William Pitt and the Great WarRose, J. Holland (John Holland)
History
William Pitt and the Great War
Rose, J. Holland (John Holland)
Europe -- History -- 1789-1815; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820; Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Already, while at Toulon, he had received an urgent invitation from
Paoli, the leader of the Royalist, or British, party in Corsica, to help
the islanders in driving out the French. Victor in the long feud against
the Bonapartes, whom he expelled at midsummer, Paoli now resolved to
root out the Jacobins, and his Anglophil leanings induced him to offer
the crown of Corsica to George III. Both the King and his Ministers
received the offer favourably, Pitt and Grenville regarding Corsica as
one of the indemnities to be exacted from France. Sir Gilbert Elliot,
the King's Commissioner in the Mediterranean, was therefore charged to
administer Corsica. Disputes between Admiral Hood and General Dundas, the
commander of the British troops, somewhat hampered the sieges of the
three French garrisons still holding out; but by August 1794 Calvi, the
last hope of the French, succumbed to the vigour of the attack of
General Stuart, effectively helped by Nelson, who there lost the sight
of his right eye.
Subsequent events in Corsica, although of great interest, are not
closely connected with the life of Pitt; and I therefore propose to
describe them and the details of the Quiberon expedition in the volume
entitled "Pitt and Napoleon Miscellanies." In this chapter only the
incidents which more particularly concern Pitt will be noticed.
The attempt to rule that most clannish and suspicious of Mediterranean
peoples first called forth the administrative powers of Sir Gilbert
Elliot, first Earl of Minto. Acting as Viceroy of Corsica, he sought to
promote contentment by promulgating an excellent constitution and
administrative reforms. But, being hampered from the outset by the
factious behaviour of Paoli, he, with the consent of the Cabinet,
deported him to England in the autumn of 1795. An equally serious
complication was the feud between the British army and navy. These
disputes, originating at Toulon, grew apace in Corsica. Elliot sided
with Hood, and was therefore detested by Dundas, his successor, Sir
Charles Stuart, and their coadjutor, Colonel Moore. This brilliant young
officer, by nature somewhat a _frondeur_, was finally guilty of
expressions so disrespectful as to lead to his removal shortly before
that of Paoli. He carried his complaints to Pitt, who bade him set forth
his case dispassionately. Indeed, so impressed was he with Moore's
abilities, that he decided to employ him in the West Indies, and
afterwards advanced him to posts of high importance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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