The Siege Of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Republic against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-Spanish forces in the southern French city of Toulon. It was during this siege that young Napoleon Bonaparte first won fame and promotion when his plan, involving the capture of fortifications above the harbour, was credited with forcing the city to capitulate and the Anglo-Spanish fleet to withdraw. The siege marked the first involvement of the British Royal Navy with the French Revolution.

The Siege of Toulon by Jean-Antoine Siméon Fort
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After the arrest of the Girondist deputies on the 2 June 1793, there followed a series of insurrections within the French cities of Lyon, Avignon, Nîmes, and Marseille known as Federalist revolts. In Toulon, the federalists evicted the local chapter of the Jacobin Club, but were soon supplanted by the more numerous royalists. Upon the announcement of the recapture of Marseille and of the reprisals which had taken place there at the hands of the revolutionaries, the royalist forces, directed by the Baron Xavier Lebret d’Imbert, requested support from the Anglo-Spanish fleet. On 28 August, the British and Spanish commanders of the fleet, Admiral Sir Samuel Hood (Royal Navy) and Admiral Juan de Lángara (Spanish Navy), responded with 13,000 troops of British, Spanish, Neapolitan and Sardinian origin. Baron d’Imbert delivered the port of Toulon to the British navy.

Map of Toulon, 1793
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Toulon hoisted the royal flag, the fleur de lys, and d’Imbert declared the eight-year-old Louis XVII King of France on the first of October. This result produced a potentially mortal situation for the French Republic, as the city had a key naval arsenal and was the base for 26 ships of the line (about one-third of the total available to the French Navy). Without this port, the French could not hope to challenge the Allies, and specifically the British, for control of the seas. In addition, Toulon’s loss would send a dangerous signal to others preparing to revolt against the Republic. Although France had a large army due to its levée en masse, the Republic could not easily rebuild its navy, which had been the third largest in Europe, if the Allies and Royalists destroyed or captured much of it. Both the strategic importance of the naval base and the prestige of the Revolution demanded that the French recapture Toulon.

Napoleon Bonaparte at The Siege Of Toulon, 1793

“Im as free as the breeze, and i ride where i please.”