Maida, Battle of

In the Napoleonic Wars, defeat of about 6,500 French under Marshal Jean Reynier by a 5,000-strong British force under General Sir John Stuart, on 3 July 1806, near Maida in the toe of Italy, about 20 km/12 mi west of Catanzaro.

The battle took place in one of the backwaters of the Napoleonic Wars, while a British force was in Italy supporting the dispossessed royal families of Spain and Sicily and attempting to break the French military control of the Kingdom of Sicily. The British were moving west intending to embark for Sicily when the French forces moved to block their way.

The battle demonstrated the contrast between tactical systems: while the British deployed in line, the French attacked in a column, allowing the full strength of the British to fire volleys into the French mass, while only the first two ranks of the French could respond. After a few of these devastating volleys, the British mounted a bayonet charge and the French broke and ran.