Siege of Gaeta (1806)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Campo Tenese
partof=the War of the Third Coalition


caption=
date=26 February, 1806 – 18 July, 1806
place=Gaeta, present-day Italy
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France First French Empire
*flagicon|Napoleonic Italy Kingdom of Italy
*flagicon|Napoleonic Italy|etruria Kingdom of Etruria
*flagicon|Poland|state Polish Legions
*flagicon|Switzerland Switzerland
combatant2=flagicon|Two Sicilies Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily
commander1=flagicon|France André Masséna
commander2=flagicon|Two Sicilies ?
strength1=12,000
strength2=7,000
casualties1=1,000 killed or wounded
casualties2=1,000 killed or wounded
6,000 capturedThe Siege of Gaeta of 1806 was a siege of the fortress city of Gaeta by French forces under André Masséna, which began in late February during the War of the Third Coalition. The garrison put up fierce resistance and Masséna had the greater part of his "Army of Naples" tied up in the siege for nearly five months. This prevented Masséna from sending reinforcements to quell an uprising that had started in Calabria as well as allowing the British to land an expedition force and score a victory at the Battle of Maida. However, the British failed to either capitalise on this victory or send support to the garrison of Gaeta and the city was finally captured on July 18, 1806 after French artillery finally broke through the city's defences.

Gaeta was then turned into a duché grand-fief in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples with the French name of "Gaete", for finance minister Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin in 1809. Gaeta was the last city in Italy to remain loyal to Napoleon – it was not until a further siege by an Anglo-Austrian force, the last action of the Neapolitan War, that the city was finally retaken.