Siege of Toulon
1793 CE.
Shown on the map at 43.130°, 5.920°.
The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was fought at the French Mediterranean naval base of Toulon during the War of the First Coalition. It began after opponents of the radical Montagnard government, initially associated with the Federalist revolts, surrendered the port, its arsenal and much of the French Mediterranean Fleet to an Anglo-Spanish force. French Royalists soon became dominant within the revolt and proclaimed the imprisoned child Louis XVII king. Britain, Spain, Naples and Sardinia supplied ships and troops to defend the city against the French First Republic. Republican forces under a succession of commanders encircled Toulon. Their decisive operational aim was to seize the heights commanding the inner and outer roadsteads, which would expose the Allied fleet to artillery fire. The young artillery officer Napoleon Bonaparte advocated this approach, assembled guns and crews, and helped direct the batteries. After General Jacques François Dugommier took command, Republican troops captured Fort Mulgrave—the Allied position known to the French as "Little Gibraltar"—during the night of 17–18 December.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Toulon (1793), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.