Siege of Malta (1798–1800) 1798
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 September 1798 – 4 September 1800 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1798 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Malta | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 35.8978, 14.5125 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Malta, also known as the siege of Valletta or the French blockade (Maltese: L-Imblokk tal-Franċiżi), was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta and the Three Cities, the largest settlements and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta, between 1798 and 1800. Malta had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and garrisoned with 3,000 soldiers under the command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois. After the British Royal Navy destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798, the British with the cooperation of a Portuguese naval squadron were able to initiate a blockade of Malta, assisted by an uprising among the native Maltese population against French rule. After its retreat to Valletta, the French garrison faced severe food shortages, exacerbated by the effectiveness of the British blockade. Although small quantities of supplies arrived in early 1799, there was no further traffic until early 1800, by which time starvation and disease were having a disastrous effect on the health, morale, and combat capability of the French troops.
In February 1800, a significant convoy under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée sent from Toulon made a determined effort to resupply the garrison.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Malta (1798–1800) (revision 1380084030), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of the Malta Convoy 1800 · 0 km
- Battle of Malta (1283) 1283 · 1 km
- Great Siege of Malta 1565 · 1 km
- Siege of Malta (World War II) 1940 · 6 km
- Siege of Malta (1429) 1429 · 10 km
- Siege of Medina (1053–1054) 1053 · 10 km
Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Action of 25 January 1797 1797
- Assault on Cádiz (1797) 1797
- Battle of Camperdown 1797
- Battle of Rivoli 1797
- Battle of Tarvis (1797) 1797
- Action of 14 December 1798 1798
- Action of 24 October 1798 1798
- Action of 30 May 1798 1798
- Battle of Tory Island 1798
- Battle of the Pyramids 1798
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
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