Reign of Terror and Sardinia, began attacking France from all directions besieging and capturing ports and retaking ground lost to France. With so many similarities to the first days of the Revolutionary Wars, the French government with threats on all sides, unification of the country became a top priority. As the war continued and the Reign of Terror began, leaders saw a correlation between using terror and achieving victory. Well phrased by Albert Soboul, “terror, at first an improvised response to defeat, once organized became an instrument of victory.” The threat of defeat and foreign invasion may have helped spur the origins of
Battle of Saorgio (1793) The government ordered Anselme suspended on 16 December 1792 and his temporary replacement was Gaspard Jean-Baptiste Brunet. Anselme was arrested on 12 April 1793 but managed to survive the Reign of Terror. Meanwhile, Brunet led the expedition to Sardinia which began on 8 January and ended in complete failure within two months. Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duke of Biron assumed command of the "Army of Italy" on 10 February and pushed eastward with his right flank on the Mediterranean Sea. Dismayed by the incapacity shown by his general officers in 1792, King Victor Amadeus III begged Habsburg Austria to send