An event
destined to give rise to squabbles all through Europe
capable of breaking down the invincibility of the
French, was evident from the early days of July
1806--The Battle of Maida.
After the tragic death of Lord Nelson in the victorious
naval battle of Trafalgar against Napoleon Oct.
21, 1805, Sir John Stuart was made commander of
the English fleet in the Mediterranean. On the 1st
of July 1806, an English naval squadron dropped
anchor in the Gulf of S. Eufemia and disembarked
6,000 men between the deltas of the rivers Lamato
and Angitola. This event emboldened the rebel bands
who were in the surrounding mountains.
The people of Nicastro rose up against the French
even killing those who were hospitalized, fighting
ferociously and destroying the homes of the nobles.
General Reynier, on the 3rd. of July, on his balcony
in the house which he occupied in Maida watched
Nicastro illuminate the night. Turning to his military
officers he is quoted as saying: "Tomorrow
we defeat the English, the day after we burn Nicastro
to the ground!" The battle between the French
army of 4,000 led by Reynier and the English led
by Sir John Stuart took place on the plains of Maida.
On July 4th 1806, it ended with the defeat
of the French who suffered terrible losses from
the Naval guns of the English off shore, and the
ground troops as well.
The defeat of Reynier had grave repercussions for
the French in our region. Tired, they retreated
toward Catanzaro. Fortunately for them, Stuart decided
not to give chase but instead armed the Calabrese
rebels under Major Gualtieri, called "Pano
di grano" <14>
and then set sail. England received the news of
the Victory of Maida with indescribable joy. They
considered the victory one of the greatest of their
national history. The King, George III, conferred
the title Duke of Maida on Sir John Stuart. His
officers received 12 gold medals, one silver and
the name Maida was given to two London streets.
The European literary world clamored for news of
Calabria. They wanted to know the modus vivendi
of the people, particularly brigands. Some writers,
wanting to experience our region fist hand, voyaged
to Calabria.
Lacking good roads, the donkey and mule were the
ideal mode of transport. It was necessary to overcome
the many difficulties least of which was not the
flooding of the rivers and arroyos, impassable in
the autumn-winter months. A French writer, Benjamin
Constant author of "Adolphe" opens his
book with the following passage: "Je percourais
l'Italie il y bien des annees, je fus arrrete dans
un auberge de Cerenzia petit village de la Calabre,
por un bordiment du Neto" ( I had traveled
through Italy years ago, I was obliged to stay at
a hotel in Cerenzia, a small village in Calabria,
caused by the flooding of the river Neto."
The defeat of Reynier resulted in a violent resurgence
of the insurrectionist cause. They made his retreat
to Crotone extremely difficult suffering many losses
along the way. Isola and Cutro were the first to
feel the French backlash.
The Administrator of the region, Palumbo, spoke
of the fierceness of the rebels writing to General
Miot: "We found among the attacking bands many
gentlemen, among whom the most illustrious was the
Prince of Cerenzia, many of them were far from their
homes, many recently arrived from Naples, all ardently
patriotic and pious exaggerated by the distance
from home."
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