The Siege of Toulon

Napoleon's breakthrough came at Toulon in December 1793. The vital Mediterranean port had declared for the royalists and welcomed British and Spanish fleets. Republican forces had besieged the city unsuccessfully for months when Captain Bonaparte arrived as replacement artillery commander.

Where others saw an impregnable fortress, Napoleon perceived a geometric problem. He proposed capturing a key fort that would make the harbor untenable for the enemy fleet. When the ships withdrew, the city would have to surrender. His plan, backed by concentrated artillery fire, worked brilliantly. Toulon fell, and Napoleon, wounded by a pike thrust through his thigh, was promoted to brigadier general at age twenty-four.

This episode established patterns that would recur throughout his career: the ability to see simple solutions to complex problems, the use of concentrated force at decisive points, and the physical courage that earned soldiers' devotion. It also brought him to the attention of Augustin Robespierre, whose patronage nearly proved fatal when the Robespierre brothers fell from power in Thermidor.