I cannonieri guardacoste di Napoleone. Un corpo per la difesa litoranea dal Consolato al Regno d’Italia

This article concerns the Napoleonic Coastguard Cannoneers (cannoniers garde-côte), considered from its French origins under the Bourbon Monarchy (18th century) to its introduction in Napoleonic Italian Peninsula. As an Artillery body, Coast Guard Cannoneers were instituted in 1803 by First Consul Bonaparte and later introduced in his Italian States, between 1806 and 1810 (Italian departments of the French Empire, Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of Italy). In the broader context of coastal defense during the Continental System, to provide protection against British attacks and landing, the cannoneers carried out, not without any effectiveness, the difficult task of facing corsairs, smugglers and the powerful British Navy. This case study is focused on the coastguard artillery of the Kingdom of Italy (1810-1814). They were organized into seven companies consisting of 140 men, recruited from Artillery veterans, Navy gunners, Reserve officers and non-commissioned officers, and inhabitants of the coastal municipalities. They manned 37 batteries, in communication with each other thanks to the line of optical telegraphs and distributed on the Adriatic coast, about 311 miles from Grado to Porto d’Ascoli.