Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Valetta (Wars of the French Revolution).

The capital of Malta, held by a French garrison, 60,000 strong, under General Vaubois, was besieged September, 1798, by a force of British and Maltese, under Sir Alexander Ball. Vaubois held out for two years, but on September 5, 1800, was compelled by famine to surrender. The Maltese lost during the siege 20,000 men.