Siege of Porto Ferrajo 1801
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1801 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 42.8167, 10.3167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Porto Ferrajo was a French attempt to force the surrender of the Tuscan fortress town of Porto Ferrajo (now Portoferraio) on the island of Elba following the French occupation of mainland Tuscany in 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Tuscan garrison was heavily outnumbered, but received significant support from British Royal Navy forces who controlled the Mediterranean Sea and ensured that supplies reached the garrison and that French supply convoys were intercepted. The French began the siege with 1,500 men in May 1801, later reinforced to more than 5,000, but could not make an impression on the fortress's defences, instead seeking to starve the defenders into submission with the support of a squadron of French Navy frigates operating off the coast.
The presence of a small British naval squadron in the region rendered this plan impractical and additional British reinforcements under Rear-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren and Lieutenant Colonel George Airey strengthened the defenders to the point that sallies could be made against French offensive positions.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Porto Ferrajo (revision 1370744552), 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 Elba 1652 · 10 km
- Battle of Pianosa 1519 · 26 km
- Battle of Meloria (1284) 1284 · 62 km
- Siege of Bastia 1794 · 72 km
- Battle of Telamon 225 BC · 73 km
- Battle of Borgo 1768 · 78 km
Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Macau Incident (1799) 1799
- Action of 31 March 1800 1800
- Battle of Ampfing (1800) 1800
- Battle of the Malta Convoy 1800
- Raid on Dunkirk (1800) 1800
- Action of 19 February 1801 1801
- Battle of Mandora 1801
- Raids on Boulogne 1801
- Siege of Alexandria (1801) 1801
- Siege of Cairo (1801) 1801
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
Browse more: battles in Italy · Europe · 19th century battles