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Marengo campaign

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Marengo campaign
Part of the War of the Second Coalition

The Battle of Marengo by Louis-François Lejeune
Date4 April to 15 June 1800
Location
Liguria, Piedmont and Aosta regions in modern Italy
44°53′8″N 8°40′39″E / 44.88556°N 8.67750°E / 44.88556; 8.67750
Result French victory, Austria loses territory
Belligerents
French First Republic Republican France Habsburg monarchy Habsburg monarchy
Commanders and leaders
French First Republic Napoleon Bonaparte
French First Republic André Masséna		 Habsburg monarchy Michael von Melas
Habsburg monarchy Peter Karl Ott
Marengo campaign is located in Northern Italy
Marengo campaign
class=notpageimage|
Location within Northern Italy
Marengo campaign is located in Europe
Marengo campaign
Marengo campaign (Europe)

The Marengo campaign (4 April – 15 June 1800) saw a Habsburg Austrian army led by General der Kavallerie Michael von Melas fight against the defending French Army of Italy under General of Division (GD) André Massena and the invading French Reserve Army commanded by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. In early April, Melas launched a successful offensive that split the outnumbered Army of Italy and initiated the Siege of Genoa with Massena's forces trapped within the city. In mid-May, Bonaparte led the Reserve Army across the Great St Bernard Pass and into the Aosta Valley. After encountering a serious delay at Fort Bard, Bonaparte's forces broke into the plains of the Po Valley toward the end of May. At Turin, Melas blocked the direct route to Genoa, but Bonaparte's forces instead seized Milan and began severing the supply lines between Melas' army and Austria. After a long siege, Massena finally surrendered Genoa in early June, but by that time Melas' forces were isolated in northwest Italy. Melas tried to break out of the trap in the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800 and nearly succeeded because Bonaparte spread his army too thin. However, late-arriving troops defeated the Austrians and Bonaparte compelled Melas to evacuate northwest Italy as the price of a negotiated truce.

Background: 1799[edit]

In early 1799, the French Directory deployed two armies in Italy. The Army of Naples led by GD Étienne Macdonald occupied Rome and Naples with 32,010 men. The Army of Italy under GD Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer defended northern Italy. In March, the Directory ordered Schérer to detach a 6,400-man division to invade and plunder the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. This left Schérer with only 43,000 men in his field army, not counting various occupying forces.[1] The Austrian army commanded by FML Paul Kray counted 50,700 men, but a 24,551-strong Russian army under Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov was approaching. The indecisive Battle of Verona on 26 March[2] was followed by the Battle of Magnano on 5 April 1799. At Magnano, the victorious Austrians reported 5,228 casualties but French losses were heavier. Leaving 12,000 men to defend Mantua, Schérer started a panicky retreat that did not stop until the French army reached the Adda River.[3]

Schérer was replaced in command by GD Jean Victor Marie Moreau but the French were beaten at the Battle of Cassano on 27–28 April 1799.[4] The string of major defeats continued with the Battle of Trebbia on 17–20 June,[5] the surrender of Mantua on 28 July,[6] the Battle of Novi on 15 August,[7] and the Battle of Genola on 4 November.[8] By the end of 1799, the French hold on Italy had dwindled to almost what it was in March 1796 when Bonaparte assumed command of the army. The badly fed and supplied French army clung to Genoa and the Italian Riviera. The army commander GD Jean-Étienne Championnet wished to abandon Genoa, but the Directory stubbornly refused to allow this.[9] Championnet died of disease on 9 January 1800[10] and was eventually replaced by André Massena.[11]

On 9 October 1799, GD Napoleon Bonaparte returned to France from Egypt.[12] The "weak and corrupt" French Directory was very unpopular.[13] Bonaparte immediately entered into a conspiracy to overthrow the Directory.[12] The Coup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799) was successful[14] and on 25 December, Bonaparte became First Consul, a position in which he held dictatorial power.[15] On 25 January 1800, Bonaparte ordered GD Louis-Alexandre Berthier to assemble a 60,000-man Reserve Army at Dijon. To trick enemy spies, some second-class units began arriving at Dijon, while the first-class units began massing elsewhere. The Austrian government was completely fooled by this ruse and did not realize that the Reserve Army represented a serious threat.[16]

Strategy[edit]

Map shows northern Italy around 1800.
Map shows northern Italy in 1800, including Genoa, Turin, Milan, Nice, Marengo, and Great St Bernard Pass.

By 1800, the Russian Empire had withdrawn from the Second Coalition. The Austrians held Swabia in southern Germany and northern Italy. Since the French held Switzerland, the Austrian armies in Germany and Italy had difficulty communicating with each other. Meanwhile, the French could use Switzerland to easily shift forces from one theater to the other. Along the Rhine River, GD Jean Victor Marie Moreau led a 120,000-man French army, composed of the best troops available. Opposed to Moreau on the east bank of the Rhine was an Austrian army nearly as strong commanded by Paul Kray (now promoted to Feldzeugmeister).[17] In Italy, Michael von Melas commanded an army of nearly 100,000 men, including 14,000 cavalry.[18] Massena's Army of Italy was divided into three corps under GD Jean-de-Dieu Soult (19,790 men), GD Louis-Gabriel Suchet (15,607 men), and GD Louis Marie Turreau (8,000 men).[19] It fielded only 36,000 men for active duty,[20] though 14,000 sick soldiers were in hospitals.[21]

The Austrian government planned for Melas to first mount an attack in Italy, which would cause Moreau to send reinforcements from his own army. With Moreau weakened, Kray would then push across the Rhine and invade France through the Belfort Gap. Caught between the two thrusts, Switzerland would easily fall to Austria, and then Melas would march up the Rhône valley.[22] The Kingdom of Great Britain pledged to help Austria capture Genoa and to assemble an army at Minorca that would be used to help Austria invade Provence.[23] At first, Bonaparte planned to use the Reserve Army to carry out an enveloping maneuver against Kray's army in Swabia. However, Moreau obstinately refused to cooperate with Bonaparte's strategy. Therefore, Bonaparte left Moreau to carry out his own operations and instead decided to commit the Reserve Army to Italy.[24]

Austrian offensive[edit]

Black and white print shows a clean-shaven man in a gray military uniform. An Order of Maria Teresa is pinned to his coat.
Michael von Melas

On 4 April 1800, Melas mounted his offensive against the Army of Italy and Genoa. According to James R. Arnold, Melas ordered FML Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz and 8,000 troops to advance from Bobbio, northeast of Genoa, while FML Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and 5,300 soldiers moved against the Bocchetta Pass north of Genoa. West of Genoa, Melas with 27,500 men struck south from Acqui Terme and FML Anton von Elsnitz thrust east from Ceva with 21,100 troops. While Melas' main army attacked Genoa with 62,000 men, FML Konrad Valentin von Kaim with 31,000 soldiers watched the mountain passes and northern Italy. Another 20,000 men garrisoned various strongpoints in Italy.[25] Theodore Ayrault Dodge assigned different strengths to the attacking columns: 40,000 soldiers to Melas, 15,000 to Ott, and 10,000 to Hohenzollern.[26]

Black and white print shows a clean-shaven man with his hair tied back in a ponytail. He wears a light-colored military uniform with the Order of Maria Teresa pinned to it.
Peter Karl Ott

By 6 April, the columns of Melas and Elsnitz successfully broke the connection between the corps of Soult and Suchet at Cairo Montenotte. This breakthrough prompted Massena to mount a determined effort to reconnect with Suchet's forces.[26] Massena left 8,000 troops in Genoa and tried to cut his way out, resulting in ten days of brutal fighting in the mountains.[27] There were actions at Cadibona Pass on 6 April, Monte Fasce on 7 April, Bocchetta Pass on 9 April, Sassello on 10 April, Monte Settepani on 10–11 April, Vetriera on 11 April, Colle di San Giacomo on 12 April, and Voltri on 18 April.[28] From 6 to 19 April, Austrian losses were 276 officers and 8,037 men, while the French lost around 7,000 casualties. The fighting resulted in Massena's troops being cooped up in Genoa.[27] The Siege of Genoa would last from 19 April to 4 June 1800.[29]

Black and white print shows a curly-haired man wearing a dark military uniform of 1790s vintage.
André Massena

On 24 April 1800, Melas demanded the surrender of Genoa which Massena refused.[27] Melas assigned Ott and 24,000 soldiers to carry out the siege[26] while accompanying Elsnitz and 30,000 troops to a pursuit of Suchet's corps along the coast.[27] (Dodge credited 28,000 soldiers to Elsnitz.)[30] On 30 April, Ott attempted to storm the defenses of Genoa but was repulsed with 3,147 casualties. The French defenders sustained 1,526 casualties, but the assault nearly succeeded. After this failure, Ott decided to starve the defenders into surrendering. Massena launched several sorties, including one led by Soult on 11 May that inflicted losses of 137 killed, 328 wounded, and 1,362 captured on the besiegers. Two days later, a French sortie failed, and Soult was wounded and taken prisoner.[31]

While Genoa was under siege, Elsnitz's corps drove Suchet's weak forces to the west along the Mediterranean coast, taking Albenga on 3 May.[32] Suchet's rearguard held its position too long on 7 May at Montecalvo and was trapped, losing 1,500 prisoners. The Savona fortress capitulated to the Austrians on 15 May.[33] Melas occupied Nice on 11 May.[34] Elsnitz found Suchet's troops in defensive positions along the Var River. On 20 May, the British navy landed heavy artillery to support the Austrian advance.[35] Meanwhile, Melas began receiving disturbing reports about French activities in Switzerland. As early as 8 May, Melas transferred one cavalry and two infantry regiments from Elsnitz to Kaim's forces in the north. On 13 May, Melas left Nice; he took 9,000 troops with him and set out for Turin.[36] From 22 to 27 May, Elsnitz would confront Suchet's defenses along the Var.[37]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 250–251.
  2. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 254–255.
  3. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 257–258.
  4. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 152–153.
  5. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 159–160.
  6. ^ Smith 1998, p. 161.
  7. ^ Smith 1998, p. 163.
  8. ^ Smith 1998, p. 172.
  9. ^ Phipps 2011, p. 341.
  10. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 345–346.
  11. ^ Phipps 2011, p. 465.
  12. ^ a b Phipps 2011, p. 448.
  13. ^ Phipps 2011, p. 444.
  14. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 457–462.
  15. ^ Arnold 2005, pp. 23–24.
  16. ^ Arnold 2005, pp. 35–36.
  17. ^ Dodge 2011, pp. 158–159.
  18. ^ Arnold 2005, p. 31.
  19. ^ Smith 1998, p. 177.
  20. ^ Arnold 2005, p. 57.
  21. ^ Arnold 2005, p. 54.
  22. ^ Arnold 2005, pp. 197–198.
  23. ^ Dodge 2011, p. 163.
  24. ^ Dodge 2011, pp. 160–161.
  25. ^ Arnold 2005, pp. 68–69.
  26. ^ a b c Dodge 2011, p. 169.
  27. ^ a b c d Arnold 2005, p. 70.
  28. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 178–180.
  29. ^ Smith 1998, p. 185.
  30. ^ Dodge 2011, pp. 169–170.
  31. ^ Arnold 2005, pp. 70–73.
  32. ^ Arnold 2005, p. 73.
  33. ^ Smith 1998, p. 182.
  34. ^ Dodge 2011, p. 170.
  35. ^ Arnold 2005, p. 74.
  36. ^ Arnold 2005, p. 100.
  37. ^ Smith 1998, p. 184.

References[edit]

  • Arnold, James R. (2005). Marengo & Hohenlinden: Napoleon's Rise to Power. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword. ISBN 1-84415-279-0.
  • Chandler, David G. (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-523660-1.
  • Dodge, Theodore Ayrault (2011). Warfare in the Age of Napoleon: The Egyptian and Syrian Campaigns & the Wars of the Second and Third Coalitions, 1798-1805. Vol. 2. Leonaur Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85706-600-8.
  • Phipps, Ramsay Weston (2011) [1939]. The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I: The Armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt, and the Coup d'Etat of Brumaire (1797-1799). Vol. 5. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908692-28-3.
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
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