Aulic Council again framed and trans- | were driven back in confusion, and the mitted to Wurmser a plan for the ex- Republicans entered Roveredo pell-mell pulsion of the French from the line of with the fugitives. the Adige. According to this design, he was to leave twenty thousand men under Davidovich, to guard Roveredo and the valley of the Adige; and to descend himself, with thirty thousand, by the gorges of the Brenta to Bassano, and so reach the plains of Padua. Thus, notwithstanding their former disasters, they were again about to commit the error of dividing their force into two columns, while Napoleon occupied a central position equidistant from each, -with this difference, that, instead of a lake, they had now a mass of impass-stream. able mountains between them. 114. Davidovich rallied his broken divisions in the defile of Calliano, a formidable pass on the banks of the Adige, formed where the precipices of the Alps approach so close to the river that there is only the breadth of four hundred toises left between them. An old castle, which the Austrians had strengthened and mounted with cannon, was placed at the edge of the precipice, and a ruined wall stretched across the gorge of the defile, from the foot of the rocks to the margin of the Napoleon threw his light troops on the mountains upon his own right, placed a battery, which commanded the Austrian cannon, and, forming a close column of ten battalions, precipitated it along the highroad upon the enemy. Nothing could withstand the impetuosity of the attack. The Imperialists were routed; horse, foot, and cannon rushed in confusion through the narrow defile in their rear; and the Republican cavalry, charging furiously along the chaussée, drove them, in the utmost disorder, towards Trent. Seven hundred prisoners and hands of the victors; and on the following day Napoleon entered that city, the capital of the Italian Tyrol, while the discomfited remains of Davidovich's corps retired farther up the valley of the Adige, behind the Lavis. 113. Napoleon at this time resolved to resume the offensive, in order to prevent any detachments from the Imperial army into Bavaria, where the Archduke Charles was now severely pressed by Moreau. The two armies broke up about the same time, without the generals on either side being aware of their opponent's measuresWurmser descending the Brenta, and Napoleon ascending the Adige. Foreseeing the possibility of a descent upon Mantua during his absence, the French general left Kilmaine, with three thou-fifteen pieces of cannon fell into the sand men, to occupy Legnago and Verona, while ten thousand still maintained the blockade of Mantua, and he himself, with thirty thousand, moved towards the Tyrol by the two roads on the banks of the Adige, and that on the western side of the lake of Guarda. 115. The intelligence of this disaster, The French were the first to commence so far from stopping, only accelerated operations. Early in September, Vau- the march of Wurmser through the debois, with the division of Sauret, as- files of the Brenta. He now imagined cended the lake, and, after several com- that Napoleon intended to penetrate bats, reached Tortola, at its upper ex- by Brixen and the Brenner into Gertremity. On the same day Napoleon, many, in order to co-operate with Morwith the divisions of Massena and Au- eau in the plains of Bavaria; and the gereau, arrived in front of the advanced Austrian veteran immediately conceived posts of the Austrians at Serravalle, on the bold design of hastening, with his the Adige, and on the following day at- whole disposable force, down the Val tacked their position. The Imperialists Sugana into the plain of Bassano, turnstood firm; but Napoleon sent out a ing rapidly to the right, seizing upon cloud of light troops on the heights on Verona, and both raising the siege of either side of their columns, and the Mantua and preventing the return of moment they began to waver, he made Napoleon into Italy. The French genso vigorous a charge along the chaus-eral, who, by treachery at the Austrian sée with the hussars, that the Austrians | headquarters, was uniformly put in possession of his adversary's plans before they could be executed, immediately perceived the danger which would result from this measure on the part of the enemy, and resolved to oppose it by another, equally bold, on his own side. This was, to leave the division of Vaubois alone in the Tyrol to make head against Davidovich, and descend himself, with twenty-four thousand men, the defiles of the Brenta, and attack Wurmser before he had got round to Verona. In doing this, he ran the risk, it is true, of being himself shut up in the terrible defiles of the Val Sugana, surrounded by precipices and peaks of a stupendous elevation, between Wurmser in front and Davidovich in rear; but he trusted to the resolution of his troops to overcome every obstacle, and hoped, by driving his antagonist back on the Adige, to compel his whole force to lay down their arms. 116. At break of day, on the 6th, the French troops were in motion, climbing the steep hills which shut in the valley of the Adige on the eastern side. From the plains of Trent they soon surmounted the ridge which forms its eastern boundary, and, descending the torrent of the Val Sugana, they reached Bocco di Val Sugana at night, after having advanced ten leagues. On the following morning they continued their march, and at the entrance of the narrow defile, there shut in by steep and inaccessible rocks, terminating in peaks of the most fantastic kind, came up with the Austrian rearguard, strongly posted near Primolano. Napoleon put in practice the same manoeuvre which had succeeded so well at Calliano, covering the mountains on either side with his tirailleurs, and forming a close column of infantry to attack the position along the high-road. Nothing could resist the impetuosity of the French troops. The Austrians, who were greatly inferior in number, being only the rearguard of the main force, were routed with the loss of two thousand prisoners and nine pieces of canThe fugitives were pursued as far as Cesmona, where headquarters were established. Napoleon, in his eagerness to pursue the enemy, outrode non. all his suite, and passed the night alone, wrapped in his cloak, on the ground, in the midst of a regiment of infantry who bivouacked round the town. Ă private soldier shared with him his rations, and reminded him of it, after he became Emperor, in the camp at Boulogne. 117. On the same day in which this action took place in the gorges of the Val Sugana, the advanced guard of Wurmser, under Mezaros, had reached Verona, and was already skirmishing with the posts of the Republicans on the fortifications which had been erected round that city, when they were recalled to make head against the terrible enemy who had assailed their rear. Wurmser collected all his forces at Bassano, to endeavour to bar the passage, and throw the French back into the defiles. The heavy infantry and artillery were placed on a strong position in front of the town and round its mouldering towers, while six battalions of light troops occupied the opening of the valley into the plain. These were speedily overthrown, and the divisions of Massena and Augereau, emerging from the defiles, found themselves in presence of a brilliant force of twenty thousand men, with a powerful artillery, drawn up in battle array. But the Austrians, discouraged by repeated defeats, made but a feeble resistance. Massena speedily routed them on the right, while Augereau broke them on the left: the fugitives rushed in confusion into the town, whither they were immediately followed by the victorious French, who made four thousand prisoners, and captured thirty pieces of cannon, besides almost all the baggage, pontoons and ammunition of the army. 118. During the confusion of this defeat the Austrians got separated from each other: Quasdanovich, with three thousand men, was thrown back towards Friuli, while Wurmser, with sixteen thousand, took the road to Mantua. The situation of the veteran marshal was all but desperate: Massena was pressing his rear, while Porto Legnago and Verona were both in the hands of the enemy, and the loss of all his pontoons at Bassano rendered it impossible to pass the Adige but at one | first drove back Augereau, and the or other of these places. Fortunately battle seemed for a time doubtful; but for him, the battalion which occupied a vigorous charge by Massena in the Porto Legnago had been withdrawn to centre, in the course of which he carVerona during the attack on that place, ried Fort St George at the point of the and the one destined to replace it had bayonet, restored affairs, and Wurmser not yet arrived. By a rapid march he was at length repulsed into Mantua, reached that town before the Republi- with the loss of three thousand men cans, and thus got his troops across the and twenty pieces of cannon. Two Adige. Napoleon, following his prey days afterwards, he threw a bridge over with breathless anxiety, no sooner dis- the Po, and attacked Governolo, one of covered that the Austrians had effected the fortresses erected by the French at the passage at Legnago, than he pushed the termination of the dikes, with the Massena across the river to Cerra, in design of cutting his way through to order to cut them from the road to the Adige; but he was repulsed with Mantua. But the Austrians fought the loss of six hundred men and four with the courage of despair, and their pieces of cannon; and, in the begincavalry, five thousand strong, who were ning of October, Kilmaine resumed his unbroken, and whose spirit had not old lines round the town, and the Aussuffered by disaster, proved irresistible trians were shut in on every side withto their enemies. Napoleon himself, in its walls. Wurmser killed the horses who had come up during the engage- of his numerous and splendid cavalry, ment, had great difficulty in saving salted their carcasses, and made every himself by flight; and Wurmser, who preparation for a vigorous defence: arrived a few minutes after, deemed while Napoleon despatched his aide-dehimself so secure of his antagonist, camp, MARMONT,* afterwards Duke of that he recommended to his dragoons to take him alive. Having missed so brilliant a stroke, the old marshal continued his march, passed the Molinella, cut to pieces a body of eight hundred infantry which endeavoured to interrupt his progress, and entered Mantua in a species of triumph which threw a ray of glory over his long series of disasters. 119. Encouraged by these successes, he still endeavoured to keep the field with twenty thousand infantry and five thousand horse; and soon after his cuirassiers destroyed a regiment of light infantry at Due Castelle. But this was the termination of his transient gleam of prosperity. Napoleon soon after brought up the greater part of his forces, and Augereau stormed Porto Legnago, making prisoners a thousand men and fifteen pieces of cannon,—a stroke which, by depriving Wurmser of the means of passing the Adige, threw him back on Mantua. On the 19th he was attacked by the division of Augereau, that of Serrurier, then commanded by Salinguet, and that of Massena, constituting in all an equal force. The Austrian cavalry at * Auguste Frederic de Marmont was born at Châtillon-sur-Seine on 20th July 1774. His father, who belonged to an old and respectable military family, had himself followed the profession of arms; and he destined his son, from his earliest years, to the same. At the early age of fifteen he received his commission as sub-lieutenant in a regiment of infantry; aud artillery. He made his first essay in arms in was transferred, in January 1792, into one of the campaign of 1792, when he was attached to the army of the Alps. In 1793 he served at the siege of Toulon, and his skill in gunnery there first attracted the notice of Napoleon. He subsequently accompanied the future emperor to Paris, and shared in his disgrace after the 9th Thermidor. Having afterwards got employment with the army of the Rhine, he distinguished himself in various combats, in which he commanded, under Desaix, the artillery of the advanced guard. After the artive operations on the Rhine, he returned to mistice in December 1795 had terminated acParis, where Napoleon had now risen into high favour with government, in consequence of the suppression of the revolt of the Sections: aide-de-camp, which he held through all the Italian campaigns. Overflowing with courage, he was with the advanced guard of cavalry which crossed the river above Lodi, and had his horse shot under him on that occasion; notwithstanding which, he captured the first gun which was taken in that terrible combat, for which he received a sabre of hontinguished himself; and so brilliant were the At the battle of Castiglione he also disservices which he rendered during the actions and from him he obtained the situation of our. Ragusa, with the standards taken in | were united under a provisional gov these glorious actions, to lay at the feet of the French government. 120. By the result of these conflicts, the Austrian army in the field was reduced from fifty thousand to fifteen thousand men. Of these, twelve thousand under Davidovich had taken refuge in the defiles leading to Mount Brenner, while three thousand under Quasdanovich were in the mountains of Friuli. Wurmser, it is true, had brought sixteen thousand into Mantua; but this force, accumulated in a besieged and unhealthy town, was of no real service during the remainder of the campaign, and rather, by increasing the number of useless mouths within the place, accelerated the period of its ultimate surrender. Before the end of October, ten thousand of the garrison were in the hospitals; so that the besieged were unable either to make any use of their superfluous numbers, or get quit of the unserviceable persons who consumed their scanty provisions. But these successes, great as they were, had not been purchased without a very heavy loss to the French army, which, in these actions, was weakened by above fifteen thousand men, in killed, wounded, and prisoners. 121. Both parties remained in inactivity for a considerable time after these exhausting efforts, during which the Austrians were energetically employed in repairing their losses, and the Republicans in drawing forces from the other side of the Alps. The latter took advantage of the delay to organise revolutionary powers throughout all the north of Italy. Bologna and Ferrara at Mantua, that Napoleon selected him to bear the standards taken to the Directory at Paris. He became marshal of France, and shared largely in the glories and dangers of Napoleon's campaigns. He was a most able general, and second to none of the Emperor's lieutenants in the movements of a campaign, though on the field of battle he had not the daring of Murat, or the cool determination of Davoust. Defeated at Salamanca by Wellington, he had afterwards the misfortune to be twice compelled to sign a capitulation of Paris. But his reputation has survived these rude shocks; and his Travels in the East prove, that to the eye of a general he united the accomplishments of a scholar and the heart of a philanthropist. ernment, republican forces and Jacobin clubs established, and all the machinery of democracy put in full operation; Modena was revolutionised, the old government replaced by a popular assembly, and French troops admitted within its walls; while legions of national guards were organised throughout the whole of Lombardy. But more efficient auxiliaries were approaching. Twelve battalions from the army of La Vendée, besides the remainder of the forces of Kellermann, joyfully crossed the Alps, happy to exchange the scene of utter penury and inglorious warfare, to which their efforts had hitherto been confined, for the luxurious quarters and shining achievements of the Italian army. In the end of October, Alvinzi, who had assumed the command of the army in Friuli, had assembled forty thousand men under his standards; while the corps of Davidovich was raised, by the junction of a large body of the Tyrolese militia, a force admirably adapted for mountain warfare, to eighteen thousand men. To oppose this mass of assailants, Napoleon had twelve thousand men under Vaubois, on the Lavis, in front of Trent; twenty thousand on the Brenta and the Adige observing Alvinzi, and ten thousand guarding the lines round Mantua. The disproportion, therefore, was very great in every quarter; and Napoleon, justly alarmed at his situation, and chagrined at the Directory for not putting a larger force at his disposal, wrote to the government that he was about to lose the whole of his Italian conquests.* 122. The Austrian preparations being * Napoleon's letter was in these terms:"Mantua cannot be reduced before the middle of February; you will perceive from that how critical our situation is; and our political system is, if possible, still worse. Peace with Naples is indispensable; an alliance with Genoa and Turin necessary. Lose no time in taking the people of Lombardy, Modena, Bologna, and Ferrara, under your protection; and, above all, send reinforcements. Emperor has thrice re-formed his army since the commencement of the campaign. Everything is going wrong in Italy; the prestige of our forces is dissipated; the enemy now count our ranks. It is indispensable that you take into your instant consideration the critical situation of the Italian army, and forthwith The pidly down on the Monte Baldo and Rivoli, so as to threaten his communications with Verona and the remainder of the army. Nothing was left for Vaubois but to retire in haste towards Verona, which was seriously menaced by the advance of the Tyrolese army; while their progress on the Monte Baldo could only be arrested by bringing up Joubert in the utmost haste from the lines before Mantua. completed, Alvinzi, on the 1st Novem- | passed that post, and was moving raber, threw two bridges over the Piave, and advanced against Massena, whose headquarters were at Bassano. At the approach of the Imperialists in such superior force, the French fell back to Vicenza, and Napoleon hastened, with the division of Augereau and the reserve, to their support. On the 6th a general battle took place. Massena overthrew the Austrian left, commanded by Provera and Liptay, and drove them with loss over the Brenta; while Napoleon himself defeated the right, under Quasdanovich, and would have carried the town of Bassano, which the Imperialists occupied in force, had not Hohenzollern, who advanced at the head of the Austrian reserve, made good the place till nightfall. But early on the following morning, the French general received intelligence from Vaubois, in the Tyrol, which not only interrupted his career of success, but rendered an immediate retreat on the part of the whole Republican army unavoidable. 124. No sooner was this disastrous intelligence received by Napoleon, than he drew back his whole force through Vicenza to Verona; while Alvinzi, who was himself preparing to retire, after his check on the preceding day, immediately resumed the offensive. Napoleon in person proceeded, with such troops as he could collect, in the utmost haste to the Monte Baldo, where he found the division of Vaubois all assembled on the plateau of Rivoli, and so much reinforced as to be able to withstand an attack. He here deemed it necessary to make a severe example of the regiments whose panic had so nearly proved fatal to the army. Collecting the troops into a circle, he addressed them, with a severe tone, in these 123. In obedience to the orders he had received, that general, on the same day on which the Austrians crossed the Piave, commenced an attack on their position on the Lavis; but he was not only received with the utmost intre-words-"Soldiers, I am displeased with pidity, but worsted in the encounter, and his forces having fallen into confusion in the course of their retreat through the narrow valley, he was driven back in disorder through the town of Trent, to the defile of Calliano, with the loss of four thousand men. There he made a stand; but Davidovich, having caused a large part of his forces to cross to the right bank of the Adige, secure it friends both among kings and people. The influence of Rome is incalculable: you did wrong in breaking with that power; I would have temporised with it, as we have done with Venice and Genoa. Whenever the general in Italy is not the centre of negotiation as well as military operations, the greatest risks will be incurred. You may ascribe this language to ambition; but I am satiated with honours, and my health is so broken that I must implore you to give me I can no longer sit on horse a successor. back: my courage alone is unshaken. Everything was ready for the explosion at Genoa; but Faypoult thought it expedient to delay. We must conciliate Genoa till the new order of things is more firmly established."-Confident. Despatches, Oct. 8, 1796, ii. 92, 93. you. You have evinced neither discipline, nor valour, nor constancy. You have allowed yourselves to be chased from positions where a handful of resolute men might have arrested an army. Soldiers of the 39th and 85th, you are no longer French soldiers. Chief of the staff, cause it to be written on their standards, They are no longer of the Army of Italy." These terrible words, pronounced with a menacing voice, filled these brave regiments with consternation. The laws of discipline could not restrain the sounds of grief which burst from their ranks. They broke their array, and, crowding round the general, entreated that he would lead them into action, and give them an opportunity of showing whether they were not of the Army of Italy. Napoleon consoled them by some kind expressions, and, feigning to yield to their prayers, promised to suspend the order. A few days after, they behaved with un |