The first military service on which he was employed for his native country was the reduction of a small fortress, called the Torre di Capitello, near Ajaccio. He took it, but was soon besieged in it, and he and his garrison, after a gallant defense, and living for some time on horseflesh, were glad to evacuate the tower, and escape to the sea. Paoli was soon reinforced by England, and the Bonapartes were among those who were banished from the country. During this Corsican revolution the inhabitants were much divided as to the rights of England and France in the island. An officer in the French troops, who sided with England, was much scandalized at the position taken by the Bonapartes,--Joseph, Napoleon and Lucien. One day, in the hearing of Napoleon, the officer made use of some very harsh language towards them, and was especially bitter against Napoleon. At this a friend defended him with much warmth and finished by saying to the officer: "Sir, you are not worth a pair of Napoleon's old boots!" In the year 1800, Napoleon then being First Consul of France, the officer who had defended him, and who had for some time followed his standard, and had been raised to distinction by him, happening to meet Bonaparte among a large party at dinner at the house of the First Consul's mother, was drawn aside before the company placed themselves at the table, and with his finger over his mouth, Napoleon said in a half-joking, half-serious manner: "My dear sir, not a word, I entreat you, about the old boots!" As a result of the insurrection in Corsica Napoleon saw Ajaccio in ashes, and the home of his childhood pillaged and burned ere he took his departure. His mother and sisters took refuge first at Nice, and afterwards at Marseilles, where for some time they suffered all the inconveniences of poverty and exile. At that period nothing was more deplorable than Bonaparte's prospects; nothing more uncertain than the future. But he believed that fortune would not always abandon him. France was in the hands of men who acted largely from self-interest, and here he apparently saw a chance to carve his way to fame by getting in the vortex of the Revolution. It was probably on this occasion that he repeated the well-known words: "In a revolution a soldier should never despair if he possesses courage and genius." Napoleon now resolved to rejoin his regiment; he had chosen France for his country, and ever afterwards it was his home until exiled to St. Helena. During the night of August 27th, 1793, Toulon was delivered to the English, and its subsequent siege and retaking was destined to be the first incident of importance which enabled Bonaparte to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French Government, and of the world at large. The head of Louis XVI had rolled from the block, and a month afterwards the Convention had declared war against England.