in september french republican armies approached toulon from the east and west, while thousands of rebellious sailors remained in the port. to solve the latter problem, hood disarmed four french ships of the line and sent them as cartels to brest with the mutinous seamen, but the allied army defending toulon was far from cohesive, comprising british, spanish, neapolitan and french royalist troops. by late september the french had captured some of the heights over the town, the assaults led in part by a young artillery officer named napoleon bonaparte. in september hood sent hms "agamemnon", commanded by captain horatio nelson, on a diplomatic mission to palermo, where he liaised with the ambassador sir william hamilton and persuaded king ferdinand of naples to supply troops for the siege. in october these neapolitan units staged a counterattack, but by this time the relationship between hood and lángara had broken down completely, their flagships openly threatening one another in the anchorage.