In Provence, the major French naval base and port of Toulon lies on the coast between Marseille, Hyères and Nice.

The old village of 1793, now a town, of La Valette lies a few miles in the hills inland to the north-east of Toulon, commanding the approaches to Nice, Piedmont and Genoa.

It also lies near the commanding heights of Fort Faron, and above the fort of La Malgue and the emplacement of Cap Brun on Toulon’s Grande Rade or Outer Road to seaward.

The last mentioned sites played an important role during the fighting in December 1793 between Britain’s Royal Navy, and those of Bourbon Spain and Naples , together with the French Royalists, over the possession of Toulon harbour against the Republicans during the French Revolutionary Wars.

The young Captain Napoleon Buonaparte (as he then spelt his name) was the 23-year-old artillery officer, trained at Brienne military academy, and honed in the riots in Paris, was in charge of the emplacements on the opposite west bank at Montagne and Sans-Culottes, then having a role at the batteries of Jacobins, Hommes-sans-Peur and Chasse-Coquins, near the small town of La Seyne.

The Republicans captured the town of Toulon, wreaking dire vengeance on many of its citizens, while others were spared. For the young successful Buonaparte there was no turning back, and he went on to advance rapidly accordingly.

There may be other villages or towns in France bearing the name of La Valette or La Vallette.

While the latter is a personal claim, this report is based on a book written by Bernard Ireland, entitled The Fall of Toulon – The last opportunity to defeat the French Revolution, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in 2005, later by Cassell.