The siege of Amantea was a military operation that was part of the Calabrian Insurrection, an episode of the
War of the Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition)
* In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...
.
The decisive siege lasted about forty days, from December 29, 1806, to February 7, 1807; however, throughout 1806 there were hostilities between the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
and the Bourbon resistance supported by the United Kingdom.
Background
The
Bourbons of Naples
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...
entered the
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition)
* In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...
against
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
on April 11, 1805: the latter defeated the coalesced armies at the
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in ...
(December 2, 1805), and took the pretext for the invasion of Bourbon territories. Six years after the brief interlude of the
Neapolitan Republic of 1799, the French army returned to conquer
Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
.
On February 15, 1806, the French entered
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, and Napoleon's brother
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
was proclaimed King of Naples. King
Ferdinand IV of Naples
Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand ...
took refuge in
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, where with the help of the British he directed the Bourbon guerrilla resistance on the mainland.
In Calabria in particular, several active hotbeds of resistance against the French occupation stood out, as had happened six years earlier.
The French occupation of Amantea and the Anglo-Bourbon landing
![Admiral_Sir_Sidney_Smith_(1764-1840)_-_Louis-Marie_Autissier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Admiral_Sir_Sidney_Smith_%281764-1840%29_-_Louis-Marie_Autissier.jpg)
In March 30,000 French soldiers led by generals
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme (7 July 1766 in Mercurey (formerly ''Bourgneuf''), Burgundy – 20 June 1815 near Waterloo) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.
Revolution
Duhesme studied law and in 1792 was made colonel of ...
and
Jean Reynier
Jean Louis Ebénézer Reynier (14 January 1771 – 27 February 1814) was a Swiss- French military officer who served in the French Army under the First Republic and the First Empire. He rose in rank to become a general during the French Revolu ...
disembarked in Calabria.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 111.]
Amantea was occupied without resistance on March 12, 1806, by a detachment of Polish
vaulters on foot.
The commanding officer, castellan Angelo Maria Abate Biondi of
Serra d'Aiello
Serra d'Aiello ( aae, Serrë) is a town and ''comune'' of Arbëreshë origin in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a count ...
, had fled.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 112.] Some citizens were imprisoned on charges of being pro-Bourbon, often on accusations motivated by personal grudges; on May 21, 1806, a 47-year-old Amantea resident, Alessandro Mirabelli, was shot on charges of resisting the French occupation.
On July 4, the French were defeated by Anglo-Bourbon forces at the
Battle of Maida
The Battle of Maida, fought on 4 July 1806 was a battle between the British expeditionary force and a French force outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,236 Anglo-Sicilian troops to victory ...
, fought not far from Amantea on the plain of Sant'Eufemia. An Anglo-Sicilian fleet commanded by British Admiral
William Sidney Smith
Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith (21 June 176426 May 1840) was a British naval and intelligence officer. Serving in the American and French revolutionary wars and Napoleonic Wars, he rose to the rank of Admiral.
Smith was known for his offe ...
and consisting of one
vessel, two
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s, two
brigantine
A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.
Older ...
s and ten
launches deployed in a fighting position in the waters in front of Amantea.
The French garrison abandoned the town to fall back toward
Cosenza
Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...
along the
Lago __NOTOC__
Lago, which means "lake" in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Galician, may refer to:
Places
* Lago, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
* Lago, Mexico, a municipality zone in the State of Mexico
* Lago District, a '' ...
road, taking with them some political prisoners: the column was attacked by some Amantean Bourbonists near the suburb of Taverna, and then by other armed groups along the road near
San Pietro, Terrati and Lago, so that the Napoleonic forces were forced to release the prisoners.
The Amantean Bourbonists signaled to the Anglo-Bourbon fleet that the French had withdrawn: the fleet landed 100 British soldiers, led by General Coll, on the beach at Amantea, and bands of Bourbonists led by Necco from
Scalea Scalea ( Calabrian: , lit. "stair" or "ladder") is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
The town takes its name from its terraced layout on a hillside at the bottom of the Capo Scalea promonto ...
and Michele Pezza from
Itri
The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; ) is a technology research and development institution in Taiwan.
Founded in 1973, ITRI has contributed to moving Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive to innovation-driven. ITRI is hea ...
, better known as "
Fra Diavolo
Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; 7 April 1771–11 November 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrect ...
."
Admiral Smith appointed Ridolfo Mirabelli as castellan, who immediately had to face reprisals by the Bourbonists who had been arrested by the French to the detriment of citizens considered pro-French: some citizens were sheltered in English ships to avoid reprisals from their political opponents.
This did not avoid numerous, sometimes heinous, crimes that took place in Amantea and neighboring towns.
In the meantime, while the chieftains dispersed to control the surrounding towns (under the command of the Head of the Province, Giovanni Battista De Micheli from
Longobardi Longobardi may refer to:
* Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774
* Longobardi, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
* Longobardi (surname), Italian surname
See also
* Longoba ...
) and to repair the town walls and defenses,
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 113.] the English garrison that guarded the town during the day returned to the ships each night, fearing ambushes.
French raids in the summer-autumn of 1806
![Entroterra_Amantea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Entroterra_Amantea.JPG)
On July 5, General
Jean Antoine Verdier
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
(accompanied by a number of pro-French Amantean fugitives, including Lieutenant Colonel Luigi Amato and Captain Gaspare Cozza)
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 114.][Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 117.] approached Amantea to recapture it, but eventually gave it up and returned to Cosenza.
The Bourbonians fortified themselves inland at Potame, dominating the road to Cosenza through Lago. In that camp, by order of De Micheli, they received from the mayor of the nobles of Amantea, Giuseppe Cavallo, 500 rations of bread and wine every day at 2 pm.
Three French columns sent by Marshal
André Masséna
André Masséna, Prince of Essling, Duke of Rivoli (born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817) was a French military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.Donald D. Horward, ed., trans, annotated, The Fre ...
and led by Generals Verdier, Reynier and Julien Auguste Joseph Mermet marched to Amantea on August 24. The clash with the Bourbon masses took place on the slopes of
Mount Cocuzzo: the Bourbonians resisted but had to abandon the Potame camp and retreat into the walls of Amantea, which was reached by Verdier on August 28. However, the French retreated.
On September 27, 1806, General Verdier arrived at the gates of the city with two infantry regiments, two cannons and some squads of the civic guard. All of these troops assaulted the city, but were pushed back to Cosenza as early as the following day.
On the wave of optimism during this period many heinous crimes were committed against pro-French citizens and their families, often landowners or noblemen.
Amantea was also a landing place for Bourbon reinforcements from Sicily: in the month of November several chieftains landed there in English boats. Mayor Giuseppe Cavallo was in charge of supplying the troops with provisions.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', pp. 115–116.] Moreover, Bourbonists from many nearby towns converged on Amantea: for example, on December 1, 1806, the French shot two sailors from
Diamante
A diamanté (also spelled diamante) is a glittering ornament, such as an artificial jewel (e.g. a rhinestone) or a sequin.
Diamante may also refer to:
Places
Argentina
* Diamante, Entre Ríos, a ''municipio'' in Diamante Department
* Diamante ...
who had rented their boat to transport volunteers from Diamante to Amantea.
The siege of December 1806
![Philippoteaux_-_General_Jean_Louis_Ebenezer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Philippoteaux_-_General_Jean_Louis_Ebenezer.jpg)
On December 3, 1806, the French returned in force from Cosenza to Amantea: 5,000 soldiers led by generals Duhesme, Reynier, Verdier, Ortigoni and Giovanni Battista de' Franceschi.
They occupied
Lago __NOTOC__
Lago, which means "lake" in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Galician, may refer to:
Places
* Lago, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
* Lago, Mexico, a municipality zone in the State of Mexico
* Lago District, a '' ...
and
San Pietro, encountering resistance from about 1,200 Bourbon troops led by the commanders Mele, Presta, Morrone and Parafante at Lago and by Stocchi, Alice and Lopez at San Pietro.
They then began the siege of the town, settling in two encampments, one to the north on the Camolo rise, the other to the south in the Cannavina locality (they occupied, among other places, the
convent of San Bernardino da Siena).
The French also stationed a garrison on the beach of Amantea to prevent the landing of reinforcements.
The situation of the besieged became difficult. They had three large-caliber cannons placed in the
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
and seven smaller artillery pieces located on the bastions and gates of Catocastro and Paraporto.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 118.]
According to the colorful account given by local historian Gabriele Turchi,
water became a scarce and very expensive resource, diluted vinegar was passed off as wine, and
rosolio
Rosolio is a type of Italian liqueur made from a base of alcohol, sugar, and water in the same proportion, which is flavored by adding an essence of any of various types.
Despite a common misconception based on the name, rosolio has no direct co ...
was obtained by steeping dried figs in water. Tempers were inflamed in particular by a Capuchin friar, Father Michael Ala. It is also told of a noblewoman, Baroness Laura Procida, wife of Baron Giulio Cesare Fava, who headed a group of defenders composed of her peasants and servants.
The first French assault was on December 5, on the side of the Mother Church, but the besiegers were repulsed with 40 dead and numerous wounded.
A new assault was attempted on the night of December 8, from the side of the ramp of San Pantaleo (near the Mother Church), led by the Amantean captain serving in the French army Gaspare Cozza.
The assault was discovered by a woman, perhaps a prostitute, the commoner Elisabetta Noto (who has become a sort of local heroine today): she in fact seeing the French moving gave the alarm.
The French this time had 60 dead,
in addition to the wounded.
At this point General Verdier, seeing the heavy losses suffered, ordered a retreat to Cosenza, where he arrived on December 9. Apparently, the Bourbonians pressed the retreating French, capturing about 200 prisoners.
On December 19, Ferdinand IV of Naples conferred the rank of lieutenant colonel of infantry on castellan Ridolfo Mirabelli.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 119.]
The second siege: January–February 1807
The deployment
French detachments occupied the town
Fiumefreddo on December 11 (but not the mighty Castle of the Valley) and
Longobardi Longobardi may refer to:
* Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774
* Longobardi, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
* Longobardi (surname), Italian surname
See also
* Longoba ...
, headquarters of the Province President De Micheli, on December 26. De Micheli managed to escape by sea, but all his correspondence with the Bourbon command in Sicily and with the sovereigns fell into French hands.
On Dec. 29, 1806, Verdier appeared again in front of
Amantea Amantea ( Calabrian: ; ) is a town, former bishopric, ''comune'' (municipality) and Latin Catholic titular see in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
It is the twentieth municipality in the region by population, while f ...
's walls with four battalions of about 2,400 men, a company of cannoneers commanded by General Charles Pierre Lubin Griois, a company of sappers of the Engineer Corps commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre Macdonald, a Corsican regiment of 300 men, 800 vaulters commanded by General Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet and about 2,000 civic guards commanded by Major Falcone.
In the evening of the same day, General
Luigi Peyri began the siege of Belmonte.
On January 2, 1807 due to strong winds, the French were forced to abandon their camp at Pianette.
However, on the same evening of January 2 Verdier returned to deploy his men in the siege: a battalion and regiment of Corsicans was deployed on the high ground of Camolo, two battalions in the Catocastro valley between Lago and Poliano to guard the road to Cosenza and the Vadi pass bound for
Belmonte, a company in San Pietro and a battalion in the locality of Cannavina south of Amantea, while the civic guards controlled the rear and prevented supplies to the besieged.
The sappers had dug two trenches, one from San Bernardino alla Taverna toward the coast, the other from San Bernardino al Carmine.
Artillery was placed in the convent of San Bernardino, while a 12-pounder (95 mm today) cannon and a
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
were placed on the Carmine church (which was outside the walls), a howitzer and a
mortar were placed at Cannavina, and two 4-pounder (65 mm today) pieces were placed at Camolo.
The French spread the false news that Belmonte had fallen, to dismay the besieged.
Artillery fire began on Jan. 5.
The next day, Jan. 6, the Bourbon frigate "Minerva" and two corvettes from Sicily appeared off the waters of Amantea, joined on Jan. 11 by a schooner and a gunboat, which attempted a landing that same day at about noon, being repulsed by French artillery.
On January 13, the besieged attempted a sortie toward the navy to try to make contact with the Bourbon fleet, and partly succeeded although they were driven back. One child in particular is reported to have reached the fleet by swimming, pelted by French gunfire.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 121.] The next day Verdier initiated the construction of a fort on the coast to prevent new contact with the fleet. The President of the Province, Giovanni Battista De Micheli, who had meanwhile returned to Longobardi, said in a report that "it was difficult even for a cat to enter the city."
The decisive attacks
Between Jan. 15 and 16 the town was violently attacked by artillery, which caused a breach in the southern wall on the Carmine side.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 122.] The subsequent French assault failed, and indeed on the evening of Jan. 15 about 200 Bourbon troops led by Raffaele Falsetti (known as "Centanni" by many locals), a Lieutenant Colonel born in Lago, Calabria, who was not very favorable to the suggestion of a surrender that now seemed imminent. However, Falsetti and his troops managed to escape the besieged town and reach Belmonte, which was also still holding out. The French probably did not hinder the escape, believing that it would weaken the garrison.
On Jan. 18, the French captured 48 cattle and 40 sheep that the neighboring Belmontese had sent to the besieged Amanteans, who were now reduced to starvation and despair.
Meanwhile, artillery and mines caused new collapses in the walls on the Carmine side. The besieged defended themselves by throwing boulders and boiling liquid on the French.
General Verdier returned to Cosenza, and left the command of operations to Peyri, deeming the resistance of the Amanteans to be at an end. In fact, the Bourbonians had begun to split, between those who were in favor of surrender, such as the castellan Ridolfo Mirabelli, and those who wanted to resist to the bitter end, such as Antonio and Luigi Mariano (perpetrators of most of the crimes against the pro-French or presumed pro-French that had occurred in the previous months). Mirabelli ordered the arrest of Luigi Mariano.
A column of Bourbonists, led by Onofrio Mancini, arrived from Belmonte on January 19, with the aim of disturbing the besiegers.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 123.] Meanwhile, General Peyrì sent Colonel Luigi Amato, one of the two Amantean officers who served in the French army, to speak with Ridolfo Mirabelli to demand the surrender of the town. Mirabelli asked for ten days of truce to reflect, the French offered only 2 hours, and then Mirabelli refused any agreement.
At two o'clock in the morning of January 20, 1807, French artillery fire on Amantea began again; however, in the following days there were no further attacks, while sappers dug tunnels to undermine the walls from the inside (Gabriele Turchi recounts that the besieged, not understanding what those excavations were for, laughed at those operations, saying they would fill those pits with French corpses).
In the meantime,
Longobardi Longobardi may refer to:
* Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774
* Longobardi, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
* Longobardi (surname), Italian surname
See also
* Longoba ...
was taken again, many chieftains died in its defense, and the captured President De Micheli himself managed to take shelter in Fiumefreddo;
a British frigate, commanded by Admiral William Sidney Smith's nephew, appeared on the coast of Amantea on January 27, bringing reinforcements for the Amanteans. The besieged succeeded in sending a messenger to the ship, a certain Giuseppe Francesco Secreti known as "Gal Gal," who then remained on board the ship to present himself to the sovereigns in Palermo on behalf of the Amanteans.
Another frigate and two Bourbon corvettes came to the frigate's rescue on January 29, however, the landing attempt failed under the shots of the French artillery.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 124.]
Toward surrender
At that point General Reynier took command of operations, arriving from Cosenza with two 12-pounder guns and a mortar, determined to enter Amantea.
On January 30 Colonel Amato was again sent to speak with Ridolfo Mirabelli, who showed himself willing to accept the terms of surrender: however, many foreign Bourbonists, and in particular Marcello Lopez who had the rank of
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
, accused the same castellan Mirabelli of treason and collusion with the French "conculcators of altars, talkers of liberty but proponents, because they were foreigners, of the most foul servitude,"
and opposed the surrender. Retaliation was threatened against the family members of Colonel Amato himself who were in the city, and the French responded by holding hostage a child who had been sent to them as a messenger.
Around 2 p.m. on February 5, 1807, the 1900-pound mine of gunpowder loaded under the walls on the Paraporto side was detonated: the entire bastion collapsed, and to this day that place is known by the toponym of "a mina''."
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', p. 125.] From the breach the Carabinieri of the 22nd Infantry penetrated first, and when night fell and the fighting stopped, it was clear that the next day all of Amantea would fall: the most facinorous outsiders abandoned Amantea on the side of the Catocastro River, and Ridolfo Mirabelli convinced the others to capitulate.
At dawn on February 6 the white flag was hoisted over the castle, and Mirabelli sent Lieutenant Trigona to General Reynier with an offer of capitulation, which was promptly accepted. Mirabelli had to go to the French camp by lowering himself from the walls with a rope, as the Bourbon garrison at the Paraporto gate refused to open it.
The surrender was signed in a farmhouse in the Rota district, near the Carmine Church. An epigraph commemorating the siege, dictated by Marquis Ernesto De Luca of Lizzano, was placed on the facade of that house in the early twentieth century.
[Gabriele Turchi, ''op. cit.'', pp. 126–130.]
The square was supposed to capitulate by 3 p.m. on February 7, however Mirabelli struggled to convince many of his men to obey him, and one of the two Amantean officers serving in the French army, Gaspare Cozza, also had to intervene. Eventually, around 10 a.m. on February 7, the blockades at the gates of Paraporto and Catocastro were removed and a company of French vaulters occupied what remained of the castle.
Events after the surrender
Ridolfo Mirabelli was given the honor of arms by the French, who escorted him to
Palmi
Palmi may refer to:
People Given name
Palmi is an Icelandic male given name. Notable people with this surname include:
* Pálmi Gestsson (born 1957), Icelandic actor and voice actor
* Pálmi Gunnarsson (born 1950), Icelandic musician
* Pálmi Ha ...
, where he was embarked on Admiral Smith's British frigate. He later reached Palermo, where he was enlisted in the regular Bourbon army and fought again in Calabria at the
Battle of Mileto
The Battle of Mileto was a battle of the War of the Third Coalition. It occurred on 28 May 1807 in Calabria during an attempt by the Bourbon Kingdom of Sicily to re-conquer its possessions in continental Italy, known as the Kingdom of Napl ...
(May 28, 1807). However, shortly afterwards he was arrested for debts at the request of creditors and imprisoned in
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
.
The command of the square of Amantea was given to General Ortigoni.
The latter had twenty-four Bourbon chieftains responsible for the resistance arrested and had twenty-one of them shot between February 18 and 25, 1807: these were the Amanteans Antonio Mariano, Nicola Morello, Francesco and Giuseppe Apa, Gaetano Vetere, Gennaro Morelli, Giuseppe Lombardo, Gaetano Mariano,
Belmontese Francesco and Giuseppe Tirri, Gaetano Janni from
Lago __NOTOC__
Lago, which means "lake" in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Galician, may refer to:
Places
* Lago, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
* Lago, Mexico, a municipality zone in the State of Mexico
* Lago District, a '' ...
, Pietro Donnici from
Crotone
Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...
, Gabriele Bruni from
San Lucido
San Lucido ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
Geography
The municipality borders with Falconara Albanese, Marano Marchesato, Marano Principato, Paola, Rende and San Fili. ...
, Antonio Muro from
Rofrano
Rofrano ( Cilentan: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy. It is located in the southern Cilento. In 2015 its population was 1,539.
History
The village was first settled between 3rd and 4 ...
, and Luigi Mele from
Catanzaro
Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...
.
A local civic guard, made up of pro-French citizens, was established, and the walls and all fortifications were dismantled.
Amantea's population had been reduced from about 3,000 to 800, and Gabriele Turchi reports that the first marriage after the siege was celebrated on March 30, 1807, over a month after the capitulation, between widowers.
Sporadic and disorganized attempts at a Bourbon reconquest of the city occurred, in May and on June 28. However, the strong French presence prevented everything.
See also
*
Fra Diavolo
Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; 7 April 1771–11 November 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrect ...
*
Amantea Amantea ( Calabrian: ; ) is a town, former bishopric, ''comune'' (municipality) and Latin Catholic titular see in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
It is the twentieth municipality in the region by population, while f ...
*
War of the Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition)
* In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{Coord missing, Italy
Sieges of the Napoleonic Wars
War of the Third Coalition
Battles of the War of the Third Coalition
History of Calabria