Napoleon, in a Letter to His Chief of Artillery, Announces the Successful End of the Mission to Capture Toulon, Which Launched Him to Fame

Perhaps the earliest document signed as General to reach the market, public records disclosing none earlier

Anything from Napoleon from the battle that made his career and changed Europe is very rare

The French Revolution had not only overthrown a monarch, it had pitted Europe against France. Austria and more distantly England saw a revolutionary France as a transcendental threat. So even as Paris was engaged in a massive upheaval, it faced an ongoing state of hostilities with its neighbors. This led to a series of executive governments, the most famous of which was the Committee of Public Safety, established in April 1793, after the King had already been beheaded. In July of that year, Maximilien Robespierre was elected to the Committee; and so under his leadership began the Reign of Terror, so named because terror was in fact a policy instrument recognized by the state as an extension of the Revolution, which must be maintained at all costs. The Committee’s control extended everywhere; they controlled the police and the army, and their agents went nationwide to do Robespierre’s bidding.

Among the gravest threats to the new government under Robespierre was the royalist sentiment in the South along the coast, which just so happened to be within reach of the British Royal Navy. Here, in open defiance of the Republicans, royalists hoisted the “flour de lys” flag in the fall of 1793 in the city of Toulon. By that time, French troops were already on their way to that city where they would confront 13,000 men from the combined forces of England, Spain, Naples and Piedmont. The French generals were in control of their troops, but Robespierre also sent to this key battleground his brother, Augustin, and Antoine Saliceti, a Corsican like Napoleon, and like him close to the French cause. These two were to report on the loyalties of generals, the extent of success, and to advise Paris in all matters. They had final say in the South, and in reality controlled life and death.

At the time when the siege of Toulon began, the Chief of Artillery was wounded, and since Toulon would require a strong bombardment, this deficit had to be filled. Napoleon Buonaparte (as he spelled his name then) had until then mainly been involved in provincial battles in his native Corsica. He was a relative unknown in France, and had no high title, although he had studied in the military academy there and was in service to the national army. His family had in fact fled Corsica because of its allegiance to France. In what may go down as one of the great coincidences in history, he happened to be in the area as the French gathered for the assault on Toulon and was given the command of artillery by Augustin Robespierre and Saliceti, whom he knew from Corsica. This seemingly insignificant event at the time would make his career and changed the history of Europe.

The siege of Toulon itself began in mid September. He was dissatisfied by the sole battery—called the “Mountain”, positioned on the height of Saint-Laurent since September 19. He established another, on the shore of Brégallion, called the “sans-culottes”. On the first of October, after a failure of General La Poype against the “Eastern Fort” of Faron, Bonaparte was asked to bombard the large fort of Malbousquet, whose fall would be required to enable the capture of the city. He therefore requisitioned artillery from all of the surrounding countryside. Promoted to Chief of Battalion on October 18, he set about strengthening his battery for the great push.

Napoleon performed with great skill and Toulon was taken, a significant defeat to the royalists and to Britain. Buonaparte was credited with French success. Where soldiers who failed Paris were guillotined, those who won were feted and promoted. Augustin reported back to his brother Maximilien Robespierre that Napoleon was an exceptional commander. The elder brother decided that he would be named brigadier general in December 1793.

The French Republican troops entered the city on December 19. The subsequent suppression of Royalists was extremely bloody. It is estimated that between 700 and 800 prisoners were shot or slain by bayonet on Toulon’s Champ de Mars. Bonaparte, treated for his injuries, was not present at the massacre. Promoted to Brigadier General on December 22, he was already on his way to his new post in Nice as the artillery commander for the Army of Italy.

Letter signed, Marseille, 2 Nivose year 2 (28th December 1793), just days after the fall of Toulon, addressed to Jean-Jacques Gassendi, Battalion Chief at the Siege of Toulon.

“The fall of Toulon puts an end to your mission. I think, if you have no order from the Minister, that you have to head to Port de la Montagne, where you will find something to do. Give the order to all the cities, if it is still possible, to stop the convoys that were supposed to be sent to us, except the powder. Go to Saint-Etienne to get us rifles and ten to twelve thousand spare parts and the same number of « tire-balles » [tool to extract bullets from rifles].” Napoleon signs using his new title, “The General of Artillery in charge of inspecting the coasts, Buonaparte”.

Public records show no earlier letters of Napoleon as General having reached the market.