Invasion of Naples (1806)
| Invasion of Naples | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War of the Third Coalition | |||||||||
Engraving of a painting of the Battle of Maida by Philip James de Loutherbourg | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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France Italy |
Naples United Kingdom Russia Sicily | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Joseph Bonaparte André Masséna Jean Reynier Guillaume Duhesme Giuseppe Lechi |
Ferdinand I Louis of Hesse-Philippsthal Roger de Damas Fra Diavolo John Stuart Sidney Smith | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 41,000 |
Naples: 22,000 United Kingdom: 5,200 Russia: 6,000 Total: 33,200 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
1,750 killed 5,500 wounded ~3,500 died of disease | ? | ||||||||
The invasion of Naples was a military campaign of the War of the Third Coalition in 1806. It began when a French army 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 local peasants 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 reign over the newly formed Napoleonic kingdom of Naples in Southern Italy.
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.