Invasion of Naples (1806)

Invasion of Naples (1806)
Part of the War of the Third Coalition
Battle of Maida, by Philip James de Loutherbourg
Date 8 February – 18 July 1806 Location Kingdom of Naples Result French victory
Belligerents
French Empire Kingdom of Italy	Kingdom of Naples United Kingdom Russian Empire Kingdom of Sicily
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Bonaparte André Masséna Jean Reynier Guillaume Duhesme Giuseppe Lechi	Ferdinand I Louis of Hesse-Philippsthal Roger de Damas John Stuart Sidney Smith Fra Diavolo
Strength
41,000	Naples: 22,000 United Kingdom: 5,200 Russia: 6,000 Total: 33,200

The Invasion of Naples was a front during the War of the Third Coalition, in 1806, when an army of the French Empire led by Marshal André Masséna marched from northern Italy into the Kingdom of Naples, an ally of the Coalition against France ruled by King Ferdinand IV. The Neapolitan army was defeated at Campo Tenese and rapidly disintegrated. The invasion was eventually successful despite some setbacks, including the prolonged Siege of Gaeta, the British victory at Maida, and a stubborn guerrilla war by the peasantry against the French. Total success eluded the French because Ferdinand withdrew to his domain in Sicily, where he was protected by the Royal Navy and a British Army garrison. In 1806, Emperor Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte to rule over southern Italy as king.

The proximate cause of the invasion was Ferdinand's double-crossing of Napoleon. Wanting to keep things quiet in southern Italy, Napoleon and Ferdinand signed a convention that specified that the French would evacuate Apulia. In return, the Kingdom of Naples would stay neutral in the impending War of the Third Coalition. When the French occupying force marched away, Ferdinand admitted British and Russian armies into his kingdom. In December 1805, Napoleon's armies crushed the armies of Austria and Russia. When the Russian force in Naples was recalled, the British expedition withdrew, exposing Ferdinand's kingdom to French retribution.