French Military Operations in Sardinia and Corsica (1793)

In early 1793 France launched a naval expedition against Sardinia under Admiral Laurent Truguet, whose rank during the operation is not specified in the sources, with the young officer Napoleon Bonaparte among its participants. The operation failed: a mutiny among troops landing near Cagliari forced reembarkation, and Bonaparte took part in the unsuccessful February 1793 attempt on the island.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. Napoleon Bonaparte, born Napoleone di Buonaparte on Corsica in 1769, had become a supporter of the Jacobins and the pro-French Corsican Republicans opposed to Paoli's secessionist aspirations. In 1792 he commanded a battalion of Corsican volunteers and was promoted to captain in the regular army, positioning him for service in the Mediterranean campaigns of 1793.

French Naval Command. Laurent Jean François Truguet, a French Navy officer of aristocratic origins who had entered the gardes de la marine in 1765, was promoted to counter admiral in July 1793 and commanded French naval forces in the Mediterranean from his flagship Tonnant. His fleet participated in the Sardinian expedition that year. His rank during the February 1793 expedition is not specified in the sources.

Aftermath. In the months that followed the expedition, Truguet returned to Toulon in March 1793 and then secured government adoption of a maritime penal code intended to prevent future insurrections and mutinies. Separately, Bonaparte in June led an unsuccessful attempt to capture Ajaccio with 400 French troops, after which the Buonapartes fled to Toulon.

People involved

Sources

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