1800, General Vaubois, Napoleonic Wars, Malta, Signed Military Document
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| Reference Number: Avaluer:1304998 |
This is a wonderful, original document dated 1800, Malta, where a military commission has approved payments for various services and goods while on Malta...signed by Le General Vaubois at left center, Captain Olivier – President of the French Military Commission and several other signatures of the military committee. Document is 9x13, double sided, overall very good condition.Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois (1 October 1748 in Ville-sous-la-Ferté..., Aube – 5 November 1839) was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. On 20 August 1808 he was created Comte de Belgrand de Vaubois. Later, his name was inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe (Arche Kléber) in Paris.Today he is most often remembered in Malta, where Napoleon appointed him Commandant en chef des Isles de Malte et du Goze) on June 19, 1798.In February 1799, the Maltese insurgents, having lost hope in an intervention of King Ferdinand, requested that Ball, who had previously landed near the village of Qrendi on the south of the island, preside over the National Assembly. He changed the name of the assembly to that of National Congress and declared himself chief of government. In March, the Congress appealed to King George III to assume sovereignty over Malta, but no answer came from Pitt’s ministry.The starving French garrison received a little relief at the beginning of February 1799. The frigate La Boudeuse ran the blockade and entered the Grand Harbour. However, she was the last ship to re-supply Vaubois and his men.On November 1, 1799, Nelson was off Valletta on board the Foudroyant. Vaubois, who was still hoping for relief from France, summarily rejected a new surrender demand. Vaubois wrote: Mindful of being worthy of the respect of your country, as you are with our own, we are resolved to defend this fortress to the last.Nelson ordered Ball to take command of the Maltese forces - about 2, 000 Maltese troops along with about 1, 500 irregulars, unpaid, ill-equipped and half-starving. A hard pressed King Ferdinand agreed to confirm Ball as Governor of Malta.The whole Maltese population, running short of essential provisions, was living close to famine so that the siege was turning into a race of which side would starve first. The British and Maltese, together with a Neapolitan contingent of 1, 200 men, got some relief in January 1800.However, General Vaubois waited in vain for supplies. French preparations had dragged on until Napoleon—now Premier Consul—appointed contre-amiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée to command a relief expedition. The squadron, comprising Le Généreux (one of the two survivors of the Battle of the Nile), three corvettes serving as armed storeships, and one armed storeship, all with some 3, 000 men, arms, food and ammunition on board, sailed from Toulon-sur-Mer on February 6, 1800. The expedition ended in disaster. On the morning of February 18, English ships met the French squadron off Lampedusa island. Contre-amiral Perrée was killed at the start of the action and at 1.30 p.m. Le Généreux struck her colours. The rest of the French convoy returned to Toulon.On August 24, Vaubois dispatched the frigates La Diane and La Justice to run the blockade to France. The Success sighted them, with the Northumberland and the captured Le Généreux, now crewed by the British, giving chase. The British captured La Diane but La Justice escaped under cover of darkness.The siege was nearing its end. The French garrison had eaten all the horses, the mules, the dogs, the cats and the rats of Valletta. Finally, on September 4, 1800, Vaubois sent an emissary under a flag of truce to the British commander Major-General Henry Pigot. The following day, Pigot and Captain George Martin, RN, negotiated terms of surrender with General Vaubois and contre-amiral Villeneuve. (Ironically the French excluded Captain Alexander Ball, as chief of the Maltese, from the negotiations, as the French did not want to surrender to the Maltese.) The British granted Vaubois and the French fair terms and the honors of war, including the right to keep their arms and spoils. General Vaubois and his troops were quickly repatriated to Marseilles.While the siege continued, Vaubois became a senator on July 27, 1800. He was named a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1804 and a Count of the Empire in 1808. In 1809 he led a division of the National Guard. He became a peer of France and Knight of St. Louis in 1814. During the Hundred Days in 1815, Vaubois did not join Napoleon. He died in 1839.Please view the other historical and Civil War related documents I'll be listing this week.SEE SCAN.I now accept PAYPAL but PREFER other forms of traditional paper payment. Buyer pays shipping(usually FREE within the US and $12 for International), payment must be received within 5 days.
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