page_title: Invasion of Naples (1806)
section_title: Maida
hierarchical_section_title: Invasion of Naples (1806) / Maida
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Battle of Maida showing the coast from Santa Eufemia to Pizzo and the movements of both armies to the battlefield.
context_page_description: The Invasion of Naples in January 1806 saw a French army led by Marshal André Masséna march from northern Italy into the Kingdom of Naples which was ruled by King Ferdinand IV. The Neapolitan army was vanquished at Campo Tenese and rapidly disintegrated. The invasion was eventually successful despite some setbacks, including the prolonged Siege of Gaeta, the British victory at Maida, and a stubborn guerrilla war by the peasantry against the French. Total success eluded the French because Ferdinand withdrew to his domain in Sicily where he was protected by the Royal Navy and a British Army garrison. In 1806 Emperor Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte to rule over southern Italy as king.
  The proximate cause of the invasion was Ferdinand's double-crossing of Napoleon. Wanting to keep things quiet in southern Italy, Napoleon and Ferdinand signed a convention that specified that the French would evacuate Apulia. In return, the Kingdom of Naples would stay neutral in the impending War of the Third Coalition. No sooner had the French occupying force marched away than Ferdinand admitted British and Russian armies into his kingdom.
context_section_description: At this time, the French Army of Naples was reorganized into three army corps (see Army of Naples section). Masséna's I Corps was assigned to besiege Gaeta, Reynier's II Corps ordered to put down the revolt in Calabria, and Duhesme's III Corps sent to occupy Apulia. Meanwhile, King Joseph set about creating a new royal army in Naples. Back in Paris, Emperor Napoleon became angry that a large part of the Imperial armies were in front of Gaeta. The emperor impatiently wrote to his brother Joseph, "Gaeta is nothing, Sicily is everything". He well understood that Ferdinand's regime could survive intact in Sicily and insisted that the island be quickly invaded by 22,000 men. However, Napoleon failed to provide Masséna and Joseph with sufficient numbers to accomplish the task. Also, no one seems to have considered how the troops might be ferried across the Strait of Messina.
  The advance of Reynier's corps to Reggio deeply troubled Craig and Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. Fearing a French invasion of Sicily, the two procured reinforcements from Malta. Soon after, the sick Craig went home to be succeeded by John Stuart and Collingwood appointed Rear Admiral Sidney Smith to command the local Royal Navy squadron. Stuart and Smith did not like each other but they agreed to cooperate in the defense of Sicily. However, Smith's stories of his actions at the 1799 Siege of Acre greatly irritated Stuart. Deciding that a raid on Calabria might forestall a French invasion of Sicily, Smith's squadron took 5,200 of Stuart's troops aboard on 30 June 1806. Underestimating Reynier's strength, they intended to drive the French from Calabria with the help of the local partisans.
  Stuart's force was divided into four brigades under Brigadiers James Kempt, Lowry Cole, Wroth Palmer Acland, and John Oswald. Kempt's Advanced Guard consisted of 535 officers and men in seven light companies, 159 soldiers in the "flanker" battalion of the 5th Foot, and 272 troops in one Sicilian volunteer and two Corsican Ranger companies. Cole's 1st Brigade was made up of 781 soldiers in the eight center companies of the 1st/27th Foot, 485 men from six grenadier companies, and 136 artillerists manning 6-pound cannons. Acland's 2nd Brigade had eight center companies each of the 738-strong 2nd/78th Foot and the 603-man 1st/81st Foot. Oswald's 3rd Brigade included eight center companies each of the 576-strong 1st/58th Foot and the 624-man 20th Foot. Four center companies of De Watteville's Regiment with the strength of 287 soldiers were not attached to any brigade. All told, Stuart commanded 236 officers and 4,960 rank and file.
  On 1 July 1806, Stuart's force including 16 guns landed in the northern part of the Gulf of Saint Euphemia. The location was designed to split Reynier's forces so that they could be destroyed piece by piece. To confuse the French, the 20th Foot landed farther south in a feint attack. Immediately after landing, the Corsican Rangers headed inland, but they soon bumped into three companies of Polish legionaries who chased them back toward the beach. The 78th Foot and elements of the 1/58th Foot and 1/81st Foot reinforced the Corsicans and they drove off the Poles. The Advanced Guard marched inland to occupy Nicastro while the rest of Stuart's command camped on the beach. The troops constructed a fortified camp facing south near the village of Sant'Eufemia. To the north was rough terrain dominated by Calabrian partisans, while a coastal plain stretched to the south, the direction from which the French would probably approach. About 200 Calabrian guerillas under a man named Cancellier joined Stuart, but the Britisher did not think they were very useful.
  Leaving garrisons at Reggio and Scilla, Reynier marched north, picking up troops as he went. By 3 July, he assembled 6,440 soldiers near Maida, south of Sant'Eufemia. Verdier's division was somewhere to the north, much too far away to reach the field. When Stuart got news of the French presence, he called in his outposts at Sant'Eufemia and Nicastro. The British general mistakenly believed that he outnumbe
caption: Map of the Battle on Maida showing the British march to the battlefield
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