Battle of Maida The Battle of Maida on 4 July 1806 saw a British expeditionary force fight a First French Empire division outside the town of Maida in Calabria , Italy during the Napoleonic Wars . John Stuart led 5 , 200 British troops to victory over about 6 , 000 French soldiers under Jean Reynier , inflicting crippling losses while incurring relatively few casualties . Maida is located in the toe of Italy , about west of Catanzaro . In early 1806 , the French invaded and overran the Kingdom of Naples , forcing King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his government to flee to Sicily . The Calabrians revolted against their new conquerors and Stuart ' s expeditionary force tried to exploit the unrest by raiding the coast . While ashore , the British encountered Reynier ' s division and the two sides engaged in battle . The 19th - century historians presented the action as a typical fight between French columns and British lines . This view of the battle has been called into doubt by at least one modern historian who argued that the French deployed into lines . Nobody questions the result which was a one - sided British tactical victory . After the battle , Stuart captured some isolated garrisons in Calabria and was transported back to Sicily by the British navy . Two weeks after the battle , the city of Gaeta fell to the French after a long siege . While Stuart succeeded in preventing a French invasion of Sicily and sustained the revolt in Calabria , he missed an opportunity to assist the defenders of Gaeta . 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 supposedly defending the kingdom evacuated Italy altogether . The Neapolitan - Sicilian army was crushed at the Battle of 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 a garrison at Gaeta . There , André Masséna ' s force become embroiled in a lengthy siege . The British , rather than supporting the defenders or relieving the siege , decided to organise an expedition into Calabria to further the insurrection against the French , and prevent any potential invasion of Sicily . Battle . A British force of over 5 , 000 men commanded by Major - General John Stuart sailed from Messina on 27 June , landing in the Gulf of Sant ' Eufemia three days later . At the same time a French force under the command of General Jean Reynier , the only French force in Calabria , moved to confront them . The exact size of the French force is unknown . Contemporary French sources range between 5050 and 5450 . Some later historians have suggested a force as large as 6400 but the most recent estimates are closer to 5400 . On 4 July 1806 , the two combatants met on the plain of Maida , with the British occupying a low ridge . As Reynier advanced , the British held their fire , then released a series of devastating volleys at point - blank range . The French faltered , and when the British charged at bayonet point , were completely routed . The entire 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 victory was much feted , and he received the Order of the Bath and an annuity of £1 , 000 a year from the British , and the title " Count of Maida " from King Ferdinand . On the morning of 4 July , Reynier broke camp and advanced toward level terrain along the shallow Lomato River . Believing his army superior in numbers , Stuart marched toward the same location nearly parallel to the French column . As both forces deployed from march column , they ended up in echelon formation . On the French side , the left flank was leading , while on the British side the right flank was leading . On the French left , General of Brigade Louis Fursy Henri Compère was echeloned forward , with the 1st Light Infantry Regiment on the left and the 42nd Line Infantry Regiment to its right . The center , commanded by General of Brigade Luigi Gaspare Peyri , included two battalions of Poles and the 4th battalion of the 1st Swiss 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 field guns . 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 left rear marched Colonel John Oswald ' s 3rd Brigade , which formed the center . Colonel Lowry Cole ' s 1st Brigade deployed on the left flank with the artillery . Cole was closer to the French than Oswald . Off conducting diversionary actions was the 20th Foot , which would be late . Only when the armies were nearly in contact did Stuart realize that he was outnumbered , but he allowed the battle to commence without changing any orders . Kempt detached the Royal Corsican Rangers and Sicilians 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 British troops halted the French skirmishers , they rejoined Kempt . At this time , Compère launched the 1st Light at Kempt , while the 42nd Line aimed to strike Acland . Since it had a head start , 1st Light ' s attack columns met Kempt ' s troops first . At 150 yards , the Advanced Guard fired its first volley but the 1st Light continued to advance . Kempt ' s second volley was fired at a range of 80 yards , wounding Compère , who nevertheless urged his men on . Though disordered by their losses , the French closed to 20 yards , where they absorbed a third volley . This fire completely broke up the 1st Light and its soldiers turned and fled . Compère , who literally rode into the British line , and others were captured in the brief melee that followed . As the 1st Light ' s attack collapsed , Kempt ' s men charged their shaken enemies . As the French formation disintegrated , 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 300 yards and blazed away until the French attack ground to a halt . Aware that their neighboring regiment was fleeing from the battlefield , the 42nd also decamped . Seeing his left wing in rout , Reynier sent Peyri ' s brigade to face Acland . After a brisk action , the Poles retreated , possibly due to confusing situation . The Swiss , however , maintained order and gave a good account of themselves . After Stuart sent reinforcements into the fight , the Swiss battalion fell back to join Digonet ' s brigade . Acland and Cole now advanced on Digonet and the Swiss . The 9th Chasseurs charged , forcing the British battalions to form square . Oswald ' s brigade appeared on the scene , but Digonet still held his ground , supported by the cavalry and the guns . Finally , the 20th Foot arrived from the coast and began firing at the exposed right flank of the 23rd Light . At this , Digonet and the Swiss began an orderly retreat and the battle was over . Stuart ' s 5 , 196 - man force suffered 45 killed and 282 wounded for a total of 327 casualties . Out of a total of 6 , 440 soldiers , Reynier lost 490 killed and 870 wounded . In addition , the British captured 722 French soldiers and four cannon . Another authority asserts that the French saved their guns . The 1st Light Infantry lost 50 % of its strength between killed , wounded , and prisoners . Aftermath . Stuart ordered Kempt ' s Advanced Guard 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 . That day , a half - battalion of the Polish - Italian Legion in the town of Vibo Valentia ( Monteleone di Calabria ) surrendered to Stuart . On 7 July , three more companies of Poles laid down their arms in Tropea when summoned by Captain Edward Fellowes in the frigate " HMS Apollo " . Reggio Calabria surrendered on 9 July to Brigadier General Broderick with 1 , 200 British and Neapolitan troops . The allies were transported from Sicily in the frigate " HMS Amphion " under Captain William Hoste . On this occasion , 632 soldiers from the 1st Light and 42nd Line Infantry Regiments were captured . Marching south , Stuart reached Reggio on 23 July . Before returning to Sicily , he and Smith mopped up all of Reynier ' s garrisons in southern Calabria . On 24 July , the fortress of Scilla and 281 soldiers of the 23rd Light Infantry surrendered to Oswald . The Britisher had one battalion each of the 10th Foot , 21st Foot , and Chasseurs Britanniques . The 3rd battalion of the Polish - Italian Legion , 500 strong , surrendered to Captain Hoste in the " Amphion " and the 78th Foot at Crotone on 28 July . The allies suffered a major setback on 18 July when the long Siege of Gaeta ended . After the French siege artillery breached Gaeta ' s walls , the Neapolitan garrison capitulated . By marching south , Stuart and Smith missed a chance to intervene in the siege or to land at Naples and attempt to overthrow Joseph ' s government . The surrender freed Masséna ' s force for operations in Calabria . In Stuart ' s defence , his expedition had successfully accomplished its main objective , which was to prevent any early invasion of Sicily . He also lengthened the revolt , which the French would not bring under control until 1807 . The political situation in southern Italy would remain unchanged until 1815 , with the British and Sicilian troops guarding the Bourbon King Ferdinand in Sicily and the Napoleonic King of Naples controlling the mainland . The British failed to use their naval superiority around Italy and did little to harass the French on the mainland . In 1808 , Joachim Murat became the King of Naples after Joseph Bonaparte was sent to govern Spain . Murat made various attempts to cross the Strait of Sicily , which all ended in failure , despite once managing to secure a foothold in Sicily . It was not until Austria defeated Murat in the Neapolitan War in 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 recently captured " Jupiter " HMS " Maida " . Historical reanalysis . It is traditionally thought that in the Battle of Maida the British deployed in a line while the French attacked in columns , allowing the British to fire full strength volleys into the French columns , while only the first two ranks of the French could fire , similar to Crossing the T in naval combat . However , modern historians dispute this claim . The military historian James R . Arnold argues that : 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 .