Battle of Capri 1808

Epilogue

by Robert Fletcher, FINS, USA

King Murat had spent his time nervously following the expeditions attack by spyglass from a number of gulf side positions, the town of Massalubrense, the Castle of Sant Elmo, the hill of Posillipo, and his balcony in the Royal Palace in Naples. He had sent aides to the island, and had to be persuaded not to join the attack himself.

Pietro Colletta, From his book, Storia di Napoli

On the sixteenth, Murat was observing naval operations from the town of Massalubrense, when the news of Colonel Lowe's surrender accord reached him. Murat was unhappy with the terms, but at this point unable to change anything. An Anglo-Bourbon relief expedition for Capri had just put to sea from Sicily with artillery and 3 infantry battalions. The capture of Capri became a French and Neapolitan moral victory. News of the victory spread inland through areas of revolt having a calming effect.

Murat made the victory into a political victory as well, using it to consolidate his hold on the kingdom. He had a mass said at the “Duomo”, the domed church of the patron saint of Naples, San Gennaro, to commemorate the victory of Capri, with all of the Neapolitan ruling families in attendance, thus lending further legitimacy to his reign.

Napoleon was furious with the surrender accord made with Lowe, which allowed him to depart for Sicily in safety. Napoleon also did not approve of the church service to San Gennaro, nor did Napoleon approve the method on how he was apprised of the capture of Capri, by diplomatic channel rather than a formal French military report. Murat on his part, felt that Napoleon did not give him due credit for the taking of Capri, nor did he allow him “his rights as king”. The break between Napoleon and Murat deepened and was reflected in an unsuccessful abortive invasion attempt against Sicily in 1810 where French troops refused to obey Murat orders to embark in Calabria.

Lamarque was decorated by Murat for the enterprise, as were 15 naval officers, and 68 of the expedition officers and soldiers (Colletta being promoted). Lamarque cites praise in his report to Murat for “Generals Pignatelli-Strongoli and Cateneo, Naval Lt Barbara, his ADC Peirio, Captains Caraffa, Saurey, Ciruti, Lanzetta, and Brocheti; all the Neapolitan Sappers among them Sgt Dommanga and artillery officers Salvo and Codelui.” He also praised the Corsican Legion, the Grenadiers of the Neapolitan 2nd regiment, the detachment and officers of the 1st Neapolitan, and the 3rd Italian line was stated as the equal of any French regiment.

The British prisoners taken before Lowe’s surrender paid the price of Napoleon's anger, the officers were released on parole to Sicily, while the men were sent as prisoners to the Castle of Besancon and held until 1813, when they were finally paroled to England.

The attack itself is one of the few successful Napoleonic amphibious assaults. Another accomplishment was that the attack was made uphill in the dark, this itself a feat. The taking of Capri was performed on a shoestring budget and would probably not have succeeded, if not for the English failure to counterattack and the slow reinforcement of the garrison from Sicily. The battle was basically a tactical one fought with infantry supported by a few artillery pieces. The battle is listed on the Arc de Triumph in Paris along with other famous French victories of the Napoleonic era.

Bibliography

La conquista di Capri, 1993, Roberto Ciuni, Palermo, (Excellent balanced account of the battle).

The Napoleonic Empire in Southern Italy, 1904, R.M.Johnston, New York (good account, using several sources no longer in existence).

The British in Capri 1806-1808, 1918, Sir Lees Knowles (contains Capt Churches letters)

Memoirs of the life and adventures of Colonel Maceroni, late aide de camp to Joachim Murat 1838, Reprint

La storia di Napoli, 1987, Vittorio Gleijeses (very general).

Gli Italiani nelle Armate Napoleoniche, 1938, Ambrogio Bollati, Bologna.

Storia del Reame di Napoli del Pietro Colleta, 1861, Milano, (Reprint 1992, Cosenza, Colletta's memoirs).

Gioacchino Murat, L. Gallois, translated ed., 1934, Firenza.

Gioacchino Murat e L'italia Meridionale, 1976 reprint of 1965 2nd edition, Angela

Valente, Torino (had access to the Naples Archives destroyed in 1944, good account of Murat's reign with excellent historical footnotes)

Murat, 1984, Antonio Spinosa, Milano (2 1/2 pages on the battle).

Murat Re Di Napoli, Gino Doria, 1966, Napoli (has a very pro-Neapolitan detailed account of the battle).

Murat, Roi de Naples, Jean-Paul Garnier, 1959, Italian ed. 1974, Napoli.

Napoleon's Satellite Kingdoms, Owen Connelly, 1965, Toronto (broad generalizations on the battle).

Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 1814, 1852, Carlo Botta, Torino, (1 pg.)

Gioacchino Murat, Elio de Rosa Editors, 1994, Napoli.

Marshal Murat, King of Naples, by A.H.Atteridge, 1992 reprint of 1911 ed.

The Betrayers, Joachim and Caroline Murat, Hubert Cole, 1972, New York.

Un Re al Bivio, Enzo Fiore, 1972, Napoli.

L'Esercito Napoletano 1806/15, Fanteria di Linea, Piero Crociani, 1987, Milan (brief history Neapolitan Army).

L'Esercito Borbonico dal 1789 al 1815, 1989, Giancarlo Boeri and Piero Crociani, Rome (premier work on Bourbon army of Naples and Sicily).

Archivio storico per le provincie Napoletane, 1880-82, Napoli (various sections applicable to Napoleonic era).

A Capri, 1991, Capri, Touring guide.

Capri, 1989, Loretta Santini, Terni (Guide to Capri)

Personal visits to Capri and the battle sites, 1979-1996, 2002.

Battle of Capri 1808

Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire # 78
Back to First Empire List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2004 by First Empire.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com