Froberg mutiny

The Froberg mutiny was a mutiny staged between 4 and 12 April 1807 at Fort Ricasoli, Malta by the Froberg Regiment. The mutiny lasted for eight days in which several people were killed and the fort was damaged. After the mutiny, the ringleaders were executed.

The Froberg mutiny has been considered as the most serious mutiny during the Napoleonic Wars.

Background
The Froberg Regiment was founded in December 1803, when the French royalist Gustave de Montjoie passed himself as the German Count Froberg and was granted a letter of service by the British Secretary at War to raise a regiment for service in Malta. Froberg raised the regiment in Albania and the Christian parts of Turkey, and it consisted of men of a number of nationalities, including Germans, Poles, Swiss, Albanians, Bulgarians, Greeks and Russians. The recruiting methods used by Froberg were dubious, and according to Adam Neale in his Travels Through Some Parts of Germany, Poland, Moldavia and Turkey, "the most unprincipled deceit and falsehood were employed to obtain recruits".

The regiment arrived in Malta in 1806, and it amounted to 513 men. The regiment was commanded by Major Schumelketel and Lieutenant Schwartz, and the latter had supervised the dubious recruiting process. Soon after their arrival on the island, some of the men of the regiment began to complain as they had been promised high ranks with good pay, but they were forced to work as privates and had lower wages. While the men were quarantined at the Lazzaretto on Manoel Island, they complained and demanded to be sent back to Corfu. After Schwartz threatened to stop their food rations, they withdrew their demands, but more discontent was created within the regiment.

After they were released from quarantine, the regiment were allowed to go into the capital Valletta, but they began to quarrel between themselves and with the Maltese people. To prevent unrest between the locals and the regiment, the Commander of the British Forces in Malta, William Villettes, confined the regiment to Fort Ricasoli, a large fortification at the entrance of the Grand Harbour. In November 1806, Villettes appointed Lieutenant-Colonel James Barnes as commander of the regiment, but this only increased the resentment of the regiment.

Mutiny


The mutiny broke out on 4 April 1807. While Lieutenant-Colonel Barnes was in Valletta, 200 Greeks and Albanians revolted, killing Lieutenant Schwartz, Captain De Wattville, Gunner John Johnstone and a number of privates, while wounding Major Schumelketel and three other officers. The British flag was removed and replaced with the Russian ensign, and the gates of the fort were closed and the drawbridge taken up. The revolting soldiers took the regimental officers, their families, and about 20 British artillerymen hostage. The latter were forced them to train Ricasoli's guns and mortars towards Valletta.

Some men had managed to escape from the fort, and informed the British of the mutiny. The Royal Maltese Regiment and the 39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot took positions on the glacis of the fort, while the guns of Fort Saint Elmo and Fort Saint Angelo were trained on Ricasoli.

In the meantime, the mutineers sent a message to William Villettes, the British commander in Malta, demanding the discharge of the regiment, safe passage back home, money and a pardon. They threatened to open fire on Valletta, but Villettes refused their demands and ordered them to surrender.

On the second day, more guns were trained towards Ricasoli, but nothing else was done since Villettes intended to starve out the mutineers in a siege. The rebels sent a second message, demanding food and provisions, again threatening to bombard Valletta. The message was again ignored by the authorities.

On the third day, one of the officers held hostage was sent with a message from the mutineers, but this was ignored once again. The officer told the British of the conditions within the fort, but had to return since his wife was still held as a hostage. Soon after, the rebels began fighting among themselves, and a faction ready to surrender hoisted the white flag which was taken down by the other faction which wanted to keep up the mutiny. Due to this, Villettes sent a delegation to negotiate with the rebels, but they still refused to surrender.

On 8 April, the fifth day of the siege, the families of the officers held hostage were released since the mutineers were running out of food. The rebels also sent an ultimatum threatening to destroy the fort unless provisions were sent. When this ultimatum expired, they sent another one in which they threatened to kill all the remaining hostages. In the meantime, more infighting between the rebels occurred, and a group of Germans and Poles managed to open the gates of the fort. Most of the mutineers escaped and surrendered, but about 20 others remained inside and closed the gates again.

On 10 April, the remaining mutineers fired on Valletta, although nobody was injured in the attack. Due to this incident, Villettes ordered that the fort be stormed. A party of 40 men under Lieutenant de Clermont, who was himself part of the Froberg Regiment, scaled the fort and took control of it without any losses. The fort had fallen, but 6 rebels retreated into the gunpowder magazine and threatened to destroy it. After two days, they blew up the magazine's 600 barrels of gunpowder, killing 3 British sentries. The 6 rebels managed to escape to the countryside in the confusion.

Aftermath


4 of the rebels who blew up the magazine were captured two days after the revolt was suppressed and they were hanged. Villettes then put the ringleaders on trial, and 24 or 25 were found guilty and condemned to death.

The executions were carried out at the Floriana Parade Ground in the presence of the rest of the Froberg Regiment, which was now imprisoned. The first five were hanged by five others, who were themselves hanged by another five. This latter five and the remaining nine prisoners were then handcuffed and shot. Some did not die immediately and tried to escape. Most were captured and executed, but two managed to run away and they committed suicide by jumping off the bastions.

A board of inquiry was set up between 20 and 22 April, and it found out about the dubious recruiting of the regiment. Therefore, the regiment was disbanded in June 1807, and about 350 men who had reasonable grounds for discharge were repatriated to the Balkans. Others who wanted to remained in British service were reassigned to the Regiments of De Roll, Chasseurs Britanniques, and De Watteville.

Count Froberg (Gustave de Montjoie), the founder of the regiment, was in Constantinople when he heard about the mutiny. Knowing that his recruitment methods were uncovered, he escaped, but according to Adam Neale, was captured by a group of Cossacks in a remote village, where he was "literally cut to pieces."

The fort itself was badly damaged in the final explosion, as apart from the magazine, most of St. Dominic Demi-Bastion was also destroyed and was never rebuilt. New magazines were later built in the fort to replace the one destroyed in the explosion. Today, the fort is in a dilapidated state, as it was damaged in World War II and is being threatened by coastal erosion.