The Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800) was fought between the French army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and an Habsburg army led by General der Kavallerie Michael von Melas. With Napoleon's army lying across the Habsburg army's line of communications to the west, Melas resolved to attack. Early in the morning, the Habsburg army advanced from the city of Alessandria and took the French army by surprise. It was not until 9:00 am before Melas' army completely moved through a bottleneck at the Bormida River bridges. At first the Austrian attack stalled, slowed by bitter French resistance. By 3:00 pm, the Habsburg army compelled their outnumbered opponents to retreat. [1] Sore from having two horses killed under him, Melas handed over command of the pursuit to a subordinate and went to the rear. [2] Later in the afternoon, a newly-arrived French division suddenly attacked the pursuing Austrians. Combined with a quick burst of cannon fire and a well-timed cavalry charge, the surprise assault caused a complete collapse of the Austrian center column, which fled to the temporary safety of Alessandria. [3] The French suffered at least 7,700 casualties, including two generals killed and five wounded. The Austrians admitted losing 9,416 killed, wounded and missing, but some estimates range as high as 11,000–12,000 casualties. The Austrians lost one general killed and five wounded. [4] The next day, Melas requested an armistice. The victory gave Bonaparte enough bargaining leverage to gain control of northwest Italy during the subsequent negotiations. [3]
The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame Gen. Michael von Melas's surprise attack, driving the Austrians out of Italy and consolidating Napoleon's political position in Paris as First Consul of France in the wake of his coup d’état the previous November.
Habsburg Monarchy is an umbrella term used by historians for the lands and kingdoms of the House of Habsburg, especially for those of the Austrian branch. Although from 1438 until 1806 the head of the House of Habsburg was also Holy Roman Emperor, the empire itself is not considered a part of the Habsburg Monarchy.
Michael Friedrich Benedikt Baron von Melas was a Transylvanian-born field marshal of Saxon descent for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of France and was awarded the title Duke of Ragusa.
Louis-Alexandre Berthier, 1st Prince of Wagram, Sovereign Prince of Neuchâtel, was a French Marshal and Vice-Constable of the Empire, and Chief of Staff under Napoleon.
Pierre-Antoine, comte Dupont de l'Étang was a French general of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as a political figure of the Bourbon Restoration.
Armand Samuel de Marescot, born in Tours on 1 March 1758, died November 5, 1832 at Castle Chaslay near Montoire Loir-et-Cher was a French general of engineering in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. MARESCOT is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 14.
Corps | Division | Strength | Brigades [6] [note 1] | Units | Strength |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corps Lannes General of Division Jean Lannes | Advance Guard | 1,577 | General of Brigade Joseph Mainoni ( WIA ) | 28th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,577 |
Division Watrin General of Division François Watrin | 5,071 | General of Brigade Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher ( WIA ) | 6th Light Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,408 | |
40th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 2,136 | ||||
General of Brigade Claude Ursule Gency | 22nd Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,527 | |||
Artillery | – | None | 2nd Horse Artillery Regiment, 2nd Company | 6 guns, caliber? | |
Cavalry | 214 | None | 5th Dragoon Regiment | 214 [note 2] | |
Corps Victor General of Division Claude Perrin Victor | Division Gardanne General of Division Gaspard Amédée Gardanne | 3,178 | None | 44th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 2,248 |
101st Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 930 | ||||
Unknown | 2 3-pound cannons | ||||
Division Chambarlhac General of Division Jacques-Antoine Chambarlhac | 6,564 | General of Brigade Jean-Baptiste Herbin Dessaux | 24th Light Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 2,171 | |
43rd Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 2,326 | ||||
General of Brigade Olivier Macoux Rivaud ( WIA ) | 96th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 2,067 | |||
Artillery | 5th Horse Artillery Regiment, 4th Company | 1 4-pound cannon 4 guns, caliber? | |||
Cavalry | 262 | None | 3rd Cavalry Regiment, 2 squadrons | 262 | |
Corps Desaix General of Division Louis Desaix † | Division Boudet General of Division Jean Boudet ( WIA ) | 4,856 | General of Brigade Louis François Félix Musnier | 9th Light Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,833 |
30th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,200 | ||||
General of Brigade Louis Charles de Guénand ( WIA ) | 59th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,823 | |||
Artillery | 2nd Horse Artillery Regiment, 3rd Company | 4 4-pounder cannons | |||
2nd Horse Artillery Regiment, 4th Company | 4 8-pound cannons | ||||
Division Monnier General of Division Jean-Charles Monnier | 3,983 | General of Brigade Claude Carra Saint-Cyr | 19th Light Infantry Demi-brigade, 2 battalions | 673 | |
70th Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,410 | ||||
General of Brigade Jean Jacques Schilt | 72nd Line Infantry Demi-brigade, 3 battalions | 1,900 | |||
Artillery | 1st Foot Artillery Regiment, 5th Company | 1 8-pound cannon 1 howitzer, 110 men | |||
6th Foot Artillery Regiment, 10th Company | 2 3-pound cannons | ||||
Cavalry | 120 | None | 1st Hussar Regiment, 1 squadron | 120 | |
Reserve Cavalry General of Division Joachim Murat | None | 2,898 | General of Brigade Bernard Étienne Marie Duvignau | 6th Dragoon Regiment, 4 squadrons | 393 |
8th Dragoon Regiment, 4 squadrons | 443 | ||||
12th Horse Chasseur Regiment, 4 squadrons | 391 | ||||
General of Brigade François Etienne de Kellermann | 1st Cavalry Regiment | 123 | |||
2nd Cavalry Regiment, 1 squadron | 258 | ||||
20th Cavalry Regiment, 3 squadrons | 191 | ||||
General of Brigade Pierre Champeaux † | 9th Dragoon Regiment, 3 squadrons | 150 | |||
15th Horse Chasseur Regiment | 249 | ||||
General of Brigade Jean Rivaud (Not engaged) | 12th Hussar Regiment, 4 squadrons | 340 | |||
21st Horse Chasseur Regiment, 4 squadrons | 360 | ||||
Reserve General of Division Louis-Alexandre Berthier | Consular Guard | 1,232 | Colonel Jérôme Soulès | Foot Grenadier Regiment | c. 400 |
Foot Chasseur Regiment | c. 400 | ||||
Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bessières | Guard Horse Grenadiers | c. 240 | |||
Guard Horse Chasseurs | c. 120 | ||||
Artillery | Guard Artillery Company | 2 8-pound cannons 1 howitzer, 72 men | |||
Reserve Artillery General of Brigade Auguste de Marmont | 421 | None | Unknown | 2 6-pound cannons 3 guns, caliber? | |
Military Engineers General of Division Armand Samuel de Marescot | 269 | None | Sappers | 269 | |
Grand Total | – | 29,942 | – | – | 29,942, 33 guns |
Anton Freiherr von Zach was an Austrian General with Hungarian ancestors, who enlisted in the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the First French Republic. In the French Revolutionary Wars, he gained prominence as a staff officer. Still on active service during the Napoleonic Wars, he fought in the 1805 and 1809 wars. He was not given combat assignments after 1809.
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person, whether a combatant or a non-combatant, who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Wing | Division | Strength | Brigades | Units | Strength |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Advance Guard | None | 1,290 | Oberst (Colonel) Johann Maria Philipp Frimont | Mariassy Jäger Battalion, 4 companies | 164 |
Am Ende Light Battalion Nr. 3 | 291 | ||||
Bach Light Battalion Nr. 4 | 277 | ||||
Pioneers, 1 company | 100 | ||||
Kaiser Dragoon Regiment Nr. 1, 2 squadrons | 272 | ||||
Bussy Horse Jäger (French Émigré) Regiment, 2 squadrons | 186 | ||||
Cavalry Battery | – | ||||
Right Wing | Feldmarschall-Leutnant Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough | 2,997 | General-major Franz Rousseau d'Heriamont | Mariassy Jäger Battalion, 1 company | 40 |
Ottocaner Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 2, 1 battalion | 298 | ||||
Oguliner Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 3, 1 battalion | 602 | ||||
Banater Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 4, 1 battalion | 533 | ||||
Warasdiner-Kreutzer Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 5, 1 battalion | 755 | ||||
Nauendorf Hussar Regiment Nr. 8, 3⅓ squadrons | 426 | ||||
Hussar Regiment Nr. 5, 2 squadrons | 230 | ||||
Württemberg Dragoon Regiment Nr. 8, 1 squadron | 113 | ||||
Cavalry battery | – | ||||
Center General der Kavallerie Michael von Melas | Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak † | 5,039 | General-major Franz (Giovanni) Pilati von Tassulo | Kaiser Dragoon Regiment Nr. 1, 3 squadrons | 309 |
Karaczay Dragoon Regiment Nr. 4, 6 squadrons | 1,053 | ||||
General-major Friedrich Joseph Anton von Bellegarde ( WIA ) | Archduke Anton Infantry Regiment Nr. 52, 2 battalions | 855 | |||
Johann Jellacic Infantry Regiment Nr. 53, 1 battalion | 613 | ||||
General-major Franz Xaver Saint-Julien | Michael Wallis Infantry Regiment Nr. 11, 3 battalions | 2,209 | |||
Feldmarschall-Leutnant Konrad Valentin von Kaim | 4,939 | General-major Auguste-François Landres de Briey | Franz Kinsky Infantry Regiment Nr. 47, 2⅓ battalions | 1,640 | |
General-major Vinzenz Knesevich | Tuscany Infantry Regiment Nr. 23, 3 battalions | 2,188 | |||
General-major Ludwig Wolff de la Marselle ( WIA ) | Archduke Josef Infantry Regiment Nr. 63, 3 battalions | 1,111 | |||
Feldmarschall-Leutnant Anton von Elsnitz | 4,214 | General-major Johann Baptist Nobili von Loptay | Archduke Johann Dragoon Regiment Nr. 3, 6 squadrons | 859 | |
Liechtenstein Dragoon Regiment Nr. 9, 6 squadrons | 1,014 | ||||
General-major Joseph Nimptsch von Fürst und Kupferberg (Not engaged) | Hussar Regiment Nr. 7, 8 squadrons | 1,353 | |||
Erdödy Hussar Regiment Nr. 9, 6 squadrons | 988 | ||||
Feldmarschall-Leutnant Ferdinand Johann von Morzin [6] [note 3] | 4,756 | General-major Christoph von Lattermann ( WIA ) | Paar Grenadier battalion | 2,116 [note 4] | |
Pers Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Sciaffinati Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Weber Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Czerwenka Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
General-major Karl Philippi von Weidenfeld | Pertusy Grenadier battalion | 2,240 [note 5] | |||
Piret Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Khevenhüller Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Gorschen Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Weissenwolf Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Saint-Julien Grenadier battalion | – | ||||
Attached Pioneers | Pioneers, 4 companies | 400 | |||
Left Wing Feldmarschall-Leutnant Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz | Advance Guard | 811 | General-major Friedrich Heinrich von Gottesheim ( WIA ) | Mariassy Jäger Battalion, 1 company | 40 |
Frölich Infantry Regiment Nr. 28, 1 battalion | 523 | ||||
Lobkowitz Dragoon Regiment Nr. 10, 2 squadrons | 248 | ||||
Feldmarschall-Leutnant Ludwig von Vogelsang ( WIA ) | 2,194 | General-major Josef Kajetan von Ulm zu Erbach | Hohenlohe Infantry Regiment Nr. 17, 2 battalions | 912 | |
Stuart Infantry Regiment Nr. 18, 3 battalions | 1,282 | ||||
Feldmarschall-Leutnant Joseph von Schellenberg | 4,597 | General-major Anton von Retz | Pioneers, 1 company | 100 | |
Frölich Infantry Regiment Nr. 28, 2 battalions | 1,046 | ||||
Joseph Mittrowsky Infantry Regiment Nr. 40, 3 battalions | 853 | ||||
General-major Franz Seraph Sticker von Haymingthal | Splenyi Infantry Regiment Nr. 51, 2 battalions | 737 | |||
Josef Colloredo Infantry Regiment Nr. 57, 3 battalions) | 1,369 | ||||
Lobkowitz Dragoon Regiment Nr. 10, 4 squadrons) | 492 | ||||
Grand Total | – | 30,379 | – | – | 30,379 92 guns [note 6] |
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 the Austrians and Bavarians led by Archduke John of Austria. After being forced into a disastrous retreat, the allies were compelled to request an armistice that effectively ended the War of the Second Coalition. Hohenlinden is 33 km east of Munich in modern Germany.
The Battle of Novi saw a combined army of the Habsburg monarchy and Imperial Russians under Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov attack a Republican French army under General Barthélemy Catherine Joubert. After a prolonged and bloody struggle, the Austro-Russians broke through the French defenses and drove their enemies into a disorderly retreat. Joubert was killed while French division commanders Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon and Emmanuel Grouchy were captured. Novi Ligure is in the province of Piedmont in Italy a distance of 58 kilometres (36 mi) north of Genoa. The battle occurred during the War of the Second Coalition which was part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
André Masséna, 1st Duke of Rivoli, 1st Prince of Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon, with the nickname l'Enfant chéri de la Victoire.
The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1799 with the French fighting the forces of the Second Coalition. Napoleon Bonaparte had returned from Egypt and taken control of the French government. He prepared a new campaign, sending Moreau to the Rhine frontier and personally going to take command in the Alps, where French forces had been driven almost out of Italy in 1799.
The Battle of Teugen-Hausen or the Battle of Thann was an engagement that occurred during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was fought on 19 April 1809 between the French III Corps led by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout and the Austrian III Armeekorps commanded by Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The French won a hard-fought victory over their opponents when the Austrians withdrew that evening. The site of the battle is a wooded height approximately halfway between the villages of Teugn and Hausen in Lower Bavaria, part of modern-day Germany.
The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of Habsburg Monarchy led by Feldmarschall Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated and driven back along a line of hills to the river crossing at Borghetto, where they retired beyond the Mincio River. The town of Castiglione delle Stiviere is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Lake Garda in northern Italy. This battle was one of four famous victories won by Bonaparte during the War of the First Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. The others were Bassano, Arcole, and Rivoli.
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Baron Josef Philipp Vukassovich was a Croatian soldier who joined the army of Habsburg Monarchy and fought against both Ottoman Empire and the First French Republic. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he commanded a brigade in the 1796–1797 Italian campaign against Napoleon Bonaparte. He led a division during the Napoleonic Wars and received a fatal wound in action.
Count Paul Grenier joined the French royal army and rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a division in the 1796-1797 campaign in southern Germany. During the 1800 campaign in the Electorate of Bavaria he was a wing commander. Beginning in 1809, in the Napoleonic Wars, Emperor Napoleon I entrusted him with corps commands in the Italian theater. A skilled tactician, he was one of the veteran generals who made the Napoleonic armies such a formidable foe to the other European powers. After the Bourbon Restoration he retired from the army and later went into politics. Grenier is one of the Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.
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Andreas Graf O'Reilly von Ballinlough was an Irish-Austrian soldier and military commander of Irish origin. His military service extended through the Seven Years' War, War of the Bavarian Succession, Austro-Turkish War, French Revolutionary Wars, and Napoleonic Wars. He retired from the army in 1810 and died at age 89.
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The Dalmatian Campaign saw several battles fought between 30 April and 21 May 1809 by Auguste Marmont's First French Empire soldiers and Andreas von Stoichevich's Austrian Empire troops. The Austrians drove the French from their positions on the Zrmanja River at the end of April. But in mid-May, the French counterattack forced back the Austrians. The defenders offered stout resistance, but ultimately Marmont broke out of Dalmatia and joined Emperor Napoleon's army near Vienna with over 10,000 men. The campaign was fought during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Dalmatia is part of the modern-day nation of Croatia.
Philipp Pittoni Freiherr von Dannenfeld, fought in the army of Habsburg Austria during the French Revolutionary Wars. Promoted to general officer in 1795, he was a brigade commander in northwestern Italy at the time when Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed to lead the opposing French Army of Italy. He led one of the two main columns at Voltri in April 1796. At Borghetto in May, he unsuccessfully defended the bridge. He led a brigade at Castiglione in August and at Second Bassano and Arcole in November 1796. He retired from service the following year and died at Gorizia in 1824.
Vinko Knežević or Vincent Knesevich de Szent-Helena was a Croatian nobleman and general in the Habsburg Monarchy imperial army service. He fought in many battles during the Austro-Turkish War and the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1799 he led a hussar regiment at Cassano, the Trebbia and Novi. He commanded an infantry brigade at Marengo the following year and led Austrian Empire troops in the Tyrol in 1805 and at Graz in 1809. He served in various assignments on the Military Border from 1809 to 1812. From 1802 he lived on his estate Sveta Jelena in former Zala County, modern-day Međimurje County in northern Croatia. By the end of Napoleonic Wars he retired from military service as a General der Kavallerie in 1815. He became Proprietor of a dragoon regiment in 1809 and held that office until his death in 1832.
The Convention of Alessandria was a treaty signed on 15 June 1800 between the French First Republic led by Napoleon and Austria during the War of the Second Coalition. Following the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Marengo, they agreed to evacuate Italy as far as the Mincio and abandon strongholds in Piedmont and Milan. Great Britain and Austria were allies and hoped to negotiate a peace treaty with France, but Napoleon insisted on separate treaties with each nation. The negotiations failed, and fighting resumed on 22 November 1800.