La difesa costiera del Regno d’Italia

This essay concerns the problem of the coastal defense of the Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814), in the broader international context during the Continental System. Napoleon first attempts (1806-1809) to control both sides of the Adriatic Sea in order to launch an anti-British offensive in the East («Vaincre la mer par la terre», as he said). The formation and the conquest of the kingdoms of Italy and Naples are part of that strategy. Having failed the attempt and defeated the Italian-French fleet at Lissa (1811), the defense of the Kingdom concentrated on the coastal line, 500 km from the mouth of the Isonzo River to s.Benedetto del Tronto. To provide protection against British attacks and landing, garrisons and artillery batteries linked by telegraph stations are set up along the coast, with support below the coast from what remains of the navy, reduced to a coast guard. As line troops of the Italian Army are sent to military campaigns in Europe, military corps recruited from the local residents, under the command of veteran officer, are used for coastal defense (National Guard, Departmental reserve Companies, Guard coast Cannoneers). These units, which in several respects look like a revival of the old territorial militias of the ancien regime, were able to hold out until the end of the Kingdom. They supported the difficult task, not without any effectiveness, of facing the powerful Royal Navy and the Corsairs.