A Tapestry of Kings,
Fools, and Traitors
The Formation and Fall
of the Parthenon Republic
of Naples in 1799
To Take The City Of Naples
by Robert Fletcher, USA
 |
Championnet told the committee from Naples, that with them not respecting the terms of the armistice, he considered it void and would attack the city. Following his reply, Championnet received another deputation from the Naples City Senate, as well, that of the Neapolitan Republicans. The Republicans asked him to invade Naples immediately, proposing help from inside the city by a number of men. They promised to turn over the principal fortification that overlooked Naples, the Castle Saint Elmo (Castel Sant Elmo) as part of the initial agreement for the French to take over Naples. During the night of January 18th , after hearing the news that the French were to invade, Lazzaroni mobs began their violent street attacks again. Anyone suspected of having Republican sympathies or of having great wealth was murdered. Pignatelli and Caracciolo were removed from command as new extremist mob leaders encouraged the mob to more violence that now pervaded the city. After yet another day of violence on January 19th , a rising number of citizens called for the French to enter the city to restore order. During the night of the 20th, Neapolitan Republicans disguised as Lazzaroni, with the help of one of Castle Saint Elmo's officers, entered the fortress overpowered the garrison and occupied it. On the morning of the 21st a tricolor flag could be seen flying from the castle.
Championnet receiving notice of the castle falling into Neapolitan Republican hands, and proposed to invade the Naples with an attack force in four columns and a reserve, comprised of some 20,000 men. General Franscesco Kellennan was to advance to the fortified "Egg" Castle (Castel'dell Ovo) that guarded the port and arsenal by way of Vomero, the north city hills. General Simon Camille Dufresse was to advance along the Capodimonte road into Naples to the heights crowned by the castle of Saint Elmo and then down the hill to Via Toledo and into the city center. General Paul Thiebault and General Philibert-Guillaume Duhesme were to advance by the Capua to Naples road and take the towered main gate "Porta Capuana" of Naples. General Francesco Rusca was to assault the "Carmine" fort and south gate of the port. General Jean Baptiste Broussier commanded Championnet's army reserve. Opposing them were the Lazzaroni, the city guard, and the remnants of the Neapolitan army, totaling possibly some three times Championnet's force. The defenders were commanded by a newly elected Lazzaroni commander, Michael Marino "Crazy Michael" (O' Pazzo"), who until recent events had been a manual laborer in Naples. Hand To Hand Fighting with the Mob Duhesme and his men were attacked as they drew up a short distance from the gate by large groups of Lazzari armed with swords, muskets, spears, and knives. Once these Lazzaroni were driven away, the colurim advanced to the large open plaza surrounded by buildings in front of the Capuana gate. The troops advancing into the open were fired upon by Neapolitans behind barricades, in tall building windows, and drawn up in ranks before of the gate. General Jean Charles Monnier was wounded in the fighting as the Neapolitan Lazzari charged the French advance. General Thiebault arriving with the main body deployed cannon to enfilade the Lazzarom and opened fire as the Neapolitans filled the plaza. The cannon fire and organized musket volleys soon drove back the Lazzarom and allowed the French to advance and capture the city gate and Neapolitan cannons placed there in support. General Championnet participated in the last French charge that cleared the Lazzaroni from the area, leaving the cobblestones covered with blood. The fall of night put an end to the house to house fighting at the gate, as fires were set in surrounding buildings by the French to drive out Lazzari sharpshooters and left to burn out. Elsewhere in the city, General Kellen-nan fought to reach his objective but was unable to take the Egg Castle fortress from the defenders. General Dufresse reached Castel Saint Elmo after minor obstacles, more from the ter-rain than fighting. On January 22, the French were in possession of several city quarters, the main gates, and most of the coastline North and South. Fighting was hard among the narrow streets as the Lazzaroni barricades, cannon, and sharpshooters outnumbered their attackers. The trained French soldiers fought street by street through the city, organized troops prevailing against the mobs. An attempt to parley with the Lazzaroni was met with musket fire on the truce flag. During the 23d heavy fighting continued across the city, the French finally conquering the New Castle (Castel Nuovo) and the port's Carmine fortress. The Neapolitan Jacobins declared from inside Castle Saint Elmo, the formation of the Parthenopean Republic (or Republic of Naples), seeing that the fall of the city was inevitable. A breakthrough in the fighting was reached with the capture of the insurgent leader "Crazy Michael". When brought before General Championnet, Michael was negotiated with by Championnet himself, who spoke Italian quite well. Michael, convinced by Championnet's Republican arguments, and possibly his proffered death, agreed to help in a cease-fire. Michael, escorted by a troop of French Grenadiers to the central city domed church, called for his prior comrades to lay down their arms. In a short time no firing was heard, except for the occasional shot, with only barricades in the streets to show there had been fighting at all. The Lazzarom, no longer fighting, decided "en mass" to sack the Royal Palace. Efforts to halt the looting were unsuccessful and even cannon fire from the Castle of Saint Elmo failed to halt the crowd. The looters dispersed only after removing all but the wall fixtures and paint. The fight for the city cost the French possibly 1,000 men, with the Lazzaroni losing somewhere between 3-10,000 men. A Tapestry of Kings, Fools, and Traitors Formation and Fall of the Parthenon Republic of Naples in 1799
Naples Declares War on Rome A Neapolitan Solution To Take The City Of Naples The Parthenopean Republic of Naples Internal Problems in The Republic A Tapestry of Kings, Fools, and Traitors Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #64 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
General Plan of Downtown Naples 1729
Castel St Elmo and San Martino Monastery, Naples. Authors Photo 1999 (from Piazza Plebiscito)