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Napoleon in Malta

This blow came on the 9th of June 1798 when the French fleet and army under Bonaparte, on their way to the Egyptian campaign stopped at Malta, which the General had long recognised as being indispensable for any power that had aspiration on the Mediterranean. The pretext was to replenish their water supply, but early the next morning the French poured down on six localities. Some of the troops were under the command of General Vaubois, who after Napoleon's departure, was to remain on the island as governor and commander of the garrison.

The defence mounted by the Maltese was ineffective for various reasons. Most of their knight-commanders were French who were in treacherous league with the invaders. They had scarce ammunition, and some of the gunpowder was mixed with ashes or sand to render it innocuous.

De Preville, one of the commanders, never ordered his troops to show any resistance, but as soon as the French soldiers disembarked, he went to meet them waving a white scarf. With the first invading troops there were also renegade knights. When the Maltese realized that they had been betrayed, they abandoned their places practically without offering any resistance. In some areas the French soldiers roamed about unchecked, looting what they liked and molesting the womenfolk. Meanwhile a column of French troops under Vabois himself reached Mdina, the old capital, where the local notables decided to capitulate.

In Valletta and three cities on the south side of Grand Harbour the situation became chaotic. Some counter action was put up but to no avail. French knights and others known to be Francophiles were attacked and even physically eliminated. A deputation of Valletta notables asked grandmaster Hompesch to come to terms with Napoleon, which was eventually done-and so the Order of Saint John was ousted from Malta after nearly 270 years.

All the property formerly belonging to the Order, the Grandmaster and the various Auberges of the Knights as well as the Mint became state property. These were immediately despoiled of all their precious metals and jewellery. The principal victim of this despoliation was the conventual church of St. John's. But all this treasure, loaded onto French ships, sank in sea battle not far from Alexandria, Eygpt, and has not yet to this day been recovered.

French rule in Malta, however, was short-lived. By 1800 the Maltese, with the help of Nelson, drove the French garrison out of Malta and sought the protection of the British throne.

Irene Kaufmann