Siege of Cattaro
Part of theAdriatic Campaign of theNapoleonic Wars
View of Cattaro (present-day Kotor) from the castle of St. John
Date 14 October 1813 – 3 January 1814 Location Cattaro,Illyrian Provinces 42°26′N18°46′E / 42.43°N 18.77°E /42.43; 18.77 Result Anglo-Montenegrin victory[1]
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Montenegro Sicily	France
Commanders and leaders
William Hoste Petar I	Jean-Joseph Gauthier
Strength
800 1 frigate 1 brig 3 gunboats	600[2]
Casualties and losses
20 killed and wounded	600 captured

Thesiege of Cattaro was fought between a BritishRoyal Naval detachment of CaptainWilliam Hoste and Montenegrin forces ofPetar I Petrović-Njegoš respectively and the French garrison under the command ofJean-Joseph Gauthier of the mountain fortress of Cattaro (nowKotor, Montenegro). The siege lasted from 14 October 1813 to 3 January 1814 during theAdriatic campaign of theNapoleonic Wars when the French surrendered.^[1] The engagement was fought in theAdriatic Sea for possession of the important fortress of Cattaro.

As part ofVenetian Albania, Cattaro had belonged to theRepublic of Venice from 1420 to 1797, when it passed to theHabsburg monarchy with theTreaty of Campo Formio. In 1805, it was assigned to theFrench Empire's client state, theNapoleonic Kingdom of Italy by theTreaty of Pressburg, but occupied by Russian troops underDmitry Senyavin until they left after theTreaty of Tilsit in 1807. Three years later it was incorporated into the French Empire'sIllyrian Provinces. Austria declared war on France in August 1813 and by the Autumn theRoyal Navy enjoyed unopposed domination over the Adriatic sea. Working in conjunction with the Austrian armies now invading the Illyrian Provinces and Northern Italy, Rear AdmiralThomas Fremantle's ships were able to rapidly transport British and Austrian troops from one point to another, forcing the surrender of the strategic ports,Zara for examplehad been liberated in December.^[3]

Meanwhile, Royal Naval CaptainWilliam Hoste with his shipHMSBacchante (38 guns) and a brig-sloop HMSSaracen (18 guns), under CaptainJohn Harper had been given orders for the swift expulsion of the French in the region.^[4] They took part in an attack that seized the islands ofHvar andBrač and moved along the coast. Cattaro was next on the target for the British; a body of Montenegrin troops underPetar I Petrović-Njegoš a popular spiritual and military leader of theSerbian Orthodox church^[5] from thePetrović dynasty had surrounded the place.Saracen arrived first just outsideCattaro Bay but it was impossible to sail direct to the main fortress so Harper called on the local inhabitants to tow her along the rocky shore for 3 miles. Hoste inBacchante arrived soon after with three Sicilian gunboats carrying fifty soldiers and assumed command. The British and Sicilians forced the passage betweenHerceg Novi and Fort Rosa and secured an anchorage some three miles inside the outer bay.^[6]: 141

On the evening of the 14th Harper left with two gunboats, the launch and barge ofBacchante and the boats ofSaracen entered the inner bay where he was fired on from theIsland of St George. Afterwards heading four miles towards Cattaro he found four gunboats in a state of revolt and took possession of them. He then landed at various places where the local inhabitants were arming themselves against the French and collected volunteer crews for his new captures.^[2]

AtPerast Hoste found that the locals had taken possession of a French fort with 3 guns which they placed at his disposal, hoisting the English and Austrian colours. At 6am he used these guns, those of his gunboats and the newly acquired gunboats to bombard the island of St. George. Then within fifteen minutes theRoyal marines and the Sicilians under Captain Harper in several smaller craft attacked a French gunboat force off the island seizing all four. The following day the boats of the squadron attacked the island itself and captured it, stationing a garrison to blockade Cattaro.^[7] The prize gunboats each had a long 24-pounder in the bow and two of them each carried a 12-pounder carronade.^{[2][6]: 137}

By now only the main fortress of Cattaro was left and Hoste, Harper and his assortment of allies – British, Croats, Montenegrins and Sicilians – surrounded the area. With the help of Montenegrins and the pro-Austrian natives of the liberated shores of the Bay of Kotor, Hoste found himself in an unpleasant position between the Montenegrins and their support on the one hand, and on the other the pro-Austrian population who were unwilling to submit themselves to Montenegrin domination. Hoste made sure to remain neutral as his main objective was the defeat of the French in the region. However, he knew that politics would eventually play a role if and when the area was under allied control and therefore also had to try to satisfy the British commissioner in the regionLord Aberdeen by ensuring that the Austrians were the ones to end up with the spoils.^[4] Hoste meanwhile had been ordered to attack elsewhere leaving Harper with theSaracen in charge. Hoste in the next month helped to takeSplit with troops of the35th Foot and for the next month a close blockade was made on Cattaro with the hope of the arrival of Austrian troops. Bad weather had not helped the situation and after capturingCavtat further north Hoste soon returned to the bay but found no Austrian troops.^[6]: 137

By early December the local French commander, General Gauthier, had retired to Fort St. John with 600 men.^[2] This fort lay on the side of the hill protecting the Western side of the fortified town of Cattaro. Hoste and Harper both agreed that use would be made of the local armed populace for the final stages of the siege. Preparations were made to place batteries all around Cattaro including the use of the top of the hill of St John as a primary position, right above the fortress itself. Hoste and Harper led their men in the difficult task of scattering batteries down the forbidding slopes of the Cattaro hills usingblock and tackle. In an "unmilitary manner" after 3 weeks of great exertion byBacchante andSaracens seamen in continuous rain an 18-pounder was hoisted to the summit on 23 December, a height of nearly 3,000 feet.^[8] Meanwhile,Bacchante and the rest of her crew mounted further pieces of ordnance; two batteries of 18 and 32-pounders were added. Hoste, despite being ill, personally helped the men get the equipment up the slopes of the mountain but further North and South respectively of the fort and the main battery on the slope.^[2]

On Christmas Day, with all guns in position and with the return of good weather, Hoste ordered the commencement of the bombardment. Fire was opened up from four different points, with the 18-pounder above the St John fortress being particularly effective.Saracen andBacchante stayed out of range of the fort's guns until the bombardment started but then opened up with all they had. Hoste on the 2nd ordered Harper to lead a surprise nighttime assault. This was not necessary, however, as on 3 January 1814, when Harper was about to lead an assault, Gauthier offered to surrender. After ten days of shelling and no hope of relief the French surrendered to Hoste under honourable conditions and the British and Montenegrins took control of the fort and the town.^[9] After a ten-day siege, the French garrison had no alternative and surrendered on 5 January 1814.^[10][9]

The loss on the British, amounting to only one seaman killed, and Lieutenant of marines slightly wounded. In the course of the twenty-day siege, Hoste had counted on the support of Austrian infantry which failed to show up. Hoste signed the articles of capitulation and the remaining French and Italian troops marched out in surrender, after which British troops marched in along with the Montenegrins. Hoste gave the town to the Montenegrin commission under Peter which aggravated Lord Aberdeen but Hoste argued that he had no choice in the matter.^{[11][citation needed]}

Hoste withBacchante andSaracen after a short rest and recuperation left Cattaro to sail to the fortress ofRagusa where theylaid siege to the place in a very similar manner to Cattaro and on the 28th it surrendered.^[6]: 141 By the end of March all of the towns and cities had surrendered to the British or the allied rebels that had risen in revolt, leaving the Adriatic in complete allied control with the exception of Corfu. Cattaro was restored to theAustrian Empire by theCongress of Vienna.^[12]

• Fortifications of Kotor

Citations

Bibliography

• Nafziger, George F.; Gioannini, Marco (2011).The Defense of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Northern Italy, 1813–1814. Greenwood Press.ISBN 978-0275967970.
• Bentley, R. (1833).Memoirs and Letters of Capt. Sir William Hoste, Bart, Volume 2.
• Bjelovucic, Harriet (1970).The Ragusan Republic: Victim of Napoleon and its own conservatism. Brill.ASIN B0006D1YHY.
• Chandler, David (1999) [1993].Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Wordsworth Military Library.ISBN 1-84022-203-4.
• Clowes, William Laird (1997).The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume V. Chatham Publishing.ISBN 1-86176-014-0.
• Jaques, Tony (2006).Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century. Greenwood Pres.ISBN 978-0313335365.
• James, William (2002) [1827].The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 5, 1808–1811. Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-909-3.
• Marshall, John (2010).Royal Naval Biography 12 Volume Set: Royal Naval Biography. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1108022668.
• Smith, Digby (1998).The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books.ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
• White, Colin (2005).Nelson the Admiral. Phoenix Mill, Stroud, Glos: Sutton Publishing Limited.ISBN 0-7509-3713-0.

External links

• James, William.Naval history of Great Britain – Vol. VI
• Phillips, Michael.HMS Saracan – Age of Nelson – Ships of the Old Navy

• Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
• 1813 in the First French Empire
• 1814 in the First French Empire
• Conflicts in 1813
• Conflicts in 1814
• October 1813
• November 1813
• December 1813
• January 1814
• Kotor
• History of the Adriatic Sea
• Sieges of the Anglo-French wars
• Sieges involving Montenegro
• Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro
• Sieges of the Napoleonic Wars
• 19th century in Montenegro
• Battles involving the Kingdom of Sicily
• Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition
• Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving the United Kingdom
• Naval bombing operations and battles
• Attacks on military installations

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles incorporating Cite DNB template
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2023
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2013
• Pages using the Kartographer extension