September – December 1793 · Mediterranean coast, France Theater
September – December 1793
When the royalist city of Toulon invited British and Spanish forces to occupy it in August 1793, the Committee of Public Safety dispatched an army to retake the vital Mediterranean naval base. The siege stalled until a young Corsican artillery captain named Napoleon Bonaparte identified the key tactical problem: a British-held promontory called Fort l'Éguilette commanded the anchorage. If French artillery could take it, the fleet would have to leave or be destroyed. Napoleon directed the capture of the fort, the fleet departed, and Toulon fell within hours. He was promoted to Brigadier General at age 24.
Commanders