Siege of Corfu (1798–1799)

For other sieges of Corfu, see Siege of Corfu (disambiguation).

The siege of Corfu (November 1798 – March 1799) was a military operation by a joint Russian and Turkish fleet against French troops occupying the island of Corfu.

Siege of Corfu
Part of the War of the Second Coalition
Corfu city and its fortifications in 1800, engraving by André Grasset de Saint-Sauveur
Date 4 November 1798 – 3 March 1799 Location Corfu, Corcyre, Ionian Islands 39°37′26″N 19°55′17″E Result Russo–Ottoman–Albanian victory
Belligerents
Russia Ottoman Empire Pashalik of Yanina	France
Commanders and leaders
Fyodor Ushakov Kadir Bey Ali Pasha of Ioannina	Louis Chabot
Strength
6,150 12 ships of the line 11 frigate	3,500 2 ships of the line 1 frigate
Casualties and losses
298 killed or wounded	600 killed or wounded 2,931 prisoners 1 ship of the line, 1 frigate, 1 aviso, 1 bomb ketch, 2 brigantines, 6 galleys, 1 canonnière, and 3 merchant ships captured 636 guns and mortars captured

Background

Main articles: French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799) and Russo-Ottoman Alliance (1799)

By the Treaty of Campo Formio (November 1797) and the dissolution of the Republic of Venice, the Ionian Islands were ceded to the French Republic, which occupied Corfu as the département Corcyre.

In 1798, Admiral Fyodor Ushakov was sent to the Mediterranean in command of a joint Russian-Turkish squadron to support General Alexander Suvorov's upcoming Italian and Swiss expedition (1799–1800). One of Ushakov's main tasks was to take the strategically important Ionian Islands from the French. In October 1798 the French garrisons were driven from Cythera, Zakynthos, Cephalonia, and Lefkada. It remained to take the largest and best-fortified island of the archipelago, Corfu.

French preparations

Layout of the fortifications of Corfu city, c. 1780

The city of Corfu is located on the east coast in the central part of the island between two forts:

• The medieval Old Fortress, on the eastern tip of the city, cut off from the city by an artificial moat;
• The more modern New Fortress, a huge fortification complex, dominates the city's northeastern part.

A high wall ran along the shore from the new to the old fort. The town was also covered by bastions on two mountains, Abraham and Salvatore, and the intermediate fort of San Rocco. From the sea, the city was protected by the well-fortified island of Vido, and the smaller island of Lazaretto, two miles up the coast, was also strengthened by the French.

The Venetians did not maintain the fortresses well, which was in a parlous state. Of the c. 500 artillery pieces in the fortifications, only about 150 were capable of being used. The French also lacked provisions, which had to be hurriedly requisitioned from the local population. In addition, the French troops of the Division du Levant, commanded by General Louis Chabot, had been dispersed as garrisons among the islands and the mainland exclaves, leaving only about 1,500 men for the defence of Corfu. These were a motley force from the 6th and 79th demi-brigades (regiments), sappers, sailors and artillerymen, as well as a few local volunteers and gendarmes. Urgent messages were sent to Italy, asking for reinforcements of 3,000 men, supplies, and ammunition. The local government was placed in the hands of a French commission, and on 22 October, the population, whose loyalties were doubtful, was disarmed.

In the harbour was a French squadron of two ships of the line, the 74-gun Généreux and 54-gun Leander, the 20-gun corvette Brune, a bomb-vessel, a brig, and four auxiliary vessels.

The siege of Corfu

On 4 November 1798, Ushakov's Russian-Turkish squadron, consisting of three ships of the line, three frigates, and several small ships, began the siege of Corfu. They were joined shortly afterwards by a Turkish squadron and another Russian squadron under the command of Captain Dmitry Senyavin. Given the strong fortifications of the island and the lack of strength for a landing, it was initially decided to wait for Turkish reinforcements for a landing force. However, on the first day, the French abandoned their fortifications on Lazaretto island, which the Russians immediately occupied.

On 13 November, a small force of Russians landed without opposition and took the small Gouvia port, about five miles along the coast. From then on, the Russians began building batteries and shelling the French-held forts. In December, another Russian squadron, this one under Rear-Admiral Pavel Pustoshkin, augmented the besieging forces. The combined fleet now consisted of 12 ships of the line, 11 frigates, and many smaller vessels.

On the night of 26 January, the Généreux, with her sails painted black, and the brig escaped from the harbour and sailed to Ancona.

In February, about 4,000 Ottoman troops arrived, and it was decided to land on the island of Vido—the key to the defense of Corfu—using naval artillery against its shore batteries.

Capture of Vido

Vido island

The assault on Vido began early in the morning of 28 February 1799. After a four-hour bombardment by several ships, all five shore batteries on the island had been suppressed. The Leander and Brune tried to intervene but were damaged and forced to retreat to the protection of Corfu. The allied fleet landed over 2000 men on Vido, and the island was taken after a two-hour battle. Of the 800 men defending the island, 200 were killed, and 400 were taken prisoner, including the commandant of the island, Brigadier-General Pivron. About 150 men managed to swim to Corfu. Russian losses were 31 killed and 100 wounded. The Ottomans lost 180 killed and wounded.

Capture of Corfu city

After the fall of Vido, Ushakov held the key to Corfu. On 1 March, the captured batteries on the island opened fire on the city's forts, supported by the Russian shore batteries and some of the Russian and Turkish warships. The allied forces stormed and captured the outlying forts of San Rocco, San Salvatore, and San Abraham.

On 2 March, Ushakov planned to assault the principal forts, but in the morning, the French sent envoys to request a forty-eight-hour armistice, and on 3 March, they surrendered.

Aftermath

The capitulation agreed upon between the French and Russians was honourable, including a provision for the French troops to be conveyed to Toulon. The allies took the remaining French ships in the harbour, including the Leander captured from the Royal Navy on 18 August 1798; the Russians returned her to the British.

Admiral Ushakov was honoured by the Emperor of Russia with the star of the Order of St Alexander Nevsky and by the Ottoman Sultan with a chelengk, rarely awarded to non-Muslims.

The capture of Corfu completed the Russo-Turkish takeover of the Ionian Islands, which was of great military and political importance. The islands became the Seven Islands Republic, a temporary protectorate of Russia and Turkey. For several years, Corfu served as a base for the Russian Mediterranean fleet. Ushakov's fleet supported the allied attack on Naples.

Popular culture

1999 postal stamp of Russia commemorating the siege

In 1953, director Mikhail Romm made a cinematographic dramatization of the Russian conquest of the Ionian Islands called Корабли штурмуют бастионы (The Ships Storm the Bastions), the second of a two-part biographical epic about Admiral Ushakov. The movie was released by Mosfilm.

Sources

• Baeyens, Jacques (1973). Les Français à Corfou, 1797–1799 et 1807–1814 [The French in Corfu, 1797–1799 and 1807–1814] (in French). Athens: Institut français d'Athènes. OCLC 2763024.
• Jervis-White-Jervis, Henry, History of the island of Corfú and of the Republic of the Ionian islands, Colburn, London, 1852
• James, William M., The Naval History of Great Britain during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, volume 2, 1797–1799, first published 1822–24, reprinted by Conway Maritime Press, London, 2002
• Novikov, Nikolay Vasilyevich (1948). Боевая летопись русского флота [Battle chronicle of the Russian navy] (in Russian). Moscow: Военное издательство министерства вооруженных сил союза ССР. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
• Russell, Quentin; Russell, Eugenia (30 September 2017). Ali Pasha, Lion of Ioannina: The Remarkable Life of the Balkan Napoleon. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-7722-1.