Siege of Scylla

After pursuing the flying French for two days after the Battle of Maida, British General Sir John Stuart returned to Monteleone, and took measures for the recovery of the fortified posts round the extremity of the peninsula, chief of which was the Castle of Scylla. For this purpose he despatched a brigade under Colonel John Oswald, with some light artillery and two Engineer officers (Captain J. T. Jones and Lieutenant Lewis), to commence operations against that post. They arrived before the fort in the night of 11 July, and on the following morning made a close reconnaissance of the place. The Castle of Scylla was perched on the summit of a rock, about 150 feet in height, which jutted out into the sea, and was connected with the land by a comparatively narrow isthmus. Behind this the ground rose to a height nearly equal to that of the rock on which the fort stood. On the land side, which presented the only possible point of attack, the defences consisted of a bastioned front of unusually lofty profile, which completely defiladed the interior of the work. In this front were spacious and airy casemates, with embrasures looking out on the ground before it. The town of Scylla stood partly on the high land in rear, and partly on the neck connecting the fort with the mainland. The whole of the sappers and miners of the French Calabrian army, as well as its reserve artillery, in all about four hundred men, constituted the garrison under the command of Colonel Michel, a French Engineer of some distinction. == British siege ==

It was decided that guns should be sent for from Messina for the purpose of breaching the land front, there being at the time nothing better than twelve-pounder field guns with the force. Meanwhile a battery was to be thrown up for such guns and howitzers as were on the spot; these were to bring fire to bear on the embrasures of the casemates, and to enfilade the terrepleines of the front about to be attacked. The battery was begun on the night of the 12th; but when completed and armed it was found to be too distant for the work it was intended to perform. A new battery was therefore thrown up about 120 yards nearer, and the guns moved into it. On the 15th Captain Charles Lefebure arrived, accompanied by three other officers. There were now present at the attack Captains Lefebure and J. T. Jones, Lieutenants Maclcod, Hoste, Lewis, and Boothby. The Commanding Engineer approved of the plans of Captain Jones, but added a third battery for the field howitzers still further in advance of the existing works. From these a heavy fire was kept up with little intermission until the 19th, when the broaching guns arrived from Messina. Two new batteries were thrown up for their reception, to the left of those already in play. These works were begun at nightfall on the 19th, and were carried on so briskly and energetically that by 11 a.m. on the following day they were ready for their guns, although the parapets had been made twenty feet thick. This rapidity of construction was due to the fact that whilst the force was waiting for the guns a quantity of materials had been accumulated on the spot to form the mass of the parapets. On the morning of the 21st fire was opened, and by the afternoon of the 22nd much injury had been done to the escarps, and it was evident that before long a practicable breach would be established. Colonel Oswald, anxious to spare his men the hazard of an assault, now summoned the garrison, offering them the right to return to France if they would evacuate the place. This offer was accepted, and a capitulation agreed to. On the 23rd the garrison handed over the fort to the British, and embarked for France. During the few days they were under fire they had lost three officers and thirty-five men. These casualties were entirely due to the fire which had been directed against the embrasures of the casemates. Captain Jones, who saw their condition before any steps had been taken to cleanse them, reported that from the indentations on the walls, and the marks of slaughter and destruction visible on all sides, the effects of the fire must have been most disastrous to the defenders. On the 19th he wrote a letter to Captain Burgoyne, R.E, dated from Messina, of which the following is an extract: Aftermath On 27 July Sir John Stuart arrived to decide on the fate of the castle. At this time it was the almost universal opinion that it should he destroyed, on the assumption that any garrison lodged therein must inevitably be made prisoners whenever attacked in strength. Captain Jones, however, was strongly opposed to this, and urged the retention of the fort as an advanced post to the army in Sicily. He had observed that the rock at the back of the castle on the sea side could not be seen from any of the adjacent ground, and that boats from Messina would be covered from fire when they had arrived within from 600 to 700 yards (549 to 640 m) of the fort. He therefore proposed to cut steps in the rock, by means of which the garrison could reach the water's edge and be taken off at any time should the fort be considered no longer tenable. Sir John Stuart, after a careful personal inspection, concurred in the wisdom of this advice, and decided to maintain the castle. Lieutenant Macleod was entrusted with the superintendence of the necessary work, which was successfully carried out. At the same time the land front was restored and strengthened. == French siege ==

Having taken prisoner or destroyed all French garrisons between Maida and the Straits of Messina, Stuart was transported by Smith back to Sicily, where they celebrated a successful campaign in Calabria. A small British garrison was placed in the Castle of Scylla, and held it until the month of January 1808. They were then attacked by a powerful French force, The defence, under Sir Sidney Smith, was maintained until the land front was a heap of ruins. The climax was described by General Sherbrooke in his despatch of 23 February 1808: == Notes ==