This must have raised Napoleon's hopes of success as he planned the next stage, that of destroying the Austrian army. An army commanded by the 75 year old General Johann Beaulieu. Perhaps his hopes were raised too much and he may well have believed, as the last sentence in his letter to Carnot seemed to suggest, that he could just as easily defeat the Austrians as he did the Piedmontese. He was soon to find out otherwise because the Austrians, like the Spanish in the Peninsular campaigns, no matter how many times you defeated them, had the habit of coming back for more.

But, on the other hand, Napoleon was a gambler, his luck was in, and most of his gambles paid off, one way or another. Added to this his popularity with the troops was rapidly growing, inspired by his method of winning battles by marching and outflanking an enemy, rather than directly attacking them head on. However, a battle was on the horizon in which he would ask them to do just that.

The Build Up To The Battle

The armistice between the French and the Piedmontese had been signed on the 28th of April, but Napoleon had already begun to move his forces against the Austrians. It was clear in his mind that, although an armistice had the effect of pulling the Piedmontese out of the war, they could still, if they had reason to do so, field an army of up to 60,000 men in his rear. Only a third of these would be regular troops, the rest being militia, and, although many of these were now in the process of being disbanded, the threat was still there.

The area Napoleon didn't want to fight in, which was better suited to Austrian cavalry.

The area northwards that Napoleon elected to fight over, better suited to French infantry.

In fact he wouldn`t receive definite news of peace until the 21st of May. However, Napoleon wasn't one for hanging around. He also wanted to force the Austrians northwards away from the present area of combat (see photo at left) in which the Austrians were able to employ their superiority in cavalry, to areas more suitable to infantry (see photo at right). North would also lead to Milan (see map below), and its capture, apart from the financial gain, would be a great psychological victory.

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To convince the Piedmontese to obey the armistice the French needed a quick victory over the Austrians. With this in mind he had to take up every opportunity that came: to attack and bring the Austrians to battle. He also needed to move his troops into richer areas that could more easily afford to pay for their supply needs. The need for a good food supply was urgent and had almost caused them defeat earlier on at Dego and San Michele. In both cases, after taking them, the hungry French foolishly went out foraging. The Piedmontese and the Austrians took advantage of this, counterattacked and drove them out. The French, after they had eventually been rallied and reorganised by Napoleon, then had to counterattack and retake them again.

Beaulieu's Positions

By the 6th of May Beaulieu had positioned himself along the River Po from the River Sesia to the outskirts of Piacenza. It was strongly believed that the French would attempt a crossing at Valenza and he wanted to be in a position to concentrate his forces to outnumber and ttack them as they tried to cross. However, Napoleon outmanoeuvred the Austrians and crossed in force at Piacenza (see map below).

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By the 7th the Austrians were advancing in haste towards the French bridgehead. The French success at crossing however was marred the next day when General La Harpe was accidentally killed by his own men in a night action at Codogno. His troops panicked but the situation was saved when Louis Alexandre Berthier, Napoleon's 42-year-old Chief of Staff, took command. Some accounts report that at least two more attempts were made and each time the French were forced back with great loss. What happened next after these initial attacks is unclear. However, according to Nosworthy's account, it seems possible that the smoke from the constant cannon fire formed a fog, which, for the time being, blinded the Austrian gunners. Not being able to see their targets the Austrian artillery fell silent. Taking advantage of this, Napoleon, along with Colonel Jean Lannes and Generals Massena, Dallemagne and Berthier, who, in one account, was said to have seized a flag, led the troops once more across the bridge.

The French advanced quickly, too quickly for the old warrior Beaulieu and he ordered a rapid retreat, first to Lodi and then to Crema. This left the road to the rich city of Milan open for Napoleon. However, the French dared not attempt to march on the city while the Austrians remained positioned on their right flank along the eastern side of the River Adda. However, if they remained in that area Napoleon was sure he could force Beaulieu into a battle. On the other hand, if the Austrians continued their retreat northwards Napoleon would lose his chance of a decisive victory. In order to bring them to battle he had to cross the River Adda as quickly as possible before the Austrians moved away, and the best place to do this was via the bridge at Lodi.

The Battle of Lodi: 10th May, 1796.

The town of Lodi itself is split by the River Adda with the main part situated on the western bank while the eastern side held mainly a few and woods. Some accounts also mention there being some ramparts or town walls on the western bank, which, if they did exist, would give the French troops some cover as they prepared to attack. However, I came across no clear details or descriptions concerning their size, length, condition or their actual positions. The narrow Italian streets (See photo at right) were ideal for defence by infantry and would take some time to clear, and although many accounts state that Sebottendorf did not intend to defend the town, Nosworthy's indicates that he did. This seems possible and may well be one of the reasons why he didn't set in motion any plans to destroy the bridge: he needed it himself in case he had to retreat.

On the other hand, failure to destroy the bridge may well have been simply the fault of the Austrian intelligence. By all accounts Sebottendorf was clearly unaware that the French were advancing so quickly. One account states that he was so unaware of the approaching French that he had given the okay for his tired troops to start cooking. The fault with the intelligence may well be true, although it was generally good on both sides during the campaign.

As good as it was, the information was only as good as when the spy actually spotted the enemy. By the time he reached headquarters the enemy may well have moved on and in a variety of unknown directions. Indeed, a rearguard might actually become an advance-guard. Whatever his reasons, the swift advance of the French and the speed in which they pushed in his outposts, took him by surprise. So much so, that when the French advanced into Lodi itself, it was defended by just one battalion of infantry (the Nadasti regiment), two squadrons of cavalry and perhaps two to four guns. The rest of Sebottendorf's troops were now positioned on the east bank, along with the main bulk of his artillery.

The Bridge

The wooden bridge itself was said to be 200 yards long, and possibly as many as three to six cannons were aimed directly at the mouth of the eastern end of the bridge. At least three more were positioned either side of it to create enfilade fire. Added to this would be the musket and rifle fire from the Austrian infantry. (It is possible that the Austrians were positioned in two battle lines. The first, consisting of three Grenzer battalions, were placed along the eastern bank of the river.

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The second, consisting of five battalions of infantry, were positioned a little further back.) However they were positioned, it was clear that anyone crossing would have no cover and come under intense fire. (A bit like trying to walk from one end of a football pitch to the other while being shot at all the time and without being able to move out of the way.) Anyone managing to arrive at the other end of the bridge would then be blasted by the fire of massed muskets and rifles. Certainly, any attempt to cross the bridge was going to be very costly in terms of human life.

The first French units to reach Lodi, along with Napoleon, was Dallemagne's special Division created by Napoleon, which consisted of all the Demi-Brigade grenadier and carabinier companies, numbering around 3,000 infantry. With these were 2,000 light cavalry and possibly up to four light guns. (The time of arrival varies from an early 9.00am to a later 11.30am) Massena's Division of 8,000 men, General Pierre Augereau's Division of 6,000, and the main batteries of artillery, were hurrying towards Lodi as quickly as they could. These units were tired after all previous days heavy marching and fighting and Massena, followed by Augereau, wouldn't reach Lodi until around 5pm. This meant that Sebottendorf actually outnumbered Napoleon by two to one at the beginning of the battle. This was to happen in many combats between the French and the Austrians, but, as usual, the Austrians, for one reason or another, failed to take advantage and generally ended up becoming outnumbered themselves. Of course the fog of war has a lot to do with this and neither side knew accurately how many troops opposed them at any set time.

Fog of war or not, the French immediately attacked the Austrians and quickly overcame their outposts and the Austrians retreated back to the eastern side of the river. Between 11am and 1pm, Napoleon was able to position some guns to cover the bridge to prevent any attempts at destroying it. He then had to wait until Massena and Augereau arrived with their divisions. While he waited he ordered General of Brigade Beaumont, with most of the cavalry and some horse artillery, to find a way across the Adda north of Lodi, and to attack the Austrian right flank.

This took some time and it wasn't until much later in the day that Beaumont managed to cross via a ford a few miles upriver. If the Austrians had attacked at this point, who knows what might have happened. As it was, they sat back and waited, although the main reason for this might be because they too were tired and hungry.

'Le Petit Caporal'

The main French artillery began to arrive and Napoleon was said to have sighted many of them personally, earning himself the title 'Le Petit Caporal'. As more and more guns arrived, the French were eventually able to field about 30 guns and a savage artillery duel began which lasted for several hours. Although they were causing the Austrian artillery great damage, as far as Napoleon was concerned, time was passing by and also his chance of bringing Beaulieu to battle. He must have been extremely pleased when, just before 5pm, Massena arrived with his Division. While Massena was getting his tired troops into position on the outskirts of Lodi, Napoleon, eager to get going, formed Dallemagne's troops into a long column ready to storm the bridge. Some reports say they were formed six abreast. By 6pm, Napoleon, observing the carnage caused by his artillery and believing that Beaumont had probably crossed the Adda by now and would be attacking any minute, ordered the troops forward.

With a roar and the usual, blood stirring shouts of `Vive la Republique!` the French charged across the bridge. The Austrians held their fire until the French reached half way. When they did fire they let loose with canister (sometimes referred to as grapeshot in many accounts) and the front of the French column disappeared in a mass of blood and dead bodies. The French wavered, the Austrians fired again, and more men fell. Again, according to Nosworthy's account, the sight of the French attacking out of the smoke took the Austrians by surprise and caused them to panic.

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To add to their discomfort, some of the French troops had jumped off the bridge and waded through the water to the other side were they fired on the startled gunners. The French infantry column then smashed into the Austrian line forcing it back. As the rest of the column arrived the French advanced on the Austrians who had now fallen back to a new position. (Map 5) Although the Austrian infantry must have caused considerable casualties to the French as they advanced along the bridge, they were prevented from causing further losses once the French reached the other side. The reason for this, again according to Nosworthy's account, was because the advancing French were given some protection by the undulating ground. This in turn, meant that the French could successfully form a bridgehead.

Austrian Counterattack

The French, now formed into line, advanced steadily but as they did so, Sebottendorf, who even at this point still outnumbered the French, ordered a counterattack. So ferocious was the attack that the French were forced backwards towards the River Adda. Things looked bad for Napoleon until the timely arrival of Massena's troops who now crossed the bridge unmolested.

Following close on his heels came Augereau's Division. At the same time, Beaumont appeared on the Austrian right flank and General Rusca, with a regiment of cavalry, was said to have swam across the Adda south of Lodi, and was now advancing on their left flank. The odds were now reversed and under such pressure the Austrian infantry began to fall back. They were replaced by the Austrian cavalry, who, not yet in action, now attacked in a last desperate attempt to stem the French advance. But their attack had little effect on the French infantry who were resolved not to give in after all their efforts to take the bridge. In the ensuing action there were many individual deeds of bravery on both sides. One such example was that shown by Grenadier Laforge of the 21st Demi-Brigade de Bataille: 'alone, he killed 5 Uhlans and caused the rout of an entire squadron.' [5]

It was now clear to Sebottendorf that he couldn't hold the position any longer. He had carried out his command as rearguard successfully but it was time to leave and to take as many men as he could with him. He ordered a retreat to Crema to join up with Beaulieu, and the cavalry were given the job of covering the retreat. One account states the retreat was also covered by troops from the IR16 Terzi and the IR4 regiment, commanded overall by Colonel Count Attems, who had two horses shot from under him and was himself killed in the action. They were also aided by some guns. This they managed to do successfully, aided probably by the fact that the French, after so much marching and fighting, were too exhausted to pursue them effectively. The Austrians had lost the battle, although it had not been the decisive action that Napoleon desired. However, it did help to keep the Piedmontese in order and to increase the reputation of both Napoleon and the French army.

Trying to obtain detailed casualty lists proved equally as difficult as trying to find accurate orders of battle. As usual, the accounts vary, with 153 Austrians and 350 French killed generally offered as the usual result of the action. However, although the casualty rate was fairly low in most Napoleonic battles, compared to later day actions, these figures seem far too small, especially when we consider the size of the battlefield, the amount of artillery and canister involved and the ferocity of the fighting. It seems even smaller when we consider that the French lost over 1,000 troops at Dego and nearly as much killed and wounded in the siege of the ruined castle of Cosseria. The Austrians were also said to have lost a further 1,500 men taken prisoner and as many as 16 guns.

After the Battle