The Battle of Maida was fought on 4 July 1806 between the British and French armies outside Maida, Calabria during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led a British expeditionary force of 5,236 troops to victory over about a force of approximately 5,400 French troops under Jean Reynier, inflicting heavy losses while incurring light casualties. The battle demonstrated the effectiveness of the double-line formation employed by Stuart against the triple line used by Reynier; two ranks in linear formation allowed the British to stretch a longer line and deliver more powerful volleys.

On the morning of 4 July, Reynier broke camp and advanced toward level terrain along the shallow Lomato River. Believing his army superior in numbers, Stuart marched toward the same location nearly parallel to the French column. As both forces deployed from march column, they ended up in echelon formation. On the French side, the left flank was leading, while on the British side the right flank was leading. On the French left, General of Brigade Louis Fursy Henri Compère was echeloned forward, with the 1st Light Infantry Regiment on the left and the 42nd Line Infantry Regiment to its right. The center, commanded by General of Brigade Luigi Gaspare Peyri, included two battalions of Poles and the 4th battalion of the 1st Swiss Regiment. On the right flank, General of Brigade Antoine Digonet trailed the other two formations. Digonet's command comprised the 23rd Light Infantry and 9th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments and the field guns. Opposing the French was Colonel James Kempt's Advanced Guard on the British right flank, echeloned forward. To Kempt's left rear was Colonel Wroth Palmer Acland's 2nd Brigade. Well to Acland's left rear marched Colonel John Oswald's 3rd Brigade, which formed the center. Colonel Lowry Cole's 1st Brigade deployed on the left flank with the artillery. Cole was closer to the French than Oswald. Off conducting diversionary actions was the 20th Foot, which would be late.

Only when the armies were nearly in contact did Stuart realize that he was outnumbered, but he allowed the battle to commence without changing any orders. Kempt detached the Royal Corsican Rangers and Royal Sicilian Volunteers as skirmishers. These got into a brawl with Compère's voltigeurs (light companies) and fell back. Kempt sent the flankers of the 35th Foot and the light company of the 20th Foot to help. Once the British troops halted the French skirmishers, they rejoined Kempt. At this time, Compère launched the 1st Light at Kempt, while the 42nd Line aimed to strike Acland. Since it had a head start, 1st Light's attack columns met Kempt's troops first. At 150 yards, the Advanced Guard fired its first volley but the 1st Light continued to advance. Kempt's second volley was fired at a range of 80 yards, wounding Compère, who nevertheless urged his men on. Though disordered by their losses, the French closed to 20 yards, where they absorbed a third volley. This fire completely broke up the 1st Light and its soldiers turned and fled. Compère, who literally rode into the British line, and others were captured in the brief melée that followed.

thumb|upright|The rout of the 1st Light Infantry Regiment

As the 1st Light's attack collapsed, Kempt's men charged their shaken enemies. As the French formation disintegrated, the Advanced Guard went out of control, chasing the fleeing French as far as Maida. Meanwhile, the 42nd advanced on Acland in two battalion columns. The British fired at a range of 300 yards and blazed away until the French attack ground to a halt. Aware that their neighboring regiment was fleeing from the battlefield, the 42nd also decamped.

Stuart's 5,196-man force suffered 45 killed and 282 wounded for a total of 327 casualties. Out of a total of 6,440 soldiers, Reynier lost 490 killed and 870 wounded. In addition, the British captured 722 French soldiers and four cannon. Another authority asserts that the French saved their guns. The 1st Light Infantry lost 50% of its strength between killed, wounded, and prisoners.

Aftermath

Stuart ordered Kempt's Advanced Guard to observe Reynier's withdrawal while he and Sidney Smith discussed future actions. On 6 July, they decided to move south and pick off Reynier's garrisons. Reggio Calabria surrendered on 9 July to Brigadier General Broderick with 1,200 British and Neapolitan troops. The allies were transported from Sicily in the frigate under Captain William Hoste. On this occasion, 632 soldiers from the 1st Light and 42nd Line Infantry Regiments were captured.

Marching south, Stuart reached Reggio on 23 July. Before returning to Sicily, he and Smith mopped up all of Reynier's garrisons in southern Calabria. On 24 July, the fortress of Scilla and 281 soldiers of the 23rd Light Infantry surrendered to Oswald. The British had one battalion each of the 10th Foot, 21st Foot, and Chasseurs Britanniques. The 3rd battalion of the Polish-Italian Legion, 500 strong, surrendered to Captain Hoste in the Amphion and the 78th Foot at Crotone on 28 July.

!French order of battle

|-

|valign="top" style="width:50%"|

Major-general John Stuart (236 officers and 4,960 other ranks)

  • Advance Guard: Colonel James Kempt (47 officers and 919 other ranks)
  • Combined Light Infantry Battalion (25 officers and 510 other ranks)
  • Light companies of 20th, 1/27th, 1/35th, 1/58th, 1/61st, 1/81st and De Watteville's regiments
  • "Flankers" of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot (8 officers and 151 other ranks)
  • Two companies of the Royal Corsican Rangers and one company of the Royal Sicilian Volunteers (14 officer and 258 other ranks)
  • 1st Brigade: Colonel Lowry Cole (48 officers and 1,218 other ranks)
  • Combined Grenadier Battalion (21 officers and 464 other ranks)
  • Grenadier companies of 20th, 1/27th, 1/35th, 1/58th, 1/81st, and De Watteville's regiments
  • 1st Battalion, 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot (8 companies of 27 officers and 754 other ranks)
  • 2nd Brigade: Colonel Wroth Palmer Acland (69 officers and 1,272 other ranks)
  • 2nd Battalion, 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot (8 companies of 36 officers and 702 other ranks)
  • 1st Battalion, 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) (8 companies of 33 officers and 570 other ranks)
  • 3rd Brigade: Colonel John Oswald (49 officers and 1,151 other ranks)
  • 1st Battalion, 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot (8 companies of 22 officers and 554 other ranks)
  • De Watteville's Regiment (4 companies of 16 officers and 271 other ranks)
  • Detached from 3rd Brigade
  • Battalion, 20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot (8 companies of 27 officers and 597 other ranks)
  • Artillery
  • Royal Horse Artillery: Three 6-pound guns (7 officers and 129 other ranks)

thumb|British order of battle at Maida

|valign="top" style="width:50%"|

Divisional-general Jean Reynier (6,029 officers and men)

  • 1st Brigade: Brigade-general Louis Fursy Henri Compère
  • 2 Battalions of the 1st Light Infantry Regiment (1,810 officers and men)
  • 1 Battalion of the 42nd Line Infantry Regiment (1,046 officers and men)
  • 2nd Brigade: Brigade-general Antoine Digonet
  • 2 Battalions of the 23rd Light Infantry Regiment (1,266 officers and men)
  • 4 Squadrons of the 9th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment (328 officers and men)
  • 3rd Brigade: Brigade-general Luigi Gaspare Peyri
  • 2 Battalions of the 1st Polish-Italian Legion (937 officers and men)
  • 4th Battalion of the 1st Swiss Regiment (630 officers and men)
  • Artillery (4 guns and 112 officers and men)
  • 1st Horse Artillery: 3-pound guns
  • Foot Artillery: 6-pound guns

thumb|French order of battle at Maida

|}

Historical reanalysis

It was traditionally thought that in the Battle of Maida the British deployed in a line while the French attacked in columns, allowing the British to fire full strength volleys into the French columns, while only the first two ranks of the French could fire, similar to Crossing the T in naval combat. However, modern historians dispute this claim. The military historian James R. Arnold argues:

:"The writings of Sir Charles Oman and Sir John Fortescue dominated subsequent English-language Napoleonic history. Their views [that the French infantry used heavy columns to attack lines of infantry] became very much the received wisdom. ... By 1998 a new paradigm seemed to have set in with the publication of two books devoted to Napoleonic battle tactics. Both claimed that the French fought in line at Maida and both fully explored French tactical variety. The 2002 publication of The Battle of Maida 1806: Fifteen Minutes of Glory, appeared to have brought the issue of column versus line to a satisfactory conclusion: "The contemporary sources are...the best evidence and their conclusion is clear: General Compère's brigade formed into line to attack Kempt's Light Battalion." The decisive action at Maida took place in less than fifteen minutes. It had taken 72 years to rectify a great historian's error about what transpired during those minutes."

The British fired volleys then charged with the bayonet, and the French, failing to withstand the onslaught, broke and fled, suffering heavily in the rout.

Arnold was cruel, if not incompetent, in his criticism. The military historian Charles Oman said in his 1913 book: