Siege of Ragusa

Present day Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Lokrum island from atop Srd hill near the Imperial fortress where Hoste hoisted his artillery to bombard the town.

Date	19–27 January 1814
Location	Ragusa, Illyrian Provinces, Adriatic Sea (present-day Croatia) Coordinates: 43°05′21″N 16°10′18″E / 43.08917°N 16.17167°E / 43.08917; 16.17167
Result	Anglo–Austrian victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Austrian Empire

France

Commanders and leaders

William Hoste

Todor Milutinović

Joseph de Montrichard

Strength

400 troops,
One 38 gun fifth rate,
One 18 gun Brig

600 men
138 guns

Casualties and losses

40 killed or wounded

70 killed or wounded,
530 captured

The Siege of Ragusa was fought between Austrian Croat troops allied with the British Royal Navy under Captain William Hoste against a French garrison under Joseph de Montrichard between 19 and 27 January 1814 during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. The siege was fought on the coast of the Adriatic Sea for possession of the strategically important fortified town of Ragusa.

In 1806, the Republic of Ragusa surrendered to forces of the Empire of France to end a months-long siege by the Russian fleets (during which 3,000 cannonballs fell on the city). The French lifted the siege and subsequently entered Ragusa in 1806. In 1808 Napoleon ordered Marshal Marmont to abolish the Republic of Ragusa and amalgamate its territory into the French Empire's client state, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Marmont himself became the "Duke of Ragusa" (Duc de Raguse) and in 1810 Ragusa, with all Dalmatia, went to the newly created French Illyrian Provinces.

Austria declared war on France in August 1813 and by the Autumn the Royal Navy enjoyed unopposed domination over the Adriatic sea. Working in conjunction with the Austrian armies now invading the Illyrian Provinces and Northern Italy, Rear Admiral Thomas Fremantle's ships were able to rapidly transport British and Austrian troops from one point to another, forcing the surrender of the strategic ports one after another December. Captain William Hoste with his ship HMS Bacchante (38 guns) had already captured the mountain fortress of Kotor with the help of Montenegrin forces in early January. After this victory Hoste along with HMS Saracen an 18 gun brig, immediately sailed to Ragusa a which was under a dubious blockade by Austrian forces under General Todor Milutinović.

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