page_title: Siege of Gaeta (1806)
section_title: Gaeta
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Gaeta (1806) / Gaeta
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Buste de la galerie des batailles du château de Versailles. Oeuvre de Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Debay (père ou fils&#160;?) Español: busto , obra del escultor Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Debay , llamado Debay hijo. El busto retrata a Nicolas-Bernard, general-barón Guiot de Lacour, general de división (1771-1809), se encuentra en la Galería de las Batallas del Palacio de Versalles
context_page_description: The Siege of Gaeta saw the fortress city of Gaeta and its Neapolitan garrison under Louis of Hesse-Philippsthal besieged by an Imperial French corps led by André Masséna. After a prolonged defense in which Hesse was badly wounded, Gaeta surrendered and its garrison was granted generous terms by Masséna.
  The 1806 Invasion of Naples by Napoleon's forces was provoked when King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies joined the Third Coalition against Imperial France. The Kingdom of Naples was rapidly overrun by Imperial soldiers, but Hesse stubbornly held out at Gaeta. The garrison put up such fierce resistance that a large part of Masséna's Army of Naples was tied up in the siege for nearly five months. This prevented Masséna from sending reinforcements to quell an uprising that had started in Calabria as well as allowing the British to land an expeditionary force and score a victory at the Battle of Maida. However, because the British failed to relieve the garrison of Gaeta, the city was finally captured in mid-July after French artillery smashed gaps in the city's defences.
context_section_description: Gaeta's commander Prince Hesse was an eccentric soldier of fortune. The general was short in stature and red-faced with an aquiline nose. Known for his hard drinking, he was also a good leader of men. He gained the respect of his poorly motivated soldiers by joking with them and showing outstanding personal courage. From the first days of the siege, he posted himself at the Breach Battery and announced that he would not quit until the siege was done. He also vowed to limit his drinking to only one bottle a day. Referring to Karl Mack von Leiberich's surrender of Ulm, he famously yelled at the besiegers through a speaking-trumpet, "Gaeta is not Ulm! Hesse is not Mack!" When the French first arrived in the neighborhood on 13 February, they demanded that the fortress be handed over to them. When Hesse answered the request by firing a cannon, the French left an observation force in the area.
  The Siege of Gaeta began on 26 February 1806. Masséna made a reconnaissance of the fortress and assigned General of Brigade Nicolas Bernard Guiot de Lacour to command the besiegers. Batteries were dug and armed with cannons obtained from the arsenals at Capua and Naples. The French siege lines were anchored on Monte Secco, which was 600 yards (549 m) from the fortress, and on the more distant Plateau of Atratina. On 21 March, the French formally summoned Gaeta to surrender. Hesse replied that his answer would be found in the breach, which is to say that the French would first have to batter a hole in the wall. But when the besiegers' guns opened fire they were quickly silenced by the 80 cannons that Hesse had trained on their new batteries. The French went back to work rebuilding their batteries, bringing up more cannons, and digging trenches closer to the defenses. On 5 April, Hesse refused another French summons. When the besiegers' cannons opened fire they were again rapidly put out of action by the superior weight of Gaeta's artillery.
  Realizing that Gaeta could not be cheaply taken, the French appointed General of Brigade Jacques David Martin de Campredon, an engineering expert, to direct the siege. In order to get close enough to blast a breach in the walls, the French began digging parallels into the ground in front of Monte Sacco. Because the soil was rocky, this process was difficult. Meanwhile, Hesse was loath to mount sorties to destroy the French siege lines because the Neapolitan soldiers would frequently desert to the French. Hesse requested assistance from his government, but did not receive any right away because Admiral Sidney Smith was fully employed in supporting the guerilla war in Calabria. At length, Smith's squadron arrived at Gaeta and dropped off food, four heavy cannons, and the partisan leader Michele Pezza, also known as Fra Diavolo. Smith also ordered some gunboats under Captain Richardson to stand by the fortress, a reinforcement which proved troublesome to the enemy. Sometime in April, the Royal Navy landed Fra Diavolo and considerable force of irregulars near the mouth of the Garigliano. Their raid was successful at first but the partisans were finally scattered and Fra Diavolo made his way back to Gaeta. When Fra Diavolo was later implicated in a scheme to betray Gaeta, Hesse had him shipped back to Palermo in chains.
  Until the end of May, the French besiegers never had more than 4,000 men. But after that date they started to get heavily reinforced so that their numbers doubled by 28 June. On that day, Masséna took personal command of the siege. In the meantime, the garrison made sorties on 13 and 15 May, putting a few cannons out of action and carrying off some prisoners. By early June, the French had dug parallels within 200 yards (183 m) of the fortress and constructed batteries for 100 cannons. All the work was done under murderous defensive fire from Gaeta. French General of Brigade Joseph Sécret Pascal-Vallongue was mortally wounded in the head on 12 June and died on the 17th.
  On 28 June, the French opened fire with 50 heavy cannons and 23 mortars. This time, Gaeta's artillery was unable to suppress
caption: Nicolas Guiot de Lacour
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