Instead, such was France's need
of trained men, that after a brief interval he was actually promoted to
a captaincy. As he himself said: "The beginning of a revolution was a
fine time for an enterprising young man!"
His first actual taste of warfare occurred at Toulon, where his
regiment was now stationed. Many of the inhabitants of this Southern
port were royalists, and they sought to hold the city for the King.
The republican troops were ordered to capture the town, which they did
after a lively siege and assault. The commander of artillery having
been wounded, Napoleon was ordered to take his place. His skill,
coolness, and bravery during this engagement are well attested. A
soldier serving a gun near him was killed. At once Napoleon took his
place at the gun, and served until relieved.
Aiding the royalists in the harbor was a fleet of ships under the
English and Spanish; and here it was that Napoleon was to strike his
first blow at his life-long antagonist, England. He submitted a plan
for the bombardment of the fleet, and the capture of a fort which they
had heavily fortified on shore, called, from its strength, "the little
Gibraltar." As a result of a spirited attack at dawn, the shore
batteries capitulated, and a few hours later the foreign ships sailed
away in haste.
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