Sold – After the Surrender of Malta, Napoleon Assigns the Island’s Former French Garrison to Line Battalions in His Grand Army

The work of the Knights of Malta, who had ruled the island for centuries, made the harbor of the capital – Valletta – one of the most extensively fortified ports in Europe. The island’s central location in the Mediterranean made it a valuable naval base as well. On his way to conquer Egypt in June 1798, Napoleon made a point of stopping at Malta and finding a pretext to take the island, which he did on the 12th. When he set sail again he left a 4000-man garrison behind to secure the island. The British, however, saw the same value in Malta, and after Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile tipped the naval balance in Britain’s favor, they instituted a blockade that cut the French occupants of Malta off from reinforcements. The British blockade proved to be unsustainable at that time, and when a strong French naval force moved into the Mediterranean the Malta garrison was strengthened by 1500 troops. By mid-1800, the British countered by landing 2500 troops, and together with some 4000 Maltese militia, they managed to drive the French into an enclave at Valletta, and placed that enclave under siege. By September the French forces in Malta and nearly 40,000 city dwellers were corralled behind the long walls protecting the Grand and Marsamxett Harbours, while the rest of the country was in the hands of the British and Maltese militia. Conditions in Valletta deteriorated as supplies dwindled down. With his position worsening, the French Commander held out for three months before surrendering the island on September 5, 1800. The French did negotiate one important condition: the garrison would not be held as prisoners of war, but would be allowed to evacuate to France. Later in September the French left Malta.

Napoleon now had to determine where to assign the soldiers who had garrisoned Valletta. There were about 90 line infantry battalions in the French Grand Army, and this letter is the one in which he made battalion assignments for those formerly in Malta. Letter Signed, November 17, 1800, to his Minister of War, Lazare Carnot. "The Line Battalions of the 19th which are coming from Malta will go with the 8th of the same.  The 47th will report to the 9th, and you will give in both these cases the order to report to their depots in order to join their respective brigades."