After a prolonged defense in which Hesse was severely wounded, Gaeta surrendered, and Masséna granted its garrison generous terms.

The garrison put up such fierce resistance that a large part of Masséna's Army of Naples was tied up in the siege for nearly five months.

This prevented Masséna from sending reinforcements to quell an uprising that had started in Calabria and allowed the British to land an expeditionary force and score a victory at the Battle of Maida.

[4] As soon as the ink was dry, the French observation corps abandoned Apulia and marched north to join Masséna's army.

[3] As Craig and Lacy prepared for an offensive into northern Italy, they were astounded to find that the Neapolitan army was not ready to join them.

[7] After Czar Alexander I of Russia ordered Lacy to withdraw his force, Craig decided to evacuate the British corps also.

The British soldiers waited on their naval transports in the harbor until the king and queen finally allowed them to land on 13 February.

Since Hesse refused to surrender and the strong fortress dominated the coast road, the French commander assigned GD Gaspard Amédée Gardanne's division to blockade it.

[12] Napoleon had chosen his brother Joseph Bonaparte to replace Ferdinand, and the new king made a triumphant entrance to the city the next day.

[16] While Reynier pursued Damas' crippled force, a French corps under GD Guillaume Philibert Duhesme chased another body of Neapolitans.

French commanders responded by attacking and burning villages, leading to an ugly cycle of atrocity and counter-atrocity.

Gaeta's landward approaches were defended by a 1,300 yards (1,189 m) long fortified trace three lines deep in places.

[25] Masséna made a reconnaissance of the fortress and assigned General of Brigade (GB) Nicolas Bernard Guiot de Lacour to command the besiegers.

The French siege lines were anchored on Monte Secco, 600 yards (549 m) from the fortress and on the more distant Plateau of Atratina.

When the besiegers' cannons opened fire, they were again rapidly put out of action by the superior weight of Gaeta's artillery.

[26] Realizing that Gaeta could not be cheaply taken, the French appointed GB Jacques David Martin de Campredon, an engineering expert, to direct the siege.

To get close enough to blast a breach in the walls, the French began digging parallels into the ground in front of Monte Sacco.

Hesse requested assistance from his government but did not receive any right away because Rear Admiral Sidney Smith was fully employed in supporting the guerilla war in Calabria.

At length, Smith's squadron arrived at Gaeta and dropped off food, four heavy cannons, and the partisan leader Michele Pezza, also known as Fra Diavolo.

[27] Sometime in April, the Royal Navy landed Fra Diavolo and considerable force of irregulars near the mouth of the Garigliano.

When Fra Diavolo was later implicated in a scheme to betray Gaeta, Hesse shipped him back to Palermo in chains.

Gaeta's artillery could not suppress the besiegers' fire this time, which dismounted some guns and caused numerous casualties.

But the greatest loss to the defenders occurred when Hesse was badly wounded by a bursting shell on 10 July and had to be evacuated by sea.

On the 11th, Masséna's artillery commander, GB François Louis Dedon-Duclos, begged the marshal to pause the bombardment lest they run out of ammunition.

The barrage continued, and on the 15th, a French engineer officer crept far enough forward to note that the west breach could be attacked.

[33] Because of its prolonged defense and because he needed to capture Gaeta quickly, Masséna granted lenient terms to Hotz.

[25] On 4 July 1806, a British expedition under John Stuart defeated a French division led by Reynier at the Battle of Maida.

Thus, a chance was missed to interrupt the siege of Gaeta or to land at Naples in an attempt to overthrow Joseph's government.

The 1815 siege lasted from 28 May to 8 August before the surviving 133 officers and 1,629 men of the Neapolitan garrison surrendered to Austrian Generalmajor Joseph von Lauer.