Gulf of Napoli

The Bay of Naples became a stage of revolution and royal restoration in 1799. After the Bourbon court withdrew to Sicily and French forces entered Naples, the Parthenopean Republic briefly governed the city. British ships supported the royalist cause from the sea, while Cardinal Ruffo's forces advanced on land. Control of the waterfront and its forts therefore mattered alongside possession of the streets.

In June the republican garrisons of Castel Nuovo and Castel dell'Ovo accepted terms promising an evacuation. Nelson subsequently rejected that agreement, and surrendered republicans were detained rather than sent safely away. The naval officer Francesco Caracciolo, who had joined the republic, was tried aboard Nelson's flagship and hanged from the Neapolitan frigate Minerva. The bay thus held warships, prisoners and the instruments of restored royal power in the same waters. These events made the harbour an active part of the political struggle, with consequences extending beyond the short life of the republic.