The Italian campaigns of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
(1792–1802) were a series of conflicts fought principally in
Northern Italy between the
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipme ...
and a
Coalition of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
,
Piedmont-Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
, and a number of other
Italian states
Italy, up until the Italian unification in 1861, was a conglomeration of city-states, republics, and other independent entities. The following is a list of the various Italian states during that period. Following the fall of the Western Roman Em ...
.
The campaign of 1796-1797 brought prominence to
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
, a young, largely unknown commander, who led French forces to victory over numerically superior Austrian and Sardinian Armies.
First Coalition (1792–1797)
The
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...
broke out in autumn 1792, when several European powers formed an alliance against
Republican France. The first major operation was the annexation of the
County of Nice
The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...
and the
Duchy of Savoy (both states of the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
) by 30,000 French troops. This was reversed in mid-1793, when the Republican forces were withdrawn to deal with a revolt in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
, triggering a counter-invasion of Savoy by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (a member of the
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succ ...
). After the revolt in Lyon had been suppressed, the French under General
Kellermann managed to push back the Piedmontese with just 12,000 troops, winning engagements at
Argentines
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
and
St Maurice in September and October 1793.
The conflict soon escalated with
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
and
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
forces being mobilised for an invasion of southern France to recover Nice and strike into
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
. The Allied forces were bolstered by some 45,000 Austrians, Piedmontese, and Neapolitans, with additional support from the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. Before the Allies could launch this assault the French, under tactical command of André Masséna, launched the
Saorgio Offensive (April, 1794), which was planned by the army's artillery commander, General
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
. This two-pronged French offensive drove back the Allied force, despite their strong positions, and firmly captured the mountain passes that led into Piedmont.
A further offensive, also designed by General Bonaparte to exploit the victory at Saorgio, was called off under orders from war minister
Carnot, who was concerned about supply lines being cut by rebels behind the front. The commanders in the field were unhappy about this decision, but appeals were interrupted by the overthrow of the
Committee of Public Safety and its leader,
Maximilien de Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
(28 July 1794). During the political chaos that ensued in the French army, the Allies launched an
assault on Savona. Ignoring Carnot's orders, the commander of the Army of Italy, André Masséna, launched a counter-offensive and secured supply routes to Genoa following victory at the
First Battle of Dego. Following this the French consolidated the front and awaited further opportunities.
The main focus of the war then shifted north to the Rhine, until 29 June 1795, when the Austrians launched an attack against the depleted and poorly supplied French Army of Italy. Nominally 107,000-strong, the Army of Italy could only manage to field an effective force of about 30,000. Kellermann, who had resumed command, appealed to Carnot for reinforcements. Instead, General Bonaparte was appointed to the general staff where he devised a third plan for an attack towards
Vado and
Ceva
Ceva, the ancient Ceba, is a small Italian town in the province of Cuneo, region of Piedmont, east of Cuneo. It lies on the right bank of the Tanaro on a wedge of land between that river and the Cevetta stream.
History
In the pre-Roman period t ...
. Kellermann was replaced by General Schérer soon after and he carried out the attacks, gaining victory at
Loano
Loano ( lij, Leua) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona.
Loano borders the following municipalities: Bardineto, Boissano, Borgh ...
.
Bonaparte's war
![Jacques-Louis David 007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Jacques-Louis_David_007.jpg)
Following a short respite in hostilities Schérer resigned and Bonaparte was appointed commander-in-chief on 2 March 1796. The motives for Bonaparte's appointment were most likely political. On 9 March, Bonaparte had married
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Josephine may refer to:
People
* Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer
Places
*Josephine, Texas, United States
*Mount Josephine (disambiguation)
* Josephine Cou ...
, who had shared her imprisonment (under
Robespierre) with the woman who had become wife to
Tallien, one of the then
Directors of the French Republic. It was "universally believed" that Josephine had been introduced by her friend to the First Director,
Barras Barras may refer to:
Places
* Barras, Cumbria, England
* Barras, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France
* Barras, Piauí, Brazil
* Duas Barras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* Sete Barras, São Paulo, Brazil
Other uses
* Barras (surname)
* Barras (market), ...
, and had become his lover.
[
Lockhart phrases this elliptically, "It was commonly said—indeed it was universally believed—that Josephine, whose character was in some respects indifferent, possessed more than legitimate influence over the First Director."]
Josephine's letters claim Barras had promised the command to Bonaparte, before she'd consented to marry him.
[
]John Gibson Lockhart
John Gibson Lockhart (12 June 1794 – 25 November 1854) was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the seminal, and much-admired, seven-volume biography of his father-in-law Sir Walter Scott: ''Memoirs of the Life of Sir ...
, ''Napoleon Buonaparte'', new edition, (London: Bickers & Son, 1927).
Barras is cited by his colleagues as saying of Bonaparte, "Advance this man or he will advance himself without you."
Bonaparte had shown himself to be highly ambitious and had made a name for himself following
13 Vendémiaire in 1795. By placing him in command of the Army of Italy, Bonaparte was being assigned to an obscure front: of the Republic's thirteen principal field armies, the Italian force was the most neglected and was in terrible condition when Bonaparte arrived.
Bonaparte launched attacks almost immediately after he arrived on the front on 27 March. His 37,000 men and 60 guns were facing more than 50,000 Allied troops in the theatre. His only chance of support came from Kellermann's Army of the Alps, which was faced by a further 20,000 Allied troops. Bonaparte had no chance of gaining reinforcements as the Republican war effort was being concentrated on the massive offensives planned on the Rhine.
At the
Battle of Montenotte
The Battle of Montenotte was fought on 12 April 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, between the French army under General Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian corps under Count Eugène-Guillaume Argenteau. The French won the battle, whi ...
Bonaparte defeated the Austrians and fought a second engagement around
Dego soon after. Following these battles he launched an all-out invasion of
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
and won a further victory at
Mondovì. Piedmont was forced to accept the
Armistice of Cherasco
The Armistice of Cherasco was a truce signed at Cherasco, Piedmont, on 28 April 1796 between Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Napoleon Bonaparte. It withdrew Sardinia from the War of the First Coalition (leaving only Britain and Austria in the ...
on 28 April, knocking it out of the war and the First Coalition. It had taken Bonaparte just a month to defeat Piedmont (between his arrival and the armistice), a country which had resisted the French armies for over three years. Total losses during the lightning campaign were 6,000 French troops and over 25,000 Allied.
Bonaparte reorganised his newly enthused army following the short let-up in operations that followed Piedmont's defeat. Following this he manoeuvred his army into more opportune positions along the
Po River. A small French victory at
Codogno
Codogno (; Western Lombard, Lodigiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of 15,868 inhabitants in the province of Lodi, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is the main center of the plain known as Basso Lodigiano, which has about 90,000 inhabitants. It received ...
led to a retreat by Coalition forces across the Adda River. At the river, the Austrian army of General
Beaulieu was defeated in the
Battle of Lodi
The Battle of Lodi was fought on 10 May 1796 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf at Lodi, Lombardy. The rear guard was defeated, but the main body of Johann Peter Beaulie ...
on 10 May.
The Army of Italy was now reinforced to almost 50,000 men and Bonaparte continued on the offensive, striking at Austrian forces mobilising in the vicinity of the fortress of
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...
. A series of minor Coalition defeats resulted in the garrison at Mantua being reinforced to 12,000. Placing
Mantua under siege, Bonaparte then led a French division south to invade and occupy
Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
, defeating
Papal forces at
Fort Urban.
Next he turned north and with 20,000 men defeated some 50,000 Austrians under
Field Marshal Wurmser at the battles of
Lonato
Lonato del Garda (before 1 July 2007 simply Lonato; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lonad, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, northern Italy. Lonato is located about halfway between Milan and Venice, on the southwes ...
and
Castiglione. The Austrian commander was forced back into the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
.
Wurmser was reinforced once again to compensate for some 20,000 losses sustained in the past two months and made an attempt to relieve the siege of Mantua. Some 45,000 Austrian troops were left behind to guard against any new French offensive whilst the main body of the Austrian army moved on Mantua. At
Rovereto
Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River.
History
Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier ...
on 4 September, Bonaparte inflicted a heavy defeat on the Austrians and was then well-placed to strike at the rear of Wurmser's army. Reacting slowly to this new threat, the Austrians were again defeated at the
Battle of Bassano
The Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, in the territory of the Republic of Venice, between a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces led by Count Dagobert von Wurmser. The ...
, where their army was reduced to just 12,000. The remaining troops marched rapidly towards Mantua, but became trapped there by General
Masséna's advance party.
![La Bataille du Pont d'Arcole](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/La_Bataille_du_Pont_d%27Arcole.jpg)
Additional Austrian forces arrived whilst Bonaparte's army was weakened by disease and his supply lines threatened by rebellion. Government political commissars, especially
Cristoforo Saliceti, brutally put down the uprisings, but the French position was weakened. To stabilise the situation Bonaparte created the
client state
A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...
s of the
Transpadane Republic
The Transpadane Republic ( it, Repubblica Transpadana) was a revolutionary, provisional and internationally unrecognized government established in Milan by General Napoleon Bonaparte.
History
On 10 May 1796, the French army defeated the Austria ...
and the
Cispadane Republic
The Cispadane Republic () was a short-lived client republic located in northern Italy, founded in 1796 with the protection of the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte. In the following year, it was merged with the Transpadane Republic (former ...
.
Following this a new Austrian commander,
Joseph Alvinczy
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, arrived and made another attempt to relieve Mantua. Bonaparte halted and drove Alvinczy back across the Brenta river, but his counter-offensive was seriously hampered by
Vaubois’ defeat over five days in the villages of Cembra and Calliano under Alvinczy's lieutenant,
Paul Davidovitch and he was forced to retreat to Verona. Alvinczy, following Bonaparte, held off a French attack at
Caldiero on 12 November and Bonaparte was forced to withdraw. In the following three-day
Battle of Arcole, Bonaparte, fighting outnumbered and faced with the failure of his repeated efforts to capture a pivotal bridge at Arcole, won an important and hard-fought victory against Alvinczy.
Both sides were reinforced before Alvinczy launched another attack in January. Bonaparte defeated this renewed assault at the
Battle of Rivoli
The Battle of Rivoli (14–15 January 1797) was a key victory in the French campaign in Italy against Austria. Napoleon Bonaparte's 23,000 Frenchmen defeated an attack of 28,000 Austrians under General of the Artillery Jozsef Alvinczi, e ...
, inflicting some 14,000 casualties. Then he surrounded and captured a second Austrian relief column near Mantua. Soon after, Mantua finally surrendered to the French, making it possible for the French to continue their advance eastwards towards Austria. After a brief campaign during which the Austrian army was commanded by the Emperor's brother, the
Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...
, the French advanced to within 100 miles of Vienna, and the Austrians
sued for peace
Suing for peace is an act by a warring party to initiate a peace process.
Rationales
"Suing for", in this older sense of the phrase, means "pleading or petitioning for". Suing for peace is usually initiated by the losing party in an attempt to ...
. Bonaparte's campaign, by threatening Vienna directly, was the trigger that led to Austria sending negotiators to Leoben to ask Bonaparte for peace with France. The peace treaty that resulted, the treaty of
Campo Formio, also effectively ended the
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...
, as Austria was the main combatant remaining in continental Europe still fighting the French at that time.
Campaigns in Central Italy (1797–1799)
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's invasion of
Northern Italy brought disorder in the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
. Under the
Treaty of Tolentino
{{unreferenced, date=June 2018
The Treaty of Tolentino was a peace treaty between Revolutionary France and the Papal States, signed on 19 February 1797 and imposing terms of surrender on the Papal side. The signatories for France were the French Di ...
,
Pope Pius VI was forced to cede the
Romagna region to the newly founded
Cisalpine Republic
The Cisalpine Republic ( it, Repubblica Cisalpina) was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.
Creation
After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organiz ...
, and recognize
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
as ambassador of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
Following the dissolution of the
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succ ...
, a Republican Revolt staged by General Bonaparte and Brig General
Mathurin-Leonard Duphot lead to the shooting of Duphot at Joseph's palace by Papal State troops.
An apology was sent by the Pope on December 29, 1797, however it was rejected by the Republic soon after. Napoleon then declared war on the Papal States on for a second time, sending 9,000 troops under General
Louis-Alexandre Berthier
Louis-Alexandre Berthier (20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815), Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram, was a French Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minis ...
to occupy Rome and dissolve the state.
Refusing to renounce his temporal authority, Pius VI was exiled from Rome, eventually dying in
Valence, France. Napoleon officially dissolved the Papal States in February 1798 where the
Anconine Republic and the
Tiberina Republic
The so-called Tiberina Republic ( it, Repubblica Tiberina) was a revolutionary municipality proclaimed on 4 February 1798, when republicans took power in the city of Perugia. It was an occupation zone that took its name from the river Tiber. A m ...
would be recognized as sister republic. In Rome, Berthier would declare a
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
overthrowing the previous
Elective monarchy. However, shortly after, coalition forces would intervene in the Republic. Internal struggles would cause difficulty to the so-called "
Roman Council" and would last until the
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
invasion in 1799. Governor
Jacques Macdonald
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...
defended the city with a small army of 9,000 troops in 19 November, and the Battles of
Ferentino,
Otricoli, and
Civita Castellana, along with an affair at
Calvi Risorta and
Capua
Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.
History
Ancient era
The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...
pushed King
Ferdinand IV into
Castel Sant'Elmo
Castel Sant'Elmo is a medieval fortress located on Vomero Hill adjacent to the Certosa di San Martino, overlooking Naples, Italy. The name "Sant'Elmo" derives from a former 10th-century church dedicated to Sant'Erasmo, shortened to "Ermo" and, ...
, and declared the
Parthenopean Republic
The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...
at
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, resulting in some 8,000 Neapolitan casualties and 1,000 French.
In April, Cardinal
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo (16 September 1744 – 13 December 1827) was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican ''Sanfedismo'' movement (whose members were known as the ''Sanfedisti'').
Biography
Ruffo was born at ...
arrived to
Calabria with an
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
of 17,000 soldiers and reinstated the Monarchy, laying siege on Naples in June. With
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
assistance, the Parthenopeans collapsed soon after. A Neapolitan invasion in September led to the dissolution of the Roman Republic and would be replaced by the Papacy until the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
Second Coalition (1799–1800)
The second phase of the war in Italy began in 1799 as part of the War of the
Second Coalition and was different from the first in that
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
forces participated in the campaign. However, at the beginning of the conflict the Russians were yet to arrive. Bonaparte, meanwhile, was away from the continent, as from May, 1798 to September, 1799 he was leading the
Egyptian Campaign
The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...
.
Some 60,000 French troops under
Schérer faced off against an equal number of Austrians. An additional 50,000 Russians were expected to arrive shortly. The French were occupied with the pacification of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and this halved their effective strength to face the Austrians. In order to avoid a completely untenable situation arising, Schérer attacked as soon as possible in an attempt to preempt Austrian attacks.
![Vasily Surikov - Suvorov Crossing the Alps in 1799 - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Vasily_Surikov_-_Suvorov_Crossing_the_Alps_in_1799_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Austrian commander
Pál Kray defeated the French at
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
and
Magnano
Magnano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about south of Biella.
Magnano borders the following municipalities: Bollengo, Cerrione, Palazzo Canavese, ...
in late March and early April. Schérer retreated back and left a small detachment of 8,000 in several forts. The Austrian commander,
Michael von Melas
Michael Friedrich Benedikt Baron von Melas (12 May 1729 – 31 May 1806) was a Transylvanian-born field marshal for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
He was born in Radeln, Transylvania (nowadays Roadeș, part of Bunești commune ...
, was slow to pursue the retreating French and was soon replaced as overall Coalition commander in the theatre by the brilliant Field Marshal
Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...
.
Schérer too was soon replaced by General
Moreau, a man of greater fame and prestige. The French defeat at the
Battle of Cassano on 26 April was followed by withdrawal from
Lombardy and an overall unfavourable situation for the French. General
Macdonald's army returned from Naples to support Moreau.
An initial Allied attack across the Po failed on 11 May. Moreau's army was in tatters with just 9,000 men remaining. An attempted counter-attack was beaten back by Russian General
Petr Bagration
Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (10 July 1765 – 24 September 1812) was a Georgian general and prince serving in the Russian Empire, prominent during the Napoleonic Wars.
Bagration, a member of the Bagrationi dynasty, was born in Tbilisi. His ...
. Suvorov soon occupied
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
and proclaimed the restoration of Piedmont to its
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
.
The Army of the Alps engaged the Austro-Russian forces in a series of minor skirmishes, but did not come to the rescue of the Army of Italy. Suvorov overran a number of French garrisons and continued his relentless advance. Macdonald engaged Suvorov in the
Battle of the Trebbia and was crushed. Macdonald retreated with the remnant of his army to Genoa whilst Suvorov reached Novi. The
Austrian high command
The ''Hofkriegsrat'' (or Aulic War Council, sometimes Imperial War Council) established in 1556 was the central military administrative authority of the Habsburg monarchy until 1848 and the predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War. The ...
ordered a halt to Allied offensives whilst the French garrisons of Mantua and Alessandria were overrun (see
siege of Mantua and
siege of Alessandria). Soon after this Moreau was dispatched to the Rhine and
Joubert was sent to command the Army of Italy.
Suvorov, acting under orders from the Coalition high command, paused to gather his strength for an offensive in Autumn. On 9 August, the French launched offensive of 38,000 men called the
Battle of Novi. The offensive was thoroughly defeated by Suvorov, and resulted in the death of Joubert. Moreau, who had yet to depart for the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
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, so ...
, seized the initiative and led the survivors back to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
and began preparing a defence of the city.
![Suworow-denkmal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Suworow-denkmal.jpg)
However at that time the Allied high command in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
ordered Suvorov to move out of Italy and concentrate on breaking through the
Swiss front. The respite thus given the reeling Army of Italy led to a turning point in the war. Melas, who resumed command of Coalition forces in Italy, now almost exclusively Austrian, paused the offensive and consolidated his forces, now that the Russians had been removed from Italy.
By the spring of 1800 Russia had withdrawn entirely from the Coalition. The situation in Italy, however, was still very much on the side of the Coalition. Melas had some 100,000 men under his command, opposed by just 50,000 French troops who were thoroughly dispersed. The Allies prepared for a thrust into southern France and across the Rhine, much further north. Melas moved forward slowly, laying siege to Genoa and halting his advance elsewhere.
It was at this time that the
First Consul
The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...
of France, Napoleon Bonaparte (who had seized French power in the
Brumaire Coup of 9 November 1799) led his Reserve Army through the
Great St Bernard pass with the aim of relieving
Masséna in the
Siege of Genoa, who was threatened by severe food shortages resulting from the combination of encirclement on land and naval blockade by the British.
Genoa fell before the First Consul could reach it. He concentrated his army and struck at the Austrians in an attempt to beat them before they too concentrated their forces again. The Reserve Army fought a battle at
Montebello on 9 June before the main confrontation at
Marengo. The consul was almost defeated here until General
Desaix made a timely arrival with reinforcements and drove back Melas, thus turning a French rout into a French victory. In this counter-attack Desaix was killed, but Bonaparte later honoured him with monuments commemorating his bravery and his name has the place of honour on the face of the
Arc de Triomphe, which was erected to celebrate Napoleon's victories.
Marengo was the last major engagement on the Italian front during the
Revolutionary Wars. Following it the massive
Battle of Hohenlinden
The Battle of Hohenlinden was fought on 3 December 1800 during the French Revolutionary Wars. A French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau won a decisive victory over an Austrian and Bavarian force led by 18-year-old Archduke John of Austria. ...
brought the Austrians to the negotiating table (signing the
Armistice of Treviso
The Armistice of Treviso was a ceasefire signed on 16 January 1801, in Treviso, Italy, between French General Guillaume Brune and the Austrians during the War of the Second Coalition. Brune had defeated Austrian General Heinrich von Bellegarde ...
) and the war ended shortly after.
Notes and references
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2018). ''Napoleon's 1796 Italian Campaign.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). ''Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). ''The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
*{{cite book, last=McLynn, first=Frank, title=Napoleon, publisher=Pimlico, date=1998, isbn=0-7126-6247-2
External links
Francesco Frasca, ''The First Italian Campaign as seen by the artists of the Dépôt de la Guerre''.– maps of the campaigns
Campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars
Cisalpine Republic
Military history of Italy
18th-century military history of Italy