1798
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4 January 1798 Tekle Giyorgis I Yohannes replaces Yonas Letezum as Emperor of Ethiopia.
5 January 1798 Twelve Grand Piano Sonatas with violin and cello accompaniment B.458-460 by Ignaz Pleyel (40) are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
15 January 1798 Avviso ai maritati, a dramma giocosa by Johann Simon Mayr (34) to words of Gonella, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Samuele, Venice.
17 January 1798 A six-man Executive Directory is established in the Ligurian Republic (Genoa).
18 January 1798 Venetia is ceded to Austria.
22 January 1798 A Directory is established in the Netherlands.
24 January 1798 The Lemanic Republic is created in Lausanne, constituting the present canton of Vaud.
25 January 1798 Benjamin Thompson presents a paper to the Royal Society in London entitled Enquiry concerning the Source of Heat which is excited by Friction. He is the first to suggest that heat is a form of motion rather than a kind of fluid.
German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth gives a paper before the Academy of Sciences in Berlin announcing his discovery of the element Tellurium. He gives credit to the man who found and sent him the specimen, Franz Joseph Müller Freiherr von Reichenstein, an Austrian inspector of mines in Transylvania.
26 January 1798 Christian Gottlob Neefe dies in Dessau, aged 49 years, eleven months and 21 days.
28 January 1798 The Swiss city of Mülhausen requests annexation by France.
8 February 1798 Muzio Clementi’s (46) three piano sonatas op.37 are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
10 February 1798 Six Progressive Sonatinas with violin accompaniment B.580-585 by Ignaz Pleyel (40) are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
11 February 1798 French forces capture Rome.
14 February 1798 Johann Simon Mayr’s (34) dramma per musica Lauso e Lidia, to words of Foppa after Marmontel, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
15 February 1798 The Roman Republic is proclaimed by the French. Pope Pius VI refuses to surrender his temporal powers and is taken prisoner.
Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin informs the French Academy of the existence of a new earth called Glucina. It will not be isolated until 1828 and called Beryllium.
20 February 1798 Because of his refusal to give up his temporal authority, Pope Pius VI is removed from Rome by the French. He is taken first to Siena, then to Certosa.
22 February 1798 Encore un tuteur dupé, a comédie by Giuseppe Cambini (52) to words of Roussel, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Montansier, Paris.
23 February 1798 Piano Concerto C.153 by Jan Ladislav Dussek (38) is performed for the first time, in London by the composer.
25 February 1798 Philippe Antoine Merlin, dit Merlin de Douai replaces Jean Nicolas Paul François Barras as President of the Executive Directory of France.
27 February 1798 Franz Wilhelm replaces Siegmund as Count of Salm-Reifferscheid.
2 March 1798 The new King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III, refuses to continue a pension granted by his father to Luigi Boccherini (55).
4 March 1798 US President John Adams learns that the three peace envoys he sent to Paris have been snubbed by the French government. All French ports have been closed to neutral ships. All ships carrying anything made in Great Britain are fair game for French capture. As soon as other dispatches are decoded, he will learn that three representatives of Foreign Minister Talleyrand demanded a bribe of $250,000 and a loan of $10,000,000 before negotiations could begin. The Americans, who refused to bribe them, refer to the three Frenchmen as X, Y and Z. It all becomes known as the XYZ Affair.
5 March 1798 French forces enter Switzerland and occupy Bern.
General Napoléon Bonaparte submits to the Directory a plan to capture Egypt and Malta. They have already decided to go.
9 March 1798 France annexes the left bank of the Rhine.
12 March 1798 18 leaders of the United Irishmen in Leinster are arrested in Dublin.
13 March 1798 Genovefa von Weber dies of tuberculosis in Salzburg. Her son, Carl Maria (11), a student of Michael Haydn (60), is placed in the care of his Aunt Adelheid.
15 March 1798 France formally annexes the Swiss city of Mühlhausen.
30 March 1798 Francisco de Saavedra y Sangronis replaces Manuel Godoy y Alvarez de Faria, duque de Alcudia as First Secretary of State of Spain.
3 April 1798 US President John Adams releases the full texts of the dispatches he received from France a month ago to the House of Representatives in executive session. The congressmen are aghast at the French actions.
5 April 1798 Wolf Tone joins the Armée d’Angleterre at Rouen.
7 April 1798 The Mississippi Territory is formed in the United States.
9 April 1798 Hermann Friedrich Otto replaces Joseph Wilhelm as Count and Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
12 April 1798 A constitution is adopted in Aarau for the Helvetic Republic. Cantons are abolished and the first unified Swiss state is created.
13 April 1798 Some zealous Viennese tear down the flag at the French embassy and rip it to shreds. Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte closes the embassy and leaves the city.
23 April 1798 News of the events of 13 April reaches Paris. The Directory orders the transfer of army units from the Channel and the Egyptian expedition to reinforce the army in Switzerland.
Adriano in Siria, a dramma per musica by Johann Simon Mayr (34) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice.
24 April 1798 A day after the news of the events of 13 April reaches Paris, an Austrian apology arrives in the city, thus smoothing over the situation.
Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (38) Piano Sonata C.154 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
26 April 1798 Geneva is annexed to France.
29 April 1798 Die Schöpfung, an oratorio by Franz Joseph Haydn (66) to words of the Bible and van Swieten after Milton, is performed for the first time, in the Palace of Prince Schwarzenberg, Vienna by amateurs directed by the composer. It is a fantastic success. This is actually an open rehearsal. The official premiere is tomorrow. Antonio Salieri (47) plays the piano part. See 19 March 1799.
30 April 1798 The United States Department of the Navy is created.
2 May 1798 Publication of three sonatas op.5 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (19) is advertised in the Wiener Zeitung. Nos. 1 and 2 are for piano and violin. No.3 is for piano and viola.
3 May 1798 General Bonaparte departs Paris with his wife for Toulon where he is to join the Egyptian invasion force.
9 May 1798 General Bonaparte and his wife arrive in Toulon where the Egyptian invasion force awaits him.
10 May 1798 Zoraïme et Zulnar, an opéra-comique by Adrien Boieldieu (22) to words of Saint-Just, is performed for the first time, in Salle Favart, Paris.
11 May 1798 The French Directory stages another “coup”, purging many deputies from the legislature. Those removed are Jacobins.
13 May 1798 Publication of Three Grandes Sonates for piano with violin and cello accompaniment B.471-473 by Ignaz Pleyel (41) is announced in the Journal typographique et bibliographique, Paris.
15 May 1798 French troops under Toussaint L’Ouverture enter Port-au-Prince in triumph after the withdrawal of British forces.
19 May 1798 The main part of the French expeditionary force to Egypt sails from Toulon.
Lord Edward Fitzgerald, leader of the United Irishmen, is arrested in Dublin.
21 May 1798 A furious storm demasts the flagship of Admiral Nelson, HMS Vanguard, and scatters his ships 120 km off the Iles Hyères thus preventing his discovery of the French expeditionary force.
22 May 1798 Teseo riconosciuto, a dramma per musica by Gaspare Spontini (23) to words of Giotti, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Intrepidi, Florence.
24 May 1798 The radical members of United Irishmen begin a rebellion in and around Dublin.
26 May 1798 Irish rebels are defeated at Tara in County Meath.
Jean-François Reubell replaces Philippe Antoine Merlin, dit Merlin de Douai as President of the Executive Directory of France.
29 May 1798 British troops defeat Irish rebels at Currah in County Kildare.
30 May 1798 Irish insurgents capture Wexford town.
1 June 1798 After initial victory at Bunclody, County Wexford, Irish rebels are routed from the town with heavy losses.
5 June 1798 British forces defeat Irish rebels at New Ross in County Wexford.
7 June 1798 The revolt in Ireland reaches Ulster. United Irishmen attack Antrim town but are thrown back with heavy losses.
Ferdinand Karl III Wilhelm Leopold replaces Karl II Gustav Reinhard Woldemar as Count of Neu-Leiningen.
Thomas Robert Malthus signs the preface to the first edition of his An Essay on the Principles of Population.
9 June 1798 The French armada for Egypt reaches Malta.
While attempting to march on Dublin, Irish rebels are defeated at Arklow.
10 June 1798 French forces take possession of Malta against little opposition. Over the next five days, General Bonaparte will abolish the Order of St. John, exile its members, present a new constitution, institute public education and steal 7,000,000 francs worth of art.
12 June 1798 Two separate groups of Irish rebels are defeated by British troops near Ballinahinch.
14 June 1798 Eli Whitney signs a contract with the United States government to produce as many as 15,000 muskets by 1800. When he builds his factory this Autumn, Whitney will begin employing the concept of interchangeable parts, thus beginning modern mass production.
15 June 1798 United Irishmen leader Henry Munro is executed at Lisburn.
17 June 1798 The British fleet reaches Naples in its search for Napoléon’s ships.
18 June 1798 US President John Adams signs the Naturalization Act, the first of the Alien and Sedition Acts. It makes it more difficult to gain US citizenship.
19 June 1798 General Bonaparte leaves 4,000 men in Malta and sails for Egypt.
21 June 1798 British troops break the Irish insurrection at Vinegar Hill, near Enniscorthy.
Henry Cavendish reads his paper “Experiments to Determine the Density of the Earth” to the Royal Society in London. He describes how he was able to calculate the gravitational constant, thus allowing him to determine the mass and density of the earth.
22 June 1798 During the night of 22-23 June, unbeknownst to both, the British and French fleets sail to within 120 km of each other in the Mediterranean. The British are headed for Alexandria, the French for Crete.
23 June 1798 A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice by Leopold Kozeluch (50) is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
24 June 1798 Velestinlis Rigas and seven other Greek nationalists, having been handed over by the Austrians, are strangled to death in Belgrade by Ottoman authorities on orders of the Sultan. Their bodies are thrown into the Sava River.
28 June 1798 Admiral Nelson arrives in Alexandria and, finding no Frenchmen, he orders the fleet north to Turkey.
29 June 1798 The last British ship departs Egyptian waters two hours before the first French ship arrives.
30 June 1798 Muzio Clementi’s (46) Twelve Waltzes for piano, tambourine and triangle op.38 are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
The Royal Geographical Society is founded in Lisbon.
1 July 1798 The French begin landing 32,000 men at Marabout Bay, Egypt, west of Alexandria.
2 July 1798 French troops occupy Alexandria.
In order to pay for the military buildup against France, the United States Congress votes its first direct federal tax, on land.
3 July 1798 French forces complete their landing operation in Egypt.
6 July 1798 French forces set out from Alexandria, leaving only 2,000 to garrison the city.
Die Geisterinsel, a singspiel by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (45) to words of Götter after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in the Nationaltheater, Berlin. It is not well received.
10 July 1798 In the first skirmish between French and Egyptian forces, the French repulse an Egyptian cavalry attack. Later in the day, the French reach the Nile at Rahmaniya. They are so thirsty that they wade into the water.
13 July 1798 William Wordsworth goes on a walking tour through the Wye Valley. He happens upon the ruins of Tintern Abbey, and a few kilometers down the road, writes a poem about it.
French forces defeat Mameluke cavalry and gunboats at Shubrakhit in the Nile Delta.
14 July 1798 The last Irish remnants of the Battle of Vinegar Hill are defeated by the British at Knightstown Bog in County Meath.
The Sedition Act goes into effect in the United States. It bans “any false, scandalous and malicious writing” or the bringing into disrepute of the government or its officials. It will be repealed 4 March 1801.
21 July 1798 Publication of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (27) three string trios op.9 is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
Within sight of the Pyramids 25 km away, French forces attack the Mamelukes across the Nile from Cairo and gain a decisive victory.
22 July 1798 As the Egyptian forces withdraw, the city fathers of Cairo offer surrender to the French.
24 July 1798 General Napoléon Bonaparte enters Cairo at the head of his troops.
25 July 1798 After taking on supplies at Siracusa, Admiral Nelson and the British fleet head for Alexandria.
L’hôtellerie portugaise, an opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini (37) to words of Saint-Aignan, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Feydeau, Paris. It is a complete flop, will be completely rewritten, and flop again.
31 July 1798 The French Directory takes steps to placate neutrals, especially the United States.
1 August 1798 British ships under Admiral Nelson return to Egypt to find a French squadron in Abukir Bay (Khalîg Abu Qîr) at the mouth of the Nile. They blow up the French flagship, killing the commander, Admiral Brueys, and run three ships of the line aground. Six French ships surrender. Three others manage to escape into the Mediterranean. About 2,000 men die in the battle, an almost equal number are wounded and 3,000 French are taken prisoner.
6 August 1798 A French expedition of 1,019 men to aid the Irish rebellion sails from Brest.
11 August 1798 The French catch up to the Egyptians and defeat them at Salalieh. The Egyptians flee into Syria.
19 August 1798 An alliance is concluded between France and the Helvetian Republic (Switzerland).
22 August 1798 About 1,000 French troops land at Kilcumin, near Killala, County Mayo, Ireland to aid an insurrection that has already failed. They proclaim an Irish Republic.
General Bonaparte sets up the Institute of Egypt with four sections: mathematics, physics, political economy, and literature and arts. The director is Gaspard Monge. This is probably the only worthwhile and lasting effect of the French presence in Egypt. They set up hospitals and a health care system, irrigation projects and institute some financial stability. The French will invent the modern science of Egyptology and next year, will discover the Rosetta Stone.
24 August 1798 Austrian forces occupy Dubrovnik.
Jean-Baptiste Treilhard replaces Jean-François Reubell as President of the Executive Directory of France.
27 August 1798 French invaders and Irish insurgents surprise and defeat the British at Castlebar, County Mayo. The battle is sometimes called the Castlebar Races after the precipitous nature of the British retreat.
31 August 1798 Great Britain signs an agreement with Toussaint L’Ouverture. The British agree to completely withdraw from Hispaniola in return for economic concessions.
1 September 1798 Nizam Ali Khan of Hyderabad turns from the French and signs a treaty with the British for protection.
2 September 1798 A rebellion begins against French rule in Malta.
4 September 1798 Ode sur le 18 fructidor by Luigi Cherubini (38) to words of Andrieux is performed for the first time, in Paris.
5 September 1798 Adrien Boieldieu’s (22) opéra-comique La dot de Suzette, to words of Dejaure after Fiévée, is performed for the first time, in the Salle Favart, Paris.
6 September 1798 Ten French ships carrying 2,291 men depart Brest for Ireland but owing to poor winds are forced to put in at Camaret. Wolf Tone is with them.
Mariano Luis de Urquijo y Muga replaces Francisco de Saavedra y Sangronis as First Secretary of State of Spain ad interim.
8 September 1798 After a brief battle, the French force already ashore in Ireland surrenders to the British at Ballinamuck, County Longford. Their Irish allies refuse to surrender and are attacked by the British. 500 of them are killed and 200 taken prisoner, most of whom will be hanged.
9 September 1798 The Ottoman Empire declares war on France because of the invasion of Egypt.
10 September 1798 A Spanish force sent to subdue British colonists is finally beaten off at Saint George’s Caye (Belize).
16 September 1798 After ten days at Camaret, the French expedition to Ireland puts to sea again.
17 September 1798 Eli Whitney buys land in Hamden, Connecticut upon which he will build a factory to manufacture guns using the principle of interchangeable parts.
18 September 1798 Lyrical Ballads by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth is published, anonymously. It includes Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” and Wordsworth’s “Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey.”
21 September 1798 With the urgings of religious leaders, the population of Cairo rise up against the French.
22 September 1798 Publication of the Variations on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen for cello and piano op.66 by Ludwig van Beethoven (27) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
23 September 1798 Missa in angustiis (Nelsonmesse) by Joseph Haydn (66) is performed for the first time, in the Church of St. Martin, Eisenstadt.
The French have regained control of Cairo. In two days of heavy fighting, 300 French and 2,000 Arabs have been killed. The French heavily bombard the city’s largest mosque.
British forces destroy the Irish insurgents at Kilala, with great loss of life.
26 September 1798 Publication of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (27) three piano sonatas op.10 is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
1 October 1798 US envoy Elbridge Gerry returns to Boston and informs President Adams the French are interested in peace.
3 October 1798 Publication of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (27) Trio for clarinet, cello and piano op.11 is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
The first issue of the Leipzig Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung appears.
7 October 1798 French forces defeat Mamelukes under Murad Bey at El Lâhûn, 100 km south of Cairo.
12 October 1798 Great Britain separates Ceylon from the rule of Madras and creates a separate colony.
The “Peasants’ War” begins in the former Austrian Netherlands centered in Brabant. They rebel against the imposition of French taxes, conscription and law.
British ships engage the French invasion force off Lough Swilly, Ireland. Only three out of the ten French ships makes it back to France.
18 October 1798 Johann Simon Mayr’s (35) farsa Che originali to words of Rossi is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice.
21 October 1798 The British begin four days of attempts to land a force at the mouth of the Schelde to aid the Peasants’ War against the French. They will fail.
Anti-infidel sentiment comes to a head in Cairo as Egyptians begin attacking houses of court officials collaborating with the French. A French detachment sent to investigate is killed. Fighting ensues between French troops and about 5,000 armed Moslems.
22 October 1798 Francisco de Saavedra y Sangronis replaces Mariano Luis de Urquijo y Muga as First Secretary of State of Spain.
In the midst of continuing fighting, General Bonaparte orders the bombardment of the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, thus ending any remaining goodwill between the French and Moslems. At dusk, the French force their way into the mosque, killing everyone they catch and destroying much of the religious materials inside.
23 October 1798 Yusuf Ziyaüddin Pasha replaces Izzet Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
French troops continue to run amok in Cairo as General Bonaparte orders the complete destruction of the al-Azhar Mosque. He further commands that all prisoners taken with weapons in their hands be beheaded, their bodies thrown into the Nile.
3 November 1798 Wolf Tone surrenders to the British at Buncrana, County Donegal.
7 November 1798 Die Geisterinsel, a singspiel by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (38) to words of Götter after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.
10 November 1798 Wolf Tone is tried in a military court in Dublin. He admits that he is guilty of treason and asks to die by firing squad.
11 November 1798 In prison in Dublin, Wolf Tone learns that he is to be hanged. Later, he cuts his own throat. The wound is serious but not immediately fatal and he is saved by surgeons.
14 November 1798 The Captive of Spilberg, a musical drama by Jan Ladislav Dussek (38) to words of Prince Hoare, is performed for the first time, in Drury Lane Theatre, London. Reaction to the music is good, to the libretto, mixed.
16 November 1798 HMS Carnatic waylays USS Baltimore in Havana harbor and impresses five sailors who the captain claims are British subjects.
19 November 1798 Wolf Tone dies in a Dublin prison of a wound he caused to himself on 11 November.
22 November 1798 French troops defeat Flemish rebels at Diest, 50 km northeast of Brussels, inflicting grievous losses.
24 November 1798 The French government places a tax on doors and windows.
27 November 1798 Louis Marie de La Revellière, dit La Revellière-Lépeaux replaces Jean-Baptiste Treilhard as President of the Executive Directory of France.
29 November 1798 Naples declares war on France and King Ferdinando IV enters Rome at the head of his troops.
4 December 1798 France declares war on Naples.
5 December 1798 Flemish rebels are forced out of Hasselt, 25 km west of Maastricht, by the French, effectively ending the “Peasants’ War.”
7 December 1798 French troops occupy Suez.
US President Adams speaks to a joint session of Congress in Philadelphia saying he will prepare for war but seek peace with France. To the consternation of his own party, he does not declare war.
9 December 1798 King Carlo Emanuele IV of Sardinia is forced to abdicate by the French.
15 December 1798 French forces recapture Rome and push on to Naples.
20 December 1798 French Minister of the Interior François Neufchâteau issues new rules on pensions to writers and composers employed by the Paris Opéra. Under these guidelines, the pension of Niccolò Piccinni (70) is reduced by two-thirds.
23 December 1798 King Ferdinando IV of Naples and his household flee to Sicily in the face of the French invasion. They establish court at Palermo.
24 December 1798 The Second Coalition against Napoléon is formed by Austria, Great Britain, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Naples.
French troops occupy Pescara.
27 December 1798 Two farsas by Johann Simon Mayr (35) to words of Mazzolà are performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice: Amor ingegnoso and L’ubbidienza per astuzia.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
5 July 2012
Last Updated (Thursday, 05 July 2012 05:48)