My Brother, My squadron from Rochefort sailed on the
17th of January with a fair wind under orders for Toulon;
there it will join my Toulon squadron. I think therefore that
between the 10th and 15th of February they will appear before
Naples. In the first place it is necessary that the roadstead of
Baia should be fortified in such a manner as to protect my
squadron if it should be attacked by a superior force, and to
secure it against all hazards. You must fit out your frigates
and your gunboats, and collect the brigs which are scattered
about your coasts, in order to assemble a considerable number of
transports for the Sicilian expedition. My wish is, that Mar
shal Jourdan, accompanied by General Salligny and 9000 men,
should embark on board this squadron, which will take them
straight to the coast of Sicily, as near Messina as possible, where
they will effect a landing ; and at the same instant General Reg-
nier, with another 9000, will embark at Reggio and Scylla in
gunboats, brigs, polacres, and other small vessels of the country,
and thus form an army of 18,000 men. A battery of 1 8 pieces
of artillery and 6 mortars should be immediately constructed
on the promontory of Faro, opposite to Scylla, and a similar one
should be erected at Scylla. The battery at Faro should be in
trenched and fortified, so as to be defended even on the land
side. These two formidable batteries will render the sea no
longer an obstacle, and the communication between Scylla and
Faro will be always easy. You will continue to send over, by
means of gunboats, vessels of the country, &-c., all the requisite
reinforcements. With 13,000 French, 2000 or 3000 Neapo
litans, and other troops, and a safe communication, Sicily is ours,
for the English will not persist in defending the island if it is im
possible for them to intercept the communication between Messina
and Scylla. If my squadron, on reaching Faro, is able to carry
off some ships and damage the enemy, it may do so, but I wish
it not to remain anchored for more than forty-eight hours off the
coast of Sicily, but to stand out again to sea in order to proceed
to Taranto or return to Toulon, as the wind may serve. Sup
posing all this to happen, and your troops to be already gone,
those which reach Rome on the 1st of February will proceed
towards Naples, and I have taken other measures to send you a
force sufficient to hold Reggio, Scylla, Taranto, and Naples with
an iron hand. You will receive this letter on the 2nd of Feb
ruary, I may get your answer on the 10th, and my final orders
may reach Toulon on the 14th, probably ^before the arrival of my
squadron. These are the questions to which I desire an answer :
1. Will 12 vessels of the line and a few frigates be safe in
the roadstead of Baia, whatever may happen ? Let me have a
sketch of it, and tell me what batteries you have there.
2. Would the same squadron at Taranto be protected against
a superior hostile force ?
3. Are you master of Scylla ? Is it certain that the mortars
and guns of the battery at Scylla would cross fire with that
which is to be established at Faro ?
4. How many gunboats, speronari and other boats have you
whi jh might facilitate General Reynier's embarkation ?
5. Will your three frigates be equipped and able to join my
squadron, so as to afford further means of transport for my troops ?
6. Have you 500,000 rations of biscuit ? If not, let them be
made, and let the ships carry them, that they may be landed
with the troops,
7. Are the speronari safe in Reggio and Scylla from the dan
gers of the sea, and from the attack of a superior force ?
8. Where is it thought that the squadron ought to anchor, to
effect a landing and take immediate possession of Faro ?
9. Can you embark in the transports six 12-inch mortars,
3000 shells with their appurtenances, nine mortar-beds, eighteen
24 or 36-pounders in iron or brass, with 500 rounds apiece, in
order immediately to arm the battery of Faro ?
10. Have you vessels which you can turn into horse-trans
ports for 400 artillery horses ? These vessels must ply between
Scylla and the coast of Messina, so as to land all the cavalry.
11. What number of speronari, gondolas, or other boats can
you add to my squadron in order to hasten the landing ?
I have added an extra boat to each vessel. You will let into
the secret only Salicetti, Jourdan, and one officer of the navy ;
and you will conceal even from them that my squadron is
coming from Rochefort and Toulon keep that to yourself.
Within four-and- twenty hours after the arrival of my squadron
at Baia you will embark the 8000 infantry, 1000 artillery and
sappers and miners, with 20 field-pieces and a caisson apiece :
the remainder should be embarked in the transports, or even in
your three frigates, which, if you like, you may have armed
enflide. You will embark your biscuit in the transports. My
squadron may also, when the troops are put on shore, land, if
necessary, 3000 or 4000 rations of biscuit. Send likewise about
thirty masons, with the means of constructing six ovens, and
some gangs of bakers. You will put on board draft-horses or
mules, but all this should be done so quietly as not to betray
any extraordinary movement. The squadron may easily carry
18,000 men, but there are in every regiment servants and non-
combatants, so that I think you could embark conveniently only
9000 good infantry, that is to say, 6 regiments, taking care
that each regiment may leave 4 companies at Naples ; there
fore, instead of 18 companies, not more than 14 will go, con
taining each 1400 men present under arms. The cavalry
will embark at Reggio. As soon, however, as your movements
are revealed you may direct your cavalry to the points which,
under the protection of the batteries, it can reach without
danger. You know that the transformation of ships of thirty
or forty tons into horse-transports is the affair of an instant.
The principle on which this expedition is founded is this : to
gain possession of Scylla and Faro. If you can only keep Faro
for a certain period, you will be master of Sicily. Load some
small vessels with 20,000 quintals of flour, which you will obtain
at Naples or elsewhere, and you will have all that is requisite to
be master of the passage as long as it is wanted, and to send over
as many troops as you like ; and even the English will not accept
the challenge. When I say biscuit, I mean also rice and brandy.
If fortune seconds my undertaking, I may keep possession of the
passage from Naples to Sicily for a week. Embark with each
battalion 200 pioneers' tools, in order that they may be able to
intrench themselves immediately, to erect the battery which will
close the straits, to construct ovens, to hut themselves, and then
Sicily is taken. Your local knowledge may suggest modifications
of this plan, always retaining this foundation, to obtain the com
mand of Faro and Scylla ; the other places fall of themselves.
It might be proposed to go straight to Palermo ; but this would
be hazardous. The possession of Palermo will not give you Sicily,
but that of Faro will ; the communication is everything. I pre
sume that you will send with the army some faithful and clever
Neapolitans, to give the necessary information. There are two
leagues between Faro and Messina; you may therefore be master
of Faro without Messina. An intrenched camp may be formed,
the left side towards the sea and the right towards Messina, or
intersecting the small peninsula of Faro.
I have no doubt that you must take possession instantly of
Melazzo. At Melazzo means of subsistence will be found. What
sort of a place is Melazzo ? Can my ships be protected there
against a superior force, if a battery be immediately established ?
Is there a road for the artillery between Melazzo, Faro, and Mes
sina? Are there any rivers or torrents between Melazzo and
Faro which prevent communication ? In my opinion, you should
land'as near Faro as possible, but still it must be in a place where
you can anchor and disembark. By a quick march you can seize
Messina, should the English not be there ; and I think it unlikely
that they will shut themselves up in that place. If they keep the
citadel, you will get everything by taking the town. I need not
tell you that every man should have 50 cartridges in his knapsack
and 50 more in his box, and you ought to embark 100 more in
the small vessels. When the men land, they will take out their
boxes and biscuits. This operation will probably be accomplished
if it is kept quite secret. I shall postpone giving you the last
instructions till I receive an answer to this letter.
Let me know where you hear that the English ships are. In
your return of the 15th of December, which is the last that I
have, I see that you have at Naples, the 29th, 52nd, and 102nd,
and that these three regiments can supply the 1400 men whom I
ask for ; the 20th of the line, which is at Salerno, and the 10th,
which is in the Abruzzi, can furnish you with as many artillery;
you have companies of artillery artificers, sappers and miners : so
that the number of men that you require is ready. I conclude that
you have reinforced Reynier's division since you have sent troops
to Reggio. I see that you have altogether present under arms
17,000 French infantry, 2400 cavalry, and 1700 artillery. You
may devote to the expedition 12,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry, 1000
artillery and sappers and miners, which will make 15,000 men.
The 2000 Italian foot, the regiments of Isembourg and of Latour
d'Auvergne, and your Neapolitan army will afford 3000 without
counting another reinforcement of 4000 men, which will arrive by
Reggio. During this time you will receive the division of Miol-
lis, and other troops which I am directing on Florence, and which
will soon join you. The troops which will embark at Reggio
should be formed into two divisions of 4500 men each, the same
as to those from Naples, and these divisions should be com
manded by one general of division and two brigadier-generals.
French troops require a great many generals. Besides, it is you
who begin hostilities, and you will send all your army of Naples.
The great point is, that you should be master of Scylla and Mes
sina, or at least of Faro. The English, who are far from expecting
this expedition, will not be ready in less than a month to oppose
my 9000 men, and in this time you will reinforce them with 9000
more, and your kingdom will receive all the troops whom you want.
No one here is acquainted with the coast of Sicily ; and at
this season it is of great consequence that my squadron should
enter a roadstead whence a landing may be effected with security.
Melazzo is exposed to a squall from the north ; if my squadron
met with a north wind there, would it run the risk of being
stranded ? If my squadron were to reach Reggio, either by forc
ing a passage through the strait, or by going round Sicily, is there
a bay between Messina and Catania in which the men might dis
embark, sheltered from the wind? How many ships has the
enemy at Messina ? Are they protected by his batteries ? If
there should be no roadstead or harbour between Messina and
Catania, it may be necessary to go straight to Palermo. What
are the fortifications of that town ? Where would the squadron
anchor ? Would it be protected from the enemy ? To go to
Palermo would require three-quarters of the troops comprised in
the return which I enclose, that is to say, you would need 15,000
men. You might embark 1500 cavalry soldiers with only their
saddles ; they would find horses at Palermo. But my squadron,
and that of Toulon, will not be able to transport more than
11,000 men. Can you between the 10th and 15th of February
find means of embarking from Naples 4000 infantry and 600
horses ? How many ships have you ? and of what size ? If
your three frigates are ready for sea, they must be armed in flute ;
in this way they alone will carry 1500 men. You must feel how
anxious I am to receive answers to these questions. Whatever
may happen, I strongly advise you to put the batteries in the
roadstead of Baia into a good state. I see three principal points
on the plan ; at each of these points there must be 20 pieces of
ordnance, of which at least four should be mortars. Order the
batteries aud platforms to be prepared, but quietly and without
appearing to do anything extraordinary, so that, as soon as the
expedition becomes notorious, the pieces of artillery may be car
ried thither in 24 hours. I suppose that between Naples and
Scylla there is no tolerable roadstead in which my squadron could
be protected from the north wind. Send me likewise the state
and position of your navy, and every detail concerning the coast
of Sicily. A coast-guard officer, well acquainted with the har
bours, bays, and roads of that island, would be of great use to
me. Send me a Sicilian, a practical engineer and a sailor ; both
of them should be here before the 10th of February. Secrecy
and secrecy.