began fortifying the houses they occupied, ready for a bout of grim
streetfighting, while Napoleon unsuccessfully tried to suborn the troops
in the citadel to rebel. To twist the knife still further, he instituted a food
blockade by the republican peasantry. Napoleon's men killed cattle,
ravaged orchards and cut off water supplies.
The conflict escalated when the municipality got Maillard to wheel out
cannon from the citadel, preparatory to expelling the volunteers by force.
Napoleon then produced a letter from the Directory authorizing him to
stand fast and, if necessary, bring in more volunteers. It was quite clear
that the municipality was putting itself in a position where it was defying
the elected government of Corsica and thus making itself legally
responsible for all damage sustained in the expected fighting. Evidently
the hotheads in Aj accio finally perceived they were getting into very deep
water; they backed down and agreed a compromise peace with Napoleon.
Maillard, however, refused to be party even to this, claiming to be
upholding the law. Since both the Directory and the municipality were
now in agreement, it is difficult to see what this 'law' could be. In his own
mind it involved the supremacy of the claims of Louis XVI, as
interpreted by him, against those of the French Republic, but in strictly
legal terms his action was treason. Historical precedents were all against
him, for the legitimacy of the House of Stuart in England had not
prevented the execution of Charles I or, in the following century, dozens
of Jacobites.
Eventually two Commissioners arrived from the Directory to sort out
the fracas. They arrested some of the troublemaking members of the
municipality but the defiant Maillard simply retired to the citadel and
challenged Paoli and the Directory to blast him out. Napoleon, Qu enza
and the volunteers had won the moral victory and Napoleon had shown
himself to be exceptionally intrepid, energetic and resourceful, but the
affair left a nasty taste in Ajaccio. Henceforth his reputation there
plummeted, and Pozzo di Borgo was able to make significant propaganda
ground in his vendetta.
When peace was made, Napoleon went to Corte, where he had an
interview with Paoli. But his mind was on France, where his position
with his regiment was precarious. At the review held on I January 1792
the regimental record stated: 'Buonparte, First Lieutenant, whose
permission of absence has expired, is in Corsica.' He was expressly left
out of the list of those recommended to the National Assembly as having
legitimate reasons for absence. It was evident that to clear his name
Napoleon would have to go to Paris, for he was now virtually regarded as
an emigre, as appears from the following note placed against his name in a
marcin
(Marcin)
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