened the revolt, which the French would not bring under control until1807.[10]

The political situation in southern Italy would remain unchanged until 1815, with the British and Siciliantroops guarding the Bourbon King Ferdinand in Sicily and the Napoleonic King of Naples controlling themainland. The British failed to use their naval superiority around Italy and did little to harass the French onthe mainland. In 1808, Joachim Murat became the King of Naples after Joseph Bonaparte was sent togovern Spain. Murat made various attempts to cross the Strait of Sicily, which all ended in failure, despiteonce managing to secure a foothold in Sicily. It was not until Austria defeated Murat in the Neapolitan Warin 1815, that King Ferdinand was finally restored to the Neapolitan throne.

Maida Hill and Maida Vale in London are both named after this battle. The Royal Navy named the recentlycaptured Jupiter HMS Maida.

Orders of battle

British order of battle[7][11] French order of battle[7][12]

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Major General John Stuart (236 officers, 4,960 men)

Advance Guard: Colonel James Kempt (47officers, 919 men)

Combined Light Infantry Battalion (25officers, 510 men)

Light companies of 20th, 1/27th,1/35th, 1/58th, 1/61st, 1/81st, andde Watteville's Swiss

"Flankers" of 35th Foot (8 officers, 151men)Two companies of Royal CorsicanRangers, one company Royal SicilianVolunteers (14 officers, 258 men)

1st Brigade: Colonel Lowry Cole (48officers, 1,218 men)

Combined Grenadier Battalion (21officers, 464 men)

Grenadier companies of 20th,1/27th, 1/35th, 1/58th, 1/81st, andde Watteville's Swiss

1st Battalion, 27th (Inniskilling)Regiment of Foot (eight companies, 27officers, 754 men)

2nd Brigade: Colonel Wroth Palmer Acland(69 officers, 1,272 men)

2nd Battalion, 78th (Highland)Regiment of Foot ("Ross­shire Buffs")(eight companies, 36 officers, 702 men)1st Battalion, 81st Regiment of Foot(Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) (eightcompanies, 33 officers, 570 men)

3rd Brigade: Colonel John Oswald (49officers, 1,151 men)

1st Battalion, 58th (Rutlandshire)Regiment of Foot (eight companies, 22officers, 554 men)

Général de Division Jean Reynier (6,029 men)

1st Brigade: Général de Brigade Louis FursyHenri Compère

Two Battalions, 1st Légère Regiment(1,810 men)Battalion, 42nd Ligne Regiment (1,046men)

2nd Brigade: Général de Brigade AntoineDigonet

Two Battalions, 23rd Légère Regiment(1,266 men)Four Squadrons, 9th Chasseurs àCheval Regiment (328 men)

3rd Brigade: Général de Brigade LuigiGaspare Peyri

Two Battalions, 1st Polish­ItalianLegion Regiment (937 men)4th Battalion, 1st Swiss Regiment (630men)

Artillery (Four guns, 112 men)1st Horse Artillery: 3­pound gunsFoot Artillery: 6­pound guns

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De Watteville's Swiss Regiment (fourcompanies, 16 officers, 271 men)

Detached from 3rd BrigadeBattalion, 20th (East Devonshire)Regiment of Foot (eight companies, 27officers, 597 men)

ArtilleryRoyal Horse Artillery: Three 6­poundguns (7 officers, 129 men)

Historical reanalysis

It is traditionally thought that in the Battle of Maida the British deployed in a line while the French attackedin columns, allowing the British to fire full strength volleys into the French columns, while only the firsttwo ranks of the French could fire, similar to Crossing the T in naval combat. However, modern historiansdispute this claim. The military historian James R. Arnold argues that:

"The writings of Sir Charles Oman and Sir John Fortescue dominated subsequent English­languageNapoleonic history. Their views [that the French infantry used heavy columns to attack lines ofinfantry] became very much the received wisdom. ... By 1998 a new paradigm seemed to have set inwith the publication of two books devoted to Napoleonic battle tactics. Both claimed that the Frenchfought in line at Maida and both fully explored French tactical variety. The 2002 publication of TheBattle of Maida 1806: Fifteen Minutes of Glory, appeared to have brought the issue of column versusline to a satisfactory conclusion: "The contemporary sources are...the best evidence and theirconclusion is clear: General Compère's brigade formed into line to attack Kempt's Light Battalion."The decisive action at Maida took place in less than fifteen minutes. It had taken 72 years to rectify a

great historian's error about what transpired during those minutes."[13][14]

The British fired volleys then charged with the bayonet, and the French, failing to withstand the onslaught,broke and fled, losing heavily in the rout.

References

1. ^ a b c Hopton, Richard (2002). The Battle of Maida 1806 Fifteen Minutes of Glory. Leo Cooper. p. 111.ISBN 0­85052­845­3.

2. ^ Chandler, David, Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, Wordsworth, 1999. ISBN 1­84022­203­4. p 2613. ^ Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805­1815 (http://books.google.com/books?id=cLjJV7AKPkAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false).Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0­275­96875­8. pp. 52­53

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4. ^ a b Schneid, p 53

5. ^ a b c Schneid, p 546. ^ Smith, p 221

7. ^ a b c Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill Books, 1998. ISBN 1­85367­276­9. p221. Smith assigns 1/35th to grenadiers, Schneid gives 1/36th. Smith lists Flankers of 35th; Schneid lists 5th.Smith was used in both cases.

8. ^ Smith, pp 221­222

9. ^ a b Smith, p 222

10. ^ a b Schneid, p 5511. ^ Schneid, p 176. Strengths are from Schneid.12. ^ Schneid, pp 175­17613. ^ Arnold, James R. "A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Peninsular War Oman and Historiography

(http://www.napoleon­series.org/military/organization/maida/c_maida.html)", The Napoleon Series, August2004.

14. ^ Arnold, James. "A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Napoleonic Wars" Journal of the Society forArmy Historical Research LX no. 244 (Winter 1982): pp. 196­208.

Sources

War Monthly Issue 12"Details of battle" (http://www.btinternet.com/~the35thfootproject/maida.html).Details of battle at Clash of Steel (http://www.clash­of­steel.co.uk/pages/battle_details.php?battle=MAIDA01)Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805­1815. Westport, Conn.: PraegerPublishers, 2002. ISBN 0­275­96875­8Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill Books, 1998. ISBN 1­85367­276­9

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