BATTLE REPORT # 12 -NAPOLEON'S ITALIAN CAMPAIGN 1796 (RE-POST)

[AUSTERLITZ]

THE ARCOLE CAMPAIGN -ALVINTZY STRIKES

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''Arcola,...the most dangerous moment'' -Napoleon (on the greatest crisis of the Italian campaign)​

AUSTRIA TRIES AGAIN :

The second relief of the Siege of mantua having ended dismally for the Austrians ,Emperor Francis II appointed a new commander - General Alvintczy assemble a new field army and mount the third relief of Mantua.By this time the french armies on the rhine frontier were again in full retreat and thus austria could again pump veteran reinforcments into italy and basically field a completely new army.

French Army - Order of Battle

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Army of Italy: Napoleon Bonaparte (41,560)
  • Division: Andre Massena (9,540 including 2 cavalry regiments)
    • Brigade: Philippe Romaine Ménard
    • Brigade: Rampon
    • Brigade: Honoré Vial
    • Brigade: Pijon
    • Brigade: Leclerc
  • Division: Pierre Augereau (8,340 including 1 cavalry regiment)
    • Brigade: Verdier
    • Brigade: Bon
    • Brigade: Lannes
  • Division: Claude Vaubois (10,500)
    • Brigade: Guieu
    • Brigade: Fiorella
    • Brigade: Gardanne
  • Division: Charles Killmaine (8,830 including 1 cavalry regiment)
    • Brigade: Louis Chabot
    • Brigade: Dallemagne
    • Brigade: Thomas Sandos
    • Brigade: Claude Lebley
    • Brigade: Nicolas Bertin
  • Division: Macquard (2,750 including 1 cavalry regiment)
  • Cavalry Reserve: Alexandre Dumas (1,600 in 6 cavalry regiments)

Austrian Army - Order of Battle

Feldzeugmeister Joszef Alvinczi (74,000 including wurmser)

• 
  
  
  • • Friaul Corps: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Quasdanovich (28,699)
      • Advance Guard and Reserve:
        • Advance Guard: General-major Hohenzollern (4,397)
        • Reserve Brigade: General-major Pittoni(4,376)
      • Main Body, 1st Line: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Provera (9,380)
        • Brigade: General-major Rosselmini
        • Brigade: General-major Lipthay
      • Main Body, 2nd Line: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Provera (8,279)
        • Brigade: General-major Chobinin
        • Brigade: General-major Adolf Brabeck
      • Independent Brigade: General-major Mittrowsky (c. 3,000)
    • Tyrol Corps: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Davidovich(19,476)
      • Brigade 1: General-major Loudon (4,277)
      • Brigade 2: General-major Ocskay (4,663)
      • Brigade 3: General-major Johann Sporck (2,560)
      • Brigades 4 & 5: General-major Vukassovich (6,880)
      • Brigade 6: Oberstleutnant Seulen (1,096)
  • Mantua Garrison: Feldmarschall Wurmser. (23,708 of whom only 12,240 were fit for service)

From the above its clear of the scale of austrian preparations.The french were outnumbered very badly with a paper strength of 41,000 pitted against 74,000.One thing to note here is that 10,000 of this number from austrians maybe discounted as the sick of mantua garrison.On the other hand however french weren't faring too well either.Constant battles and attrition had reduced the number of effectives to well below actual paper strength of 41,000 and morale was increasingly lower that were to reveal itself throughout the campaign.On top of this the strain of guarding 3 approaches into north italy plus blockading mantua meant the army was stretched thin and in a hostile neighbourhood as the local populace was fed up with french financial rapacity.

Above.The french and austrian deployments.Austrians in yellow.Three important riverlines[from east to west -the piave river,the brenta river and the adige river ]marked in blue.The black boxes represent the location of main french forces.Crosscheck below details with order of battle above.
1.Vaubois deployed around lavis,north of trent with a 10,500-man division to guard this northern approach east of lake garda.
2.Massena's division with 9500 men holding the brenta river line and guarding this eastern approach at Bassano.

3.Central reserve at verona with 1,600 cavalry troopers under alexandre dumas[highest ranking black officer in european history and father of the great author Alexander dumas of three musketeers and count of monte cristo fame - french revolution allowed promotion and equality of treatment due to liberty and equality principle].A fascinating story -
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .
Plus General of Division macquard's reserve of 2,800 foot soldiers.Supported by part of Augereau's division.Pivot of Adige river line.
4.Rest of augereau's division covering the adige from verona to legnano.
5.Mantua besieged by Kilmaine's 8800 men.These are unavailable for field operations.

About the austrian forces.On the extreme right on the Piave river alvinczty assembled 28,000+ men .Here FC denotes Friul Corps(friul being name of the area).Facing Vaubois north of trent is Davidovich's Tyrol Corps of 19,000+ men.Finally the small force in between in the north brenta valley is mittrowsky's detatchment of 3000.This formed the link between the 2 and could support either or harass the french as a diversion.


The french dispositions were well known to austrian intelligence,with no shortage of sympathisizers in north italy.Bonaparte however had little idea about the true strength of the austrian attack force.Austrian intelligence made great attempts to conceal davidovich's strength and manged to decieve the french completely.The plan rested on a two prong offensive by alvinzti and davidovich to converge on verona and then to mantua.The initial objectives set were Trent for davidovich and bassano for alvinzi.Mittrowsky was to support alvinzi for a secondary attack at bassano.

NORTHERN SECTOR - VAUBOIS VS DAVIDOVICH

The start of Davidovich's offensive led to a series of clashes beginning on 27 October. On 2 November the French attacked the Austrians at Cembra[see map]. Although Vaubois inflicted 1,100 casualties on his enemies at the cost of only 650 Frenchmen, he decided to pull back his forces now outnumbered 2 to 1 to Calliano when Davidovich resumed his forward movement the next day. The French 85th Line Infantry Demi-Brigade was roughly handled,losing 250 men alone[1/3rd its strength].The Austrians occupied Trento on 5 November and waited as davidovich brought up his full force

EASTERN SECTOR - MAIN AUSTRIAN ASSAULT

(Deep blue represents movements of massena's division.Sky blue augereau's reinforcements arriving from verona with bonaparte in person.grey blue unified french retreat.Stars battle sites.Deep yellow marks initial austrian attack.The skin colour marks austrian pursuit.Events described below.Crosscheck with above map)

Meanwhile alvinczy's main army approached the brenta river line in 2 bodies early november.Faced with this overwhelming threat,massena pulled out his 3 to 1 outnumbered division from bassano.Hohenzollern's advance guard occupied bassano soon after.Meanwhile the second austrian column forded at fontaniva near Citadella(see citadella on map) and proceeded to establish a bridgehead.
Bonaparte reacted promptly to these movements.Augereau's division with part of macquard's reserve force marched from verona via vicenza to attack the austrians at bassano.Meanwhile massena was ordered to to swing south(see movement in map) and attack the bridgehead at fontaniva.This set the stage for the 2 subsequent battles.

SECOND BATTLE OF BASSANO AND FONTANIVA :

Fontaniva -
Masséna took a more southerly road and clashed with the Austrian left wing at Fontaniva late on 5 November. Lipthay pulled his troops back to the east side of the river. This set the stage for the battle, which began on 6 November.At 7 a.m. Masséna attacked Lipthay's brigade at Fontaniva. From morning until 6 p.m., the French mounted as many as ten assaults on the Austrian general's four battalions, with heavy losses on both sides. The 2nd and 3rd battalions of Splényi Infantry Regiment Nr. 51 gallantly defended the river crossing, losing 9 officers and 657 men out of 2,000 soldiers during the fighting before they were replaced in line by the Infantry Regiment Nr. 4. Injured when his wounded horse fell on him, Lipthay resolutely remained at his post. In the afternoon, Provera reinforced him with troops from the brigades of Generals-major Chobinin and Adolf Brabeck as the Austrians successfully held their ground against the French attacks.Outnumbered and worn out -massena was forced to retreat.

Bassano -
Early in the morning Hohenzollern crossed the Brenta, followed by Quasdanovich's right wing. This wing included General-Major mittrowsky's brigade, which recently joined the army by descending the Brenta valley.(see movement on map,northern attack on bassano)The Austrians anchored their right flank in the Alpine foothills while their left flank curved back to touch the Brenta. Augereau's division began to arrive in the area in mid-morning and attacked Bassano in the early afternoon before all the Austrians crossed the river. After severe fighting, in which the village of Nove changed hands several times, the action ended at 10 p.m. One battalion of the Samuel Gyulai Infantry Regiment Nr. 32 suffered 390, or nearly 50 percent casualties. Battle was fierce with the french increasingly outnumbered but no side was able to gain an advantage by nightfall.Bonaparte was also informed of massena's failure at fontaniva[which meant he could be cut off by an austrian attack to the rear from verona] and coupled with growing austrian strength and inability to force a decision ordered a retreat.

French casualties in the two encounters totalled 3,000, including 508 men and 1 howitzer captured. Austrian losses numbered 2,823 and two cannons captured. Provera's left wing lost 208 killed, 873 wounded, and 109 captured. Quosdanovich's right wing suffered 326 killed, 858 wounded, and 449 captured. Though Alvinczi ordered a pursuit, the fast-marching French successfully broke contact and retreated to Verona.(see map)Bonaparte's gambit to halt alvinczi at the Brenta had failed to austrian resilience and sheer numbers.

NORTHERN SECTOR : FRENCH COLLAPSE

Battle of Calliano -
After occupying trent on the 5th on the 6th davidovich attacked vaubois at calliano even as the battles of fontaniva and bassano were ongoing far east.Vaubois repulsed Davidovich's attacks on his position at Calliano, inflicting losses of 753 men. That night the French general detached several units to cover key positions in the area, weakening his main line. At dawn, the Austrians launched a new attack that was resisted all day, Calliano changing hands several times. Some Croatian Grenzers worked their way into the rear of the French line and this caused a panic-stricken flight from the field beginning at 4 pm. The second day of fighting at Calliano cost Davidovich another 1,523 men for a total of 3,567 for the campaign. These heavy losses kept the Austrians from vigorously following up the fleeing Frenchmen.Vaubois suffered 4,400 casualties at Cembra and Calliano.However his army's morale had hit rock bottom and the survivors were in total rout.Bonaparte's northern front had collapsed and the 2 austrian pincers were now homing in on verona.

With this potential disaster,coupled with the reverses on the brenta bonaparte abandoned for the time being a renewed strike on alvintzi.Both Augereau and Massena were united around verona 'the central position' that seperated the austrian armies.During the day of 8 November, the French soldiers retreated to Rivoli Veronese where they finally rallied.To shore up vaubois,joubert was ordered to join him with whatever detatchments that could be withdrawn from the garrisons on the adige river line and 2 brigades from the siege of mantua.Still skeptical bonaparte ordered massena to be ready to support vaubois rapidly.Meanwhile he made a personal visit to this sector and gave the troops whose performance had been uninspiring a vicious tongue-lashing to restore morale-
"Soldiers: I am not satisfied with you; you have shown neither bravery, discipline, nor perseverance; no position could rally you; you abandoned yourselves to a panic-terror; you suffered yourselves to be driven from situations where a handful of brave men might have stopped an army. Soldiers of the 39th and 85th, you are not French soldiers. Quartermaster-general, let it be inscribed on their colors, 'They no longer form part of the Army of Italy!'"

(above - see joubert reinforcing vaubois,numbers here are inconsistent.And vaubois's retreat towards rivoli.The french renewed advance towards caldiero from verona will be described below)

Poor communications continued to plague the Austrian effort. It took two days for dispatches to pass between Davidovich and Alvinczi's seperated forces. Davidovich refrained from attacking the Rivoli position because he believed that Massena was present with his division. Massena was on a recoinnetering mission, he did not bring any troops with him.Now reassured that the northern flank was quiet for a limited period,bonaparte again switched the main french strength onto alvintzi.

BATTLE OF CALDIERO 12TH NOVEMBER :

Meanwhile alvintzi had resolved not to repeat wurmser's mistake in the castiglione campaign and unite with davidovich first and then attack mantua.By 11 November, Alvinczi's advance elements reached Caldiero, east of Verona. Believing that Verona was being evacuated, Hohenzollern leading the advance guard moved forward. Simultaneously Bonaparte beginning his renewed attack,sent the divisions of Masséna and Augereau across the adige to engage the Austrians. Hohenzollern lost 400 men and pulled back to a ridge running north of Caldiero. Bonaparte determined to attack the Austrians the next day.

Bonaparte sent a total of 13,000 men to attack Hohenzollern's position. Masséna drove against the Austrian right and Augereau attacked the Austrian left, The Austrians, who had fortified themselves in several villages, sturdily resisted the French assaults. A violent rain and hail storm blew in the faces of the French troops, making it difficult for them to prime their muskets. At mid-day, Masséna began making headway on the Austrian right. In the afternoon, the brigades of Generals-major Adolf Brabeck and Chobinin arrived on the field. Soon the Austrians forced back Masséna. Provera also appeared and drove back Augereau. The arrival of nightfall allowed the French to pull safely back into Verona.Caldiero technically marked Bonaparte's first tactical defeat though it was later overshadowed by the victory at arcole almost immediately afterwards.The French suffered 1,000 killed and wounded, plus 800 men and two artillery pieces captured. The Austrian lost 950 killed and wounded, and 350 captured.

ROAD TO ARCOLA :

After 3 setbacks and both fronts on verge of collapse,bonaparte was despondent about his chances.Writing to the directory -

''Perhaps the hour of the intrepid augereau,the brave massena,my own death is at hand.We are abandoned in the depths of Italy ''​

The situation for the french was indeed desperate.They were heavily outnumbered on both sectors and morale had plummeted.Austrians were brimming with confidence after their successes and were about to converge on verona from 2 directions.Once the 2 pincers met it was endgame.Bonaparte contemplated raising the siege of mantua ,but discarded the idea.Such action would release 15,000 new austrian troops on his rear.He resolved for 'one last effort'.But no amount of clever manuevering could this time offset the decisive austrian numerical superiority.
Vaubois reinforced to 8,000 men outnumbered by davidovich's 14,000 barely held the north and could be overrun anytime.
Kilmaine barely contained wurmser at his cage in mantua with 6600 men left after sending every available man as reinforcements to other commands.No more could be released without lifting the siege.
Meanwhile massena,augereau and the reserve mustered around 18,000 men centred at verona.All that could be spared to face alvintzy's 24,000.Time too was not on his side.He had to beat alvintzy before vaubois was overwhelmed.Unknown to the French, Alvinczi planned to throw a pontoon bridge across the Adige below Verona at Zevio (see caldiero map or next map) on 15 November at nightfall

''Like a juggler keeping three balls in the air at once, Bonaparte had to balance the dangers of the three sectors against each other, keeping them in clear relative perspective. Although he had singled out Alvinczi as his main target, it was only too clear that an aggressive move on the part of Davidovich or even by Wurmser might compel the French to abandon their operations against the main Austrian army and move every available man to reinforce the threatened area. Defeat on any sector could well spell catastrophe and the destruction of the Army of Italy'' - Historian D.Chandler


In this hour,his greatest crisis - Bonaparte's subsequent movements revealed some of his highest genius.Italian historian C.Botta ,no fan of napoleon writes-

''His movements and tactics on this occasion were those of a consummate master of the art of war,they were concieved and executed with the rapidity of lightning,nor had the austrians any notion of what he was doing until Bonaparte had chosen his own ground and changed the state of the entire campaign''​

NEXT : THE BATTLE OF ARCOLE

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

ARCOLE CAMPAIGN -THE BRIDGE OF ARCOLA

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The basis of Napoleon's riposte was his favourite - La manuever Sur les Derrieres.This was napoleon's strategy of superiority not inferiority.But he had no choice.It was do or die at arcole.The plan was extremely bold,he would rush all available troops from verona with a wide strategic turning movement to seize villanova - the focal point of the austrian Line of communications.The adige river would act as the natural barrier to cover his advance .If he managed to seize villanova he could cut off alvinczi from supplies and even take his artillery park.Alvintzi would be forced into retreat and thus abandon his advnace on verona and design to unite with davidovich.Villanova was not however just randomly chosen among the many points where bonaparte could attack alvintzy's rear.On the far bank was an area of marshy land that troops could not penetrate, which meant that all movement was limited to the causeways or dikes on the banks of the river Adige, and the causeways on the banks of a small tributary called the Alpone River that flowed into it from the north. The Alpone was only 20 yards (18 m) wide and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. In the difficult terrain, the French soldiers far better at skirmishing and open order combat would have an advantage. Further, the Austrians would not be able to use their superior numbers in the restricted battlefield .This is a classic example of choosing his battlefield ,so that the manuever sur les derrieres forces an enemy into an inoppurtune battle at a place not of his choosing.Nonetheless outnumbered as he was it was a gamble.For to muster enough force for this operation bonaparte could only leave behind 3000 men at verona.(the secondary force sheltered behind a barrier).If verona fell before the operation could be completed all was lost as then alvintzy and davidovich would unite crushing vaubois's handful in between them.

Bonaparte set off with the bulk of 17,000 men intending to cross the adige at Ronco.[see map]By dawn on 15 November, Bonaparte's troops reached the intended crossing, and soon afterward Andreossy's engineers had a pontoon bridge in operation. Augereau's division crossed first and headed east and north toward Arcole. Masséna's soldiers followed and, to cover the left flank, took a causeway leading north and west towards Belifore.

''It became of the greatest importance of seizing arcola and then falling on the enemy's rear,taking the bridge over the alpone at villanova which provided his only retreat,and beyond which lay the only place where he could deploy'' - Napoleon.

Day 1 : 15th November

Alvintzy had posted 4 battalions in the area under Colonel Brigido.2 battalions and 2 cannons guarded the crossing of the alpone at arcole.These croatian troops repulsed Augereau's leading demi-brigade under Bon attempting to force the bridge. Before long, most of the French soldiers were lying in the lee of the causeway to shelter from the searing fire.[See augereau's attack in above map].Augereau threw in his other 2 demi brigades under verdier and verne to no avail.Brigido was reinforced by mittrowsky whose forces began to arrive.[see map].Vernier,verde,bon,lannes were all wounded attempting to lead by example with unenthusiastic response from the ranks and attack completely stalled.The french generals from napoleon to massena and berthier lamented the show of the rank and file.

''The weakness and exhaustion of the army causes me to fear the worst.We are perhaps on the eve of losing italy''

(The reason Napoleon chose arcole was partly due to its terrain,dikes of water,marshy land,broken terrain where austrian cavalry would be unuseable and austrian infnatry wouldn't be able to form up in mass.Dikes-bodies of water in embankments surrounded by marshes.Only the zig zag solid causeways were stable ground for movement and limited deployment of troops.The austrians were forced into a battle here as not defending it would result in bonaparte taking their rear base at villanova and supplies.

In the western flank, Alvinczi -now alerted to this threat,sent the brigades of Gavasini and General-Major Adolf Brabeck ,nominally under Provera to seize the French pontoon bridge. They collided with Masséna near Bionde, midway between Belfiore and Ronco. Initially successful, the Austrians were soon driven back beyond Belfiore after Brabeck's troops accidentally fired on Gavasini's men, causing a panic. From the outskirts of Belfore massena could see the austrian supply and baggage tarins moving east in safety -just out of reach.(See massena vs provera on the map)

Attempting to break the stalemate near Arcole, Bonaparte ordered General of Brigade Guieu with two demi-brigades to boat across the Adige below its confluence with the Alpone at Albaredo. He also sent a French battalion across the Alpone by boat near its mouth. The latter unit fought its way north along the east bank dike.These moves however would take time to materialize.[See them in map].Meanwhile more austrian reinforcements were reaching Provera and mittrowsky had joined the defense of arcola town.The chances of cutting off alvintzy were slipping away by the moment,already bulk of his force was withdrawing from the approaches of verona under the cover of the battle.

Augereau to inspire his men charged forward tricolour in hand,but met with scant response and had to withdraw promptly.Drawing on this,Bonaparte in desperation grabbed a flag and stood in the open on the dike "about 55 paces" from the bridge- a few brave soldiers were ashamed into following him,but by and large again the response was hesitant. He remained miraculously untouched, but several members of his staff were hit by the intense fire and his aide-de-camp, Jean-Baptiste Muiron, was killed. An unknown officer dragged Bonaparte out of the line of fire and the commanding general ended up in the muddy ditch.This charge flag in hand is immortalized in napoleonic legend and made napoleon a household name in europe.However in sober fact it failed miserably.

Adding to the confusion, the Austrians launched a sortie from Arcole and defeated the French battalion on the east bank. In the evening, at length Guieu crossed at Albaredo and eventually managed to flush the Austrian defenders out of Arcole.(see map)It was however too late.Half of alvintzy's army had withdrawn and were drawn up at villanova to defend the town.That night however misinformation arrived that vaubois was in retreat and bonparte worried that davidovich was about to assault his rear decided to abandon arcole and fall back on the west bank of the adige near ronco to be ready to aid vaubois.He left a garrison on the Austrian side of the river to hold his bridgehead.It was all back to square one.

Thus ended the first day of the battle of arcole.Though the french had failed to cut off alvintzy,napoleon had succeeded in halting his drive on verona and prevented him from joining davidovich.

Day 2 : 16th November 1796.

(Provera's strength understated possibly)​

Next day with no further news of vaubois,napoleon decided to renew the contest.Naturally the austrians had reoccupied arcole during the night.
Alvinczi left Hohenzollern's troops near Verona to guard against an attack from that city. The Austrian leader ordered Provera with six battalions to attack from Belfiore. Alvinczi reinforced Mittrowsky to a total of 14 battalions, including the brigades of Schübirz and Oberst Franz Sticker, and instructed him to advance south from arcole. The two forces would march at dawn on 16 November and converge on the French bridgehead. Alvinczi sent two battalions to guard Albaredo against a repetition of Guieu's attack.Provera's effort came to grief when he ran into Masséna. Brabeck was killed during the encounter and the Austrians were chased back to Belfiore with the loss of five cannons. During the morning, Mittrowsky and Augereau engaged in a see-saw battle that ended when the Austrians fell back to Arcole.(see augereau and massena's attacks on last map)
Mittrowsky positioned Sticker's four battalions on the western dike, lined the eastern dike with four battalions under Brigido, and packed the rest of his troops into Arcole. These intelligent dispositions blocked Bonaparte's repeated attempts to seize the village during the day. French attempts to cross the Adige at Albaredo and the Alpone near its mouth both failed. At nightfall, Bonaparte withdrew Masséna and Augereau toward the bridgehead, but sizable forces stayed on the Austrian side of the Adige.The former slave Hercule dominigue was promoted and given a sword by napoleon for distinguished bravery here.

The actions of the second day had not been won by the french,however the battle for attrition was going decidedly in their favour.The broken chaotic fighting in the marshes was out of the austrian infantry's element and alvintzy was increasingly shaken by the mounting losses.He sent an urgent message to davidovich to renew his offensive the next day at all costs as he himself 'had enough forces for one more attack on the french'.


Day 3 : 17th November

On 17 November, Alvinczi withdrew Hohenzollern closer to his main body. Again, Provera held Belfiore while Mittrowsky defended Arcole. During the night, Bonaparte's engineers floated some pontoons into the Alpone where they built a bridge near its mouth. Augereau's division crossed the bridge and began fighting its way along the eastern dike. A French battalion and some cavalry of Kilmaine also set out from Legnano and joined Augereau later in the day.

Alvintzy's situation had detoriorated.His army was divided in 2 unconnected parts -one at arcole and the east bank of the alpone and the other under provera and hohenzollern fighting in the marshes near belifore.This meant Bonaparte could now pick and choose to concentrate on each wing seperately and defeat them piecemeal in detail.He had manuevered alvintzi into a poor position on alien ground.Bonaparte planned to pin provera at belifore with part of massena's division under robert and send the other part frontally against arcole.Meanwhile augereau would ford near alberado and take arcole from the rear.

Massena's recrossing the adige near ronco was contested by the austrians.[ see austrian detatchment in red near ronco in map] but massena overwhelmed them.By early afternoon, part of his division drubbed Provera near Belfiore again. [see in map combat near belifore] Alvinczi recalled both Provera and Hohenzollern toward the east and began feeding some of the latter's troops into the combat at Arcole. There, the battle went back and forth all day.

Here massena revealed some of his tactical acumen that was to earn him the title 'The Dear child of victory' from napoleon.He placed one lone demibrigade under robert on the causeway between arcole and belifore in full view of the austrian forces in the town of arcole on the other bank.He hid the rest of his forces among the marshes and dykes.The austrians took the bait and counterattacked across the river hoping to decimate this isolated force and relieve pressure on belifore porcile.They were ambushed from 3 sides and sent reeling back in total disarray with heavy casualities.[see in map]Massena gave them no respite and promptly crossed the river with under the cover of this chaos and took part of the town of arcole at bayonet point.

Meanwhile Augereau's division's attack had stalled to heavy austrian resistance to a crossing.Here Bonaparte came up with a ingenious plan to break the deadlock.With the fighting at its fiercest and both sides having put every man into the fight,he ordered 25 guides horsemen of his bodyguard[created remember as an escort to avoid the repeatation of the incident where he was almost captured by austrian cavalry and fled with one boot]-basically the only cavalry he had left,with four trumpeters to ford the river a little upstream being undetected due to very small numbers and then proceed to the austrian rear where they sounded their trumpets loudly and created huge amounts of noise shouting' here come the french cavalry'.[see guides written in map]

The austrians already exhausted from non stop fighting thought the whole french cavalry force was about to descend on their rear and wavered,augereau's men heartened by this as well as massena's successful ambush poured over and swept the austrians away,pursuing them and joining massena's men in arcole town.During this last phase kilmaine's handful reinforcements from legnano also arrived and alvintzi having lost all will for further combat ordered a complete withdrawal.The Battle of Arcole was over.

(Map of 3rd day.Clearly shows massena's ambush of mittrowsky from 3 sides on the causeway.The arrival of the column from leganno on the bottom right,the 2 long lines of blue and red on the right depict the armies after the end of the battle as the rest of the austrians withdrew to st stefano as can be seen)

Losses - Austrians lost 7000 men at arcole for about 4500 french.Alvintzy had to give up all designs of uniting with davidovich for the time being.Generals Robert on the french side and Rosselemini on the austrian side were killed.

NORTHERN SECTOR :

On the 17th of November,just as the final day of the battle of arcole was raging,Davidovich finally attacked vaubois at Rivoli.After resisting all morning the French troops stampeded in the afternoon. Again, the 85th Line was among the first units to panic.The French lost 800 killed and wounded, plus 1,000 captured including Generals of Brigade Fiorella and Antoine Valette. Austrian casualties were 600.Vaubois retreated with his remnants to peschiera and davidovich pursued till castelnuovo.

(see locations on map.It doesn't show the alpone river as its a small tributary)​

However it was too late.Bonaparte had defeated alvintzi on arcole on the 17th and could now turn on davidovich.Bonaparte sent his cavalry to watch Alvinczi's retreat, while turning the bulk of his forces toward Davidovich.On 19 November, Davidovich heard of the Austrian defeat at Arcole and detected signs that Bonaparte was about to fall upon him in full force. The Austrian pulled back to Rivoli on the 20th and began to fall back farther the next morning. At this moment, he received an encouraging note from Alvinczi and halted his retreat. But the French caught up with him at Rivoli. In the ensuing clash, the French suffered 200 casualties while inflicting losses of 250 killed and wounded. An additional 600 Austrians, three guns and a bridging train fell into French hands. Davidovich hastily fell back north. Altogether, Davidovich's retreat from Rivoli cost him as many as 1,500 men and nine guns.

Alvintzi meanwhile had held a war council and decided to resume his movement with teh 15,000-16,000 troops he had left,but he got as far as caldiero before learning of Davidovich's flight.He retired to the brenta.
Wurmser had a good chance to breakout of mantua while the battle for arcole was ongoing and the french besiegers were almost denuded,but he believed it to be trap and hesitated.When he did attack at the 23rd he caused minor mayhem before being driven back into mantua with 800 losses for 200 french.

(The entire arcole campaign.See the initial actions at calliano,bassano,fontaniva.Then caldiero and arcola.Joubert's reinforcement of vaubois.Finally french attack on davidovich.The one movement unaccounted for is bearavoir's cavalry u see on the extreme left.He with small numbers of cavalry scouts were deployed on the west side of lake garda early in the campaign to provide bonaparte with intelligence in case of an attack from that quarter.He later rejoined the main french forces.As these small cavalry detatchments were insignificant in number and solely for scouting none of the earlier maps depicted them as a seperate body.)

Thus the third austrian relief attempt too had ended in failure.Napoleon proved himself a master of the strategic defensive,and showed his eye for terrain,His perseverance in face of continous reverses leading up to arcole won through in the end.Instead of switching to a pure defense he constantly sought to keep the austrians off balance and succeeded at arcole.It was indeed as he said his most dangerous moment.

Alvintzi would try again and the greatest battle of the italian campaign was still to be fought.But never again would austria come so close to victory in italy.It was perhaps at arcole that austria threw away all her advantages .. and maybe the battle for italy itself.

NEXT :THE RIVOLI CAMPAIGN

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

THE RIVOLI CAMPAIGN

​

AFTERMATH OF ARCOLA :

While alvintzy licked his wounds Bonaparte used the time to thoroughly reorganize his army.He had also finally recieved some new brigades as reinforcements to bolster his declining strength to about 45,000 in total including those besieging mantua.This number excluded garrisons protecting his LoC.Communications system was revamped and courier posts set up at regular intervals to prevent misinformation debacles like that with vaubois's false retreat that had come during arcole.Artillery was re-equipped and ammunition stocked.Any underperforming officers were purged or removed to desk jobs.Vaubois was replaced by Joubert and transfered to the military administration in the rear areas.However with mantua a thorn in the flesh,bonaparte could not assume any offensive posture.To prevent an early collapse in any sector as had happened last time with vaubois's division,fortifications were prepared at key places along the likely routes of austrian advance.Rivoli was one of these places.

Meanwhile austria had not been idle.It transfered yet more forces from the rhine to italy again bringing up alvintzy's strength.The pope meanwhile was encouraged to act in concert.He broke his armistice with the french and began remobilizing the papal forces.This diverted bonaparte's attention and drew more troops from the key theatre.In the very first days of January French cavalry scouts under Lieutenant Gallenga captured a messenger who hastily swallowed his dispatch.He was taken to french headquarters where he refused to posses any knowledge.

'I must have the dispatch,' said General Bonaparte. 'Shoot him!'
'But sir,' protested Gallenga, 'he surrendered to me as a prisoner of war, and in uniform.'
'Lieutenant,' said the general, 'there is room for two men in front of a firing squad.'
Wrote Gallenga, 'It was less the threat than the look that accompanied it, which awed me to silence.'

While Gallenga correctly took the measure of Bonaparte's determination, the young cadet did not. He continued to deny any knowledge of the dispatch. Immediately after the prisoner was shot, recounted Gallenga, 'a surgeon opened the corpse, and found the dispatch wrapped in a ball of wax.'The incident demonstrates both bonaparte's resolve and ruthlessness.

The dispatch revealed instructions for general wurmser at mantua.As soon as the main austrian attack began,wurmser was told to attack with all he could muster,and if unable to lift the siege,to break out with whatever forces possible and move south and take command of the papal forces.The french would then be crushed in between.Bonaparte now knew of the the austrian 2 prong attack plan.Next day on the 8th of january 1797,The alvintzy began his attack.

ORDER OF BATTLE :

Army of Italy: Napoleon Bonaparte (48,610)

• Division:Massena (8,851 including 2 cavalry regiments)
  • Brigade: Monnier
  • Brigade: Brune [future marshal]
  • Brigade: Leclerc
• Division: Augereau (8,665 including 4 cavalry regiments)
  • Brigade: Guieu
  • Brigade: François Point
  • Brigade: Verdier
  • Brigade: Frédéric Walther (cavalry)
• Division: Joubert(10,250 including 1 cavalry regiment)
  • Brigade: Honoré Vial
  • Brigade: Claude Lebley
  • Brigade: Thomas Sandos
• Division: Rey (4,156 including 2 cavalry regiments)
  • Brigade: Antoine Veaux
  • Brigade: D'Hilliers
  • Brigade: Murat
• Division: Serurier (10,230 including 2 cavalry regiments)
  • Alexandre Dumas and Dallemagne each led small divisions under the supervision of Sérurier. It is unknown which brigades were assigned to each division.
  • Brigade: Jean Davin
  • Brigade: Miollis
  • Brigade: André Monleau
  • Brigade: Emmanuel de Serviez
  • Brigade: Jean de La Salcette
• Reserve: Bonaparte
  • Brigade: Dugua(658 in 2 cavalry regiments)
  • Brigade: Victor (1,800 including 1 cavalry regiment)[future marshal]
  • Brigade: Lannes(2,000)

(Note large numbers of new names in the french OOB.3 causes - Injuries among several commanders,New generals coming with reinforcements and Bonaparte's housecleaning)

Austrian Army - Joszef Alvinczi (46,000 + 18,500 of Wurmser half of which fit,but ate up french forces for siege]

• Field Army: FZM Joszef Alvinczi (28,022)
  • Independent columns:
    • Brigade 1: OB Lusignan (4,556)
      • 4,556 in 4 bns[battalion] and 12 coys[company]
    • Brigade 2: GM Lipthay (5,065)
      • 5,065 in 4 bns and 6 coys
    • Brigade 3: GM Samuel Köblös (4,138)
      • 4,138 in 5 bns and 6 coys
    • Brigade 6: GM Vukassovich (2,871)
      • 2,795 in 3 bns and 5 coys, 76 in 1/2 sqn
  • Division: FML Quasdanovich
    • Brigade 4: GM Ocskay(3,521)
      • 2,692 in 4 bns, 829 in 8 sqns
    • Brigade 5: GM Reuss (7,871)
      • 6,986 in 9 bns, 885 in 5-1/2 sqns
• Corps at Vicenza: GM Bajalics (6,241)
  • 6,081 in 6 bns, 160 in 1 sqn
• Corps at Padua: FML Provera(9,097)
  • 8,379 in 10 bns, 718 in 8-1/2 sqns
• Corps at Borgo: GM Mittrowsky(3,570)
  • 3,497 in 4 bns, 73 in 1/2 sqn
• Mantua Garrison: FM Wurmser (18,493, including 9,800 fit for service)

(Main campaign map.Moves to be described step by step)​

French Dispositions :
1.Bonaparte's Army of Italy had a strength of about 45,500. His army was disposed in six divisions. Général de Division (Major General) Joubert, with 10,300 soldiers, held the town of La Corona[near rivalta on the map], blocking the approach from the Tyrol down the upper Adige Valley, with a few troops held back at Rivoli a few miles south.

2.Augereau's division, with 10,500 men, held the Adige from Verona to Rovigo with garrisons at legnano.This division was stretched out to cover the river line.[See rovigo and Verona on map]

3.Rey's small brigade watched the west bank of lake garda with 4150 men centred around Salo,Brescia and Desanzano -sites of the struggles of the castiglione campaign.

4.Masséna, with 9,300 troops, lay in reserve near Verona.

5.Serurier,back in action besieged Mantua with 8500 troops.Kilmaine was ill.

The Austrian Plan :
The Austrians again planned on a 2 column pincer attack on the army of italy.First, Maj. Gen. Johann Provera would lead a 14,000-man force from the east across the Venetian plain and attack the French on the lower Adige. That alone, however, was only meant to draw the French army reserves to that sector. Alvintzy would then lead his main force, 28,000 strong, from the north down the Adige Valley.If Provera's attack succeeded in drawing off the bulk of Bonaparte's army, Alvintzy would break through to Mantua from the north. If the French did not take the bait, and instead moved north to counter Alvintzy's advance, then Provera would either push on to Mantua from the Adige or move south across the Po to join the Papal forces. To aid the offensive, Würmser would break out to the south if Alvintzy failed to reach him before his supplies ran out.

ROAD TO RIVOLI :

Provera divided his force into two columns. His own force, 9,000 men, was directed on Legnago while Bajalics, with 5,000 troops, advanced on Verona. It was the latter force that opened Provera's offensive on January 9 by attacking Augereau's cavalry screen to the east of Verona. By January 10, French patrols reported that Bajalics was near Verona, while Provera's troops had reached the Adige near Legnago and were looking for a crossing.

At his headquarters at Roverbello, Bonaparte was uncertain as to which direction the main Austrian attack would come from.At dawn on January 12, Masséna was attacked by Bayalitsch at Verona. Masséna threw the Austrians back, then launched a counterattack with Maj. Gen. Guillaume Marie Anne Brune's brigade. After heavy fighting, during which Brune himself had his uniform pierced by seven bullets without being wounded, the Austrians withdrew, leaving behind three guns and 600 prisoners.
By now augereau considered himslef under serious attack and appealed for help,but bonaparte still held to his suspicions.
On that same day, a report arrived from Joubert that he was being attacked at La Corona, but was holding his own. Bonaparte asked him to report as soon as possible whether he considered the Austrian attack real or diversionary.

''Let me know as soon as possible whether you consider the enemy to your front to be above 9000 or more.It is vitally important that i know whether the attack being made upon you is serious..or merely a secondary affair designed to put us off'' -Napoleon to Joubert on the 12th.

Meanwhile, Bonaparte issued orders to meet either an attack from the mountains or from the Venetian plain. He ordered Masséna to withdraw through Verona to the west bank of the Adige, so that he could move rapidly north or south. Masséna was to leave part of his force to cover Verona, and be prepared to march with three brigades, about 7,000 strong. Rey was to concentrate two brigades, about 4,500 strong, at Castelnuovo.(see Rey's movement) Augereau would remain at Ronco with outposts watching for Austrian attempts to cross the Adige, while Lannes marched north to reinforce the Badia area, leaving only 4,000 troops to guard against the Papal forces[whom he was observing]. Once in place at Badia, Lannes was also to stop any attempt by the Austrians to break through to the Papal States.(Lannes movement not shown in map as it was too south)
Late on the afternoon of January 13, more news came from Joubert. The attacks that he had reported the day before had developed into a major offensive. He had been outflanked by a superior force and had to fall back to Rivoli to avoid being cut off.
Joubert's report left Bonaparte in no doubt about Alvintzy's plan. He left immediately for Rivoli and ordered every man the Army of Italy could spare to follow him. Masséna, with three brigades, was ordered to march on Rivoli and take up a position on Joubert's left, pushing out one brigade toward Lake Garda to meet any wide turning movement by Alvintzy.3000 were left behind to hold verona. His division was to reach Rivoli before daybreak on January 14. Rey would follow Masséna, but his division was not expected to reach Rivoli before midday.

Augereau was to relieve massena around verona by transfering his forces. ( see augereau's movements in map as they take over from massena's division around verona) Sérurier was ordered to detach 600 infantry from his blocking force to join Bonaparte. Bonaparte left 24,000 troops behind him on the plain: 3,000 of Masséna's division near Verona, 7,000 of Augereau's division around Ronco, 6,000 under Lannes at Badia, and 8,000 under Sérurier around Mantua. Those forces about equaled those of their opponents, as Würmser could add about 10,000 soldiers to Provera's 14,000 if he made a sortie from Mantua.The Military Principle of Security had thus been simultaneously adhered to even as bonaparte focused on concentrating his forces.

BATTLE OF RIVOLI :

[check the map above,forget units for now.See terrain features]​

'The village of Rivoli, 15 miles northwest of Verona, is situated on a low plateau a few hundred meters from the west bank of the Adige. Below the village, the river runs through a steep and narrow gorge(This gorge is the one between Monte magnone heights and the adige river thats enters the plateau near the point overlooked by san marco) . In 1797, the village consisted only of 50 houses, but it formed a natural stronghold. It was bordered on the east by the river, and on the north, south and west by a semicircle of low hills about two kilometers away. Observe only 2 roads available both along the banks of the river .(Artillery could only be hauled through roaded areas).
The Rivoli plateau thus formed an excellent defensive position.It was on a elevated ground.Frontally protected by the trambasore heights.Its right flank covered by the adige river except the narrow opening where the gorge entered into the plateau along the road.The left flank too was mostly on high ground -an extension of the trambasore heights.However the rear was low elevation and open if an enemy could get around.
To the west of that perimeter ridge is the shallow valley of the Tasso Brook, beyond which rises the formidable height of Monte Baldo. In mid-January 1797, Monte Baldo was covered with a deep layer of snow and could be held only by a thin outpost screen. Joubert's main line of defense was the Rivoli plateau, which in turn was the key to the defense of the French northern flank.'

Against Alvintzy's 28,000 soldiers, Joubert's 10,000 had been able to do little but fight delaying actions. Pushed steadily back, his force had reached Rivoli at 4 a.m. on January 13. There he held his position all day awaiting Bonaparte's orders. As darkness fell, Joubert could see the extent of the Austrian campfires and realized that he would be overwhelmed if he stayed to receive Alvintzy's assault. No orders had arrived from Bonaparte, so he decided to withdraw at midnight toward Bussolengo, leaving only rear guards at Rivoli.

At 2 A.M Bonaparte arrived to examine the austrian positions and cancelled the withdrawal .The battle would now be fought on terrain that suited the defender-in this case the french.

''The moon shone brilliantly; I ascended several heights, and observed the lines of the enemy's fires, which filled the whole country between the Adige and Lake Garda, and reddened the atmosphere. I clearly distinguished five camps, each composed of a column, which had commenced their movements the preceding day.It seemed evident from the positions of the five bivouacs of the enemy,' Bonaparte noted, 'that Alvintzy would not attack before ten in the morning. The first column, on the right(of the austrians), was at a great distance; its intention seemed to be to get behind the level of Rivoli in order to surround it; it could not reach its destination before ten o'clock. The second column seemed to intend to attack the position on the left of the level [plateau]. The third was spread along the foot of Monte Magnone, in the direction of Saint-Mark's chapel. The fourth column having marched down the right bank to the foot of Monte Magnone: It was now opposite Osteria della Dugana, in echelons near the hamlet of Incanole, at the foot of the level of Rivoli. It was to debouch by this road, and thus Alvintzy would have united his infantry, artillery and cavalry. The fifth column was on the left bank of the Adige, opposite the Venetian Chiesa.'' - Napoleon's Observations.

Bonaparte had read the austrian intentions well. Alvintzy's plan was somehwat overcomplicated.It envisaged an attack by six columns.Three columns under Ocskay,Lipthay and Koblos totalling 12,000 men were directed to launch a frontal pinning attack on the french positions on the trambasore heights and draw the french reserves.( 2 of these bivoucked together,so only 5 distinct campfires were visible to napoleon)
The main attack was to be launched by Quasdanovich's Column 7,000 strong and provided with a good portion of the cavalry and artillery along the road on the west bank of the adige.This attack was to go through the narrow gorge opening into the rivoli plateau proper at osteria[shown in next map]just south of san marco. Once they broke through they would take the pinned french columns on the trambasore heights from the rear.The other pincer of the austrian attack was lusignan's column deployed wide on the austrian right near lumini.He was to conduct a wide turning movement and bypass the trmbasore heights and approach the french from the rear and complete their annihilation by cutting of the retreat.Vukassovich's small column on the east bank of the adige were to guard against any french flanking move and more importantly to support quasdanovich's attack with flanking suppressive fire from its heavy guns.
One problem with the austrians was that only quasdanovich and Vukassovich's columns had abundant artillery support which could be moved along the 2 available roads.The other columns had small number of mountain guns only and this made the job much more difficult for them.

Bonaparte's Response -

​

(Closeup of Osteria Gorge and its opening into rivoli plateau.See how San marco dominates the and overlooks the gorge and its entrance into the plateau at osteria hamlet.See also how quasdanovich's column would advance through the gorge.This will be expanded on later.)

To Bonaparte, the size of Quasdanovitch's bivouac indicated that this was Alvintzy's main striking force. The only way that force could attack Rivoli was through the Osteria Gorge, which was narrow and steep. To use that approach, the Austrians would have to clear the ridge of Monte Magnone, which dominated the gorge. In particular, they would have to take the Trombalore Heights near the Chapel of San Marco, from which the French could observe the whole of the defile and the Adige Valley. Bonaparte realized that if he held San Marco, and if he sited guns to cover the Osteria Gorge, Quasdanovitch's column could be stopped and Alvintzy would be prevented from bringing his artillery into action. But if Bonaparte was to gain time for Masséna's troops to rest after their night march and for Rey's division to arrive, he would have to forestall Alvintzy with a spoiling attack early the next day.

With those factors in mind, Bonaparte ordered Joubert to countermarch and reoccupy the Rivoli plateau. One of Joubert's brigades was to take San Marco and Osteria; the remainder of the division was to occupy the northern edge of the Rivoli plateau overlooking the valley of the Tasso, opposing Lipthay, Knoblos and Ócksay. Masséna was to send the brigade that had been earmarked to stop Lusignan's approach around the left flank through the Tasso Valley. The remainder of Masséna's division was to remain in reserve at Rivoli.Initially however Bonaparte was at a critical numerical disadvantage only 10,000 men of joubert's column to oppose alvintzy's 28,000.By the time the attack began however he expected massena's division which would bring up his strength to around 17,000 -still quite short.However arrival of rey's division would bolster this to above 20,000.To compensate for this lack of quantity he would have to make best use of interior lines and the terrain.And also his advantage in artillery.

(To check the above deployments go to the map previous to the last one.Check Joubert's 3 brigades deployed on the french centre and right.One covers San marco,other 2 on the trambasore heights and would face ocskay and koblos.The moves by massena will be explained later.Till now massena's division is not yet deployed and just arriving and held as reserve around rivoli town)

Joubert's brigades, supported by the bulk of the available artillery, advanced — and just in time, for the brigade detailed to seize San Marco arrived only moments ahead of some of Ócksay's troops, who had moved up onto Monte Magnone, and drove the latter back along the ridge. By 4 a.m., the plateau was back in French hands. At first light, Joubert's division launched a full attack against the Austrians, but was halted by their superior numbers.

Beginning of the Austrian Onslaught -

At 9 a.m., Knoblos and Lipthay counterattacked. Joubert stopped Knoblos, but Lipthay outflanked and routed one of Joubert's brigades. Bonaparte immediately led one of Masséna's brigades in support and managed to stabilize the position.[See in map Lipthay can swing around the vacant left flank of joubert's 2 brigades facing ocskay and Koblos.One of massena's divisions was brought up to halt this move.]

Meanwhile, on the French right flank, Vukassovich had advanced down the east bank of the Adige and had established batteries opposite Osteria. The fire of his guns and pressure from Quasdanovitch forced the French out of the village of Osteria and onto the Rivoli plateau. That opened the road up the defile on to the plateau. Before Quasdanovitch could use that approach, however, he had to secure San Marco and the parts of the Magnone ridge that overlooked the road. To do that, he sent three battalions up the mountainside to seize San Marco, which was now unoccupied because the French brigade responsible for holding it had pushed forward along the ridge to keep Ócksay in check. Joubert rushed three battalions back to San Marco. They arrived just in time to prevent the Austrians from seizing that vital point, but it was clear that Quasdanovitch was about to storm his way up.

(Closeup of the action.Massena halts lipthay.Shown here one of joubert's brigades rushing back to san marco after quasdanovich takes osteria supported by flanking fire of vukassovich's guns from the opposite bank)

Meanwhile situation was serious on the extreme left of the french line.Lusignan had driven back one of massena's brigades that was covering Affa and the french rear.[see movement in map on the left].He would soon cut the French route of withdrawal and be in a position to stop any further reinforcements from reaching Rivoli.By about 11 a.m., Bonaparte's position was becoming desperate. Joubert, with the support of one of Masséna's brigades, was just managing to hold the northern edge of the plateau. The brigade at San Marco was hard pressed by Quasdanovitch, who was about to launch his forces up the Osteria Gorge, supported by Vukassovich's guns positioned on the east bank of the Adige. Lusignan was almost across the French line of communications. Rey could not be expected for at least another hour. The only reserve left was Masséna's third brigade, resting at Rivoli.

Bonaparte had to reopen the line of retreat. That task he entrusted to Masséna's 18th Demi-Brigade [destined to be one of the famed french regiments of the napoleonic wars and reknowned for its e'lan.Given the title 'The brave'], newly arrived from Lake Garda.

'Brave 18th,' Bonaparte shouted, 'I know you; the enemy will not stand before you.'

With Massena adding-.
'Comrades,' 'in front of you are 4,000 young men belonging to the richest families in Vienna; they have come with post horses as far as Bassano; I recommend them to you.' With a roar of laughter, the troops advanced, crying 'en avant!'

With the 18th dispatched to check lusignan,Bonaparte turned all his attention to Quasdanovich.He understood the defeat of this column was the key to the battle.Unfortunately the french had very little reserves left and by and lareg had to accomplish this with troops already at hand.Making the best of interior lines and his artillery advantage,he thinned out joubert's lines facing the austrians frontally at trambasore as much as possible and concentrated them before the gorge.15 guns were massed and poured canister shot at point blank range into the advancing austrian column that was emerging from the gorge.This devastating firepower struck first on the advancing austrian cavalry dragoons who broke and stampeded through their own infnatry causing mass chaos.At this juncture a bare 500 french infantry led by leclerc assaulted the column frontally while joubert's men laid down heavy flanking fire from san marco.Here Charles antoine La Salle (future famed cavalry general of the empire.Considered by some to be the best cavalry general of the napoleonic wars and a favourite of napoleon's) with just 26 horsemen-all that was available charged into the melee.This was the last straw for the austrian column which broke and fled.Lasalle's men captured a whole austrian battalion and seized 5 enemy flags alone.When he laid them down at the general's feet napoleon remarked-''Lie down on those, you have certainly earned it''.
Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lasalle was a daredevil known to charge with only his pipe in hand.Came to napoleon's attention first when he went behind austrian lines regularly just to continue an affair with an italian woman.Bonaparte thought him crazy and almost court martialled him before he revealed austrian positions as well.Napoleon forgave and promoted him ,remarking only to his staff - 'Commandant LaSalle - Remember that name'

(La salle in the days of the empire.It was said napoleon had 4 great cavalry generals.Murat,Lasalle,Montbrun and Kellerman .'Any hussar who isn't dead by the age of thirty is a blackguard' -LaSalle,killed 31 at wagram 1809)

Back to the battle,with most his force shattered the remainder of the column recoiled, and the soldiers fled back down into the gorge. Seeing that, Quasdanovitch realized he could not force the defile and ordered his troops to fall back out of artillery range.On quasdanovich's withdrawal bonaparte immediately switched all available units to koblos,Lipthay and Ocksay.Unsupported by artillery they were driven back and retreated towards La coruna.(see map)

Meanwhile while Lusignan was being engaged frontally by Brune leading one of massena's brigades.Rey began to arrive with his division.Crushed between the 2 Lusignan's column was smashed and he fled west with less than 2000 men remaining.The battle for Rivoli was over.
With superb use of terrain and interior lines bonaparte had pulled off his greatest victory yet.Joubert's forces conducted a succesful pursuit as austrian retreat degenerated into a rout.
French lost 3200 killed,wounded and prisoners.Austrians had lost a staggering 14,000 men and 40 guns.Half of alvintzi's army was gone along with bulk of his artillery.

Leaving Joubert and Rey to pursue,Bonaparte now turned his attention back to Provera.Bad news had arrived ,taking advantage of the dispersal of augereau's forces provera had crossed north of legnano with 9000 men and driven straight for mantua according to the plan,leaving 2000 to defend his bridgehead.But on the Mantua legnano road,the french stronghold of Saint georges held him up .At night on the 15th Provera sent message to wurmser to break out tommorow in a concerted attack.Unknwon to both napoleon had force marched from rivoli with massena's division and arrived near mantua.Next day on the 16th when wurmser attacked he was swiftly driven back into mantua by serurier.Provera attacked from the front by massena and from the rear by augereau who had now rallied his scattered forces was forced to surrender with his entire force .[U can scroll back to last post on which a locations map is given if ur unsure about legnano and mantua locations.Can only post 10 images per post.]The austrian army in north italy had ceased to exist.

When Würmser heard of Alvintzy's defeat at Rivoli, he realized that his chances of relief were at an end. His men had long subsisted on half-rations, and his supplies would last only a few more days. Winter barred any renewed Austrian offensive until March, and Bonaparte offered generous terms — so generous that a few days later a grateful Würmser would alert Bonaparte to a plot to poison him. On February 2, Mantua opened its gates. The Pope, too, realized all hope of Austrian aid was gone. On February 18, his plenipotentiaries met an advancing French force at Tolentino and requested an armistice.

Mantua had fallen.Snow had closed the alpine passes and finally North italy was firmly french.However austria still refused the french terms as prohibitive.With Italy won,one last drive would now be made..into the heartland of austria to the gates of vienna itself.

NEXT : ADVANCE INTO AUSTRIA

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

INTO AUSTRIA - THE GATES OF VIENNA

(Above,the Archduke charles - The 1797 campaign would not be bonaparte's last encounter with the austrian prince)
With the Fall of mantua Napoleon could finally go on the offensive and take the war into austria itself.The directory finally recognized the success of the italian army and switched priority of reinforcements from the rhine theatre to the italian one.Napoelon was to be reinforced to a strength of 80,000 men,up from his current 55,000.However Bonaparte didn't wait for these to arrive,he knew the austrians were raising another army east of the Piave river.The emperor in desperation had transfered austria's best commander,his brother- The archduke charles[ almost same age as napoleon],responsible for french misfortunes on the rhine to italy and was given the responsibility to halt any offensive by bonaparte.The austrian forces were still assembling and about 50,000-60,000 in scattered condition.But every delay increased their number and cohesion.On 1st march 1797 Bonaparte began his campaign by seizing the brenta river line at primolano and bassano from the advance austrian outposts which covered the assembly of the main austrian army further back.

Leaving joubert with around 15,000 men[later reinforced with new arrivals ] to make an advance into tyrol from trent Bonaparte took the main army in 2 bodies -Massena[light blue and M] with 11,000 and 32,000 under napoleon himself and advanced on the austrian army.He calculated that if joubert faced too big an opposition he conduct a rapid withdrawal back to verona and bonaparte could turn around and force march across the brenta valley and arrive at the rear of the pursuing austrian force.In reality no such austrian force existed for a new offensive.

The austrian army was formed up still somewhat scattered between Spilloborgo and Gradisca with the tagliamento river on their back across which they could withdraw.Massena overran their advance guard at sacile under lusignan and pursued him rapidly.Meanwhile the main body under napoleon clashed with the austrians at the Battle of Valvasone[extension of which is called battle of tagliamento] on 16th march.After being forced back,The Austrian army fought a rear guard action at the crossing of the Tagliamento but was defeated and withdrew to the northeast.The french crossed the river under artillery fire .Here Bonaparte employed his mixed order formation on a large scale that broke through the austrian defences for 500 casualities inflicting 700.

Next day a retreating austrian contingent of 2500 men and 10 guns were cut off and surrendered at gradisca.
The main austrian body retreated towards udine.But bonaparte relentlessly hounded them.Meanwhile massena chased lusignan's survivors in a northern direction into the mountain passes.

Joubert advances deeper into tyrol.Meanwhile Bonaparte chases the austrians.Massena routs ockskay's outnumbered force at the Tarvisio pass.Charles tried to hold the Tarvis Pass against the French by sending three columns of reinforcements.[this being the last natural barrier between the french and mainland austria].[reinforcements represented by skin colour arrow]However it was too late.Massena had already occupied the pass.Bulk of these forces,including the entire third column under bajalics found themselves trapped between massena in their front and napoleon now coming up from the rear and were compelled to surrender.The battle of tarvis ended with around 1000 killed and wounded on both sides and 4,000 Austrian soldiers, 25 artillery pieces, and 500 wagons captured.
While this was happening the rest of the austrian army withdrew towards ljubilana,entrance into hungary.A french cavalry raid captured the great arsenal at trieste.Bonaparte worried about his long LoC made palmanova his new centre of operations.

Bonaparte pushed his main forces into the austrian heartland itself.The main french army entered Klagenfurt.Meanwhile noting the possibility of an austrian attack from innsbruck along the brenner pass that could come from the west and take bonaparte's position in klagenfurt from the rear,Napoleon ordered joubert to seize the crossroads to the pass at brixen.This blocked the route to any austrian movement from that sector and also opened up communications with joubert at brixen and napoleon at klagenfurt via the pass.[in map marked by dotted lines]Here napoleon abandoned his previous LoC and made klagenfurt his new centre of operations.It was here however that the french impetus died down.Due to continous delay and dithering on the part of the army of the rhine they were still not supporting the operations of the army of italy.And bonaparte yet didn't have the numbers to assault vienna alone.Here diplomacy entered the scene.Midway through the negotiations to give the impression of strength he made a bold movement to leoben ,just 75 kms from vienna.Finally with Bonaparte's forces 2 days march from vienna,and knowing that the passivity of the rhine armies won't last forever - the austrian government gave in to the french terms negotiated by bonaparte himself.By the treaty of campo formio ,Austria ceded the netherlands,areas on the west bank of the rhine and north italy to france.In compensation she recieved venice which was partitioned.The war of the first coalition had finally come to an end.France finally had what french strategists had dreamed of for 2 centuries and remained Louis XIV's unfulfilled ambition - her so called 'natural frontiers' on the alps and rhine.

ANALYSIS OF THE CAMPAIGN :

Already analysed several of the events seperately but as an overview the main causes of french success.

Mobility - French strategic mobility imparted by the practice of living off the land and bonaparte high demands of his men in terms of forced marches made a difference throughout the campaign.Thus Bonaparte's Maxim that the weight or strength of an army equals its mass multiplied by speed.

Concentration Of Effort - The absolute key to bonaparte's success.He was outnumbered in each of the campaigns.And yet with superb manuevering,marching and positioning so as to keep all his formations within mutually supporting distances in each key encounter he was able to outnumber his opponents in the actual battlefield.In the 2 cases he wasn't able to gather a numerical advantage -Arcole and Rivoli,he made sure he had mother nature on his side.(Above image showing overall campaign effectives for the armies and the actual number on the battlefield.Some numbers are inconsistent,but by and large accurate.Shows Bonaparte's principal genius.)

''The true talent of a commander lies in being superior to the enemy in the battlefield while inferior (overall)'' - Napoleon
​

Security - An overlooked principle,careful observation will reveal bonaparte always tempered his bold movements with defensive measures designed to keep all his formations within mutually supporting distance.Only a master of the strategic defense could defend mantua against repeated attacks from every single direction and against all odds.

LEGACY :

"For a century the first (Napoleon's) campaign in Italy
has been described - I am almost tempted to say, sung -
as a triumphant epic of offensive movements ..."
- Liddell Hart​

The First Italian Campaign remains as one of the greatest military achievements in history.It was to Napoleon what the gallic campaign was to caesar.A young unknown general had taken a rag tag near mutinous rabble from the bottom to the gates of vienna itself,in the process defeating every army and every general the austrian high command could throw at him. It made him a household name in france and a sensation across europe,and served as the basis to his rise to political power.Though the battles themselves were smaller in scale and size to the huge pitched battles of his later career,he fought 20 of his 72 engagements in the first Italian campaign.It was a end of an epoch.The era of old europe was over ,the age of napoleon had begun...........

........................................................................................X......................................................................................................

Napoleon's engagements in the Italian Campaign 1796-1797.

1)Montenotte - Dego - Milisemo - Ceva - St-michelleMondovi

2)Fombio - Lodi - Borghetto

3)First Lonato - Second Lonato - Castiglione

4)Rovereto - Bassano - La Favorita

5)Second Bassano - Caldiero - Arcole

6)Rivoli - Mantua(Siege)

7)Valvasone/Tagliamento - Tarvisio.

........................................................................................X...............X......................................................................................
Sources -
Campaigns of Napoleon - David Chandler
Open net sources

 

[The_Sidewinder]

@AUSTERLITZ
great read. Nicely summed up. Spend two days digesting the awe that was Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

[Vergennes]

@AUSTERLITZ Amazing work my friend,posts of high quality,always a pleasure to read them.
Feel free to tag me next time.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

@AUSTERLITZ Amazing work my friend,posts of high quality,always a pleasure to read them.
Feel free to tag me next time.

Thanks,will do.
Hope you have already read this one.Another of my battle reports on Napoleon's best campaign.
Battle Report #15 Ulm-Austerlitz 1805

 

[Vergennes]

Thanks,will do.
Hope you have already read this one.Another of my battle reports on Napoleon's best campaign.
Battle Report #15 Ulm-Austerlitz 1805

I did actually when i was on my other account and the amount of work is amazing i enjoyed to read it,long,but very informative.
Glad that we have members like you,and keep 'em coming.

 

[kongn]

Amazing thread.Excellent work.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Amazing thread.Excellent work.

History now.

The author was really sound in his posts, did his research well, and was a well-regarded member of the forum. Then some creepy types got after him, and kept provoking him, until he lost his temper, and used language so vile and so extreme that he no longer could stay in the forum.

Now he posts on some other forum, but it is so Islamophobic that I do not go there.

 

[ROK]

Excellent work.

 

[ROK]

Will there be a continuation of the story?