 On 28 March, following the defeat of his armies by the French during the War of the Second Coalition, King Ferdinand IV of Naples agreed, as part of the general settlement of the war, to cede the State of the "Presidi", his rights on Elba (Porto Longone) and his claimed sovereignty over the Principality of Piombino to France on the understanding that they would be annexed to Tuscany to form the new Kingdom of Etruria.On 2 May, the French attempted to seize the Tuscan half of Elba, but the Tuscan garrison, with British assistance, resisted until the Treaty of Amiens of 25 March 1802 forced the British to evacuate.The formal cession of the "Presidi" to Etruria took place on 19 September 1801.