Page "Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron" Paragraph 10

He was charged with establishing the Convention's authority in the south during the Toulon rebellion.

Fréron remained infamous as an enforcer of the Reign of Terror but came into contact with Napoleon Bonaparte, still just a young artillery officer, who had been stationed there.

Augustin Robespierre and Antoine Christophe Saliceti, two of the most powerful men in the Directory, responded favourably to Napoleons request ( bypassing his commander, Jean François Carteaux ) to seize the peninsula fort from the British and install artillery on a promontory overlooking the bay in order to fire on the British fleet at anchor.

An infantry attack led by Bonaparte was repelled, due chiefly to Carteaux lowering the men allocated to Napoleon for the attack.

Fréron, despite quarrelling with Bonaparte and threatening him with execution, eventually gave him his backing against Carteaux.

He subsequently attempted to curtail Napoleons career by insuring he would not command another larger attack on the British fort that was being planned, posting him to command the reserves instead.

However, as this new attack faltered, Napoleon led the reserves forward without orders and seized the British fort.