Siege of Bastia

Siege of Bastia
Part of the Invasion of Corsica during the French Revolutionary Wars
A Southern View of Bastia in the Island of Corsica from on board His Majesty's ship Victory during the Siege of that Town in May 1794, Ralph Willett Miller
Date 4 April – 22 May 1794 Location Bastia, Corsica Result Anglo-Corsican victory
Belligerents
Great Britain Corsica	France
Commanders and leaders
Lord Hood Pasquale Paoli	Jean Michel
Strength
2,400 Mediterranean Fleet	5,000
Casualties and losses
48 killed or wounded 6 missing 1 corvette destroyed	700 killed or wounded 1 corvette captured

The siege of Bastia was a combined British and Corsican military operation during the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars. The Corsican people had risen up against the French garrison of the island in 1793, and sought support from the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet under Lord Hood. After initial delays in the autumn, Hood had supplied a small expeditionary force which had successfully driven the French out of the port of San Fiorenzo in February 1794. Hood then turned his attention to the nearby town of Bastia, which was held by a large French garrison.

The attack was delayed by an unedifying squabble between the British commanders over the best method to approach the siege; Hood, supported by Captain Horatio Nelson, was over-confident and assumed the town would fall by assault and bombardment in just ten days. The French positions were however far stronger than Hood had assumed and in the end the siege lasted for six weeks, the garrison only forced to surrender when its food reserves ran out. Hood permitted the garrison safe passage back to France and began preparations for the assault of the final French-held town on the island, at Calvi. By August 1794, the last of the French had been driven from Corsica, which had become a self-governing part of the British Empire with a new constitution.