Siege of Malta (1798-1800)

Siege of Malta

Ta' Xindi Farmhouse, which was a Maltese insurgent field headquarters in 1798–1800. It is one of the few surviving landmarks of the blockade.

Date	2 September 1798 – 4 September 1800 (2 years, 2 days)
Location	Malta (mainly Grand Harbour area)
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

Malta

Great Britain

Portugal

Naples

French Republic

Commanders and leaders

Emmanuel Vitale

Francesco Saverio Caruana

Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois

Jean-Baptiste Perrée †

The Siege of Malta, also known as the Siege of Valletta or the French Blockade (Maltese: L-Imblokk tal-Franċiżi), was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta, the largest city and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta, between 1798 and 1800. Valletta had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and garrisoned with 3,000 men under the command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois. When the French Mediterranean Fleet was destroyed at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798, the British Royal Navy was able to initiate a blockade of Malta, assisted by an uprising among the native Maltese population against French rule. Forced to retreat to Valletta, the French garrison faced severe food shortages, exacerbated by the effectiveness of the British blockade: although small quantities of supplies arrived in early 1799, there was no further traffic until early 1800, by which time starvation and disease was having a disastrous effect on health, morale, and combat capability of the French troops.

In February 1800, a significant convoy under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée sent from Toulon made a determined effort to resupply the garrison. The blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson intercepted the convoy within sight of the starving troops on Malta and in the ensuing, but brief, battle, Perrée was killed and his flagship captured. The following month, the ship of the line Guillaume Tell set sail from Valletta to Toulon, laden with soldiers, but this too was intercepted and in a hard-fought battle was forced to surrender to a larger British squadron. These defeats rendered the French position on Valletta untenable, and its surrender inevitable. Although Vaubois held out for another five months, he eventually surrendered on 4 September, by which time the garrison mortality from malnourishment and typhus had reached 100 men a day. Malta was retained by Britain, and control of the island was a factor in the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803. Ultimately it remained under British government for 164 years, gaining independence in 1964.

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