Marengo was both a battle and a campaign. And as a
campaign, it is a part of a much larger campaign that
encompassed actions by the French armies in Germany
against a second Austrian army. It is, however, the
intention of this article to briefly cover only the campaign
in Northern Italy and to devote more attention to the actual
battle fought at Marengo on 14 June 1800.
Bonaparte, First Consul and the architect of this campaign, had dispatched Moreau to fight the Austrians in Germany. He then personally organized and led the Army of the Reserve into Italy. Advancing as Hannibal before him, Bonaparte moved his army through Switzerland, over the high mountain passes, and into the warm valleys of the Po. His goal was a decisive battle with the numerically superior Austrian forces in Italy.
On 14 May 1800 the Army of the Reserve began its historic march. It contained 40,000 soldiers and 40 cannon. Of these, 35,000 advanced across the Great St.Bernard Pass and 5,000 moved through the Little St. Bernard Pass. Both passes were still filled with snow, but the enthusiasm of the French troops carried them through bitter cold of those high passes.
By 20 May the Army of the Reserve had passed through the Alps and stood in the valley of Aosta. Fort Bard, held by 200-300 Austrians, barred the French line of march. It was impregnable and repulsed all efforts to capture it. When force failed, stealth and guile were adopted. The road was strewn with straw and manure and the wagon wheels were wrapped with tow and straw to muffle the noise of their movement. Then, in the dark of the night the Army of the Reserve quietly formed itself up and marched through the pass, under the noses of the Austrian sentinels.
While Bonaparte moved deeper into Italy the Austrian army, under Melas, stood before Genoa, which had been besieged for some time. Initially it had 120,000 men, but its losses in its encounters with the forces of Massena and Suchet had reduced it to about 100,000 men. Melas had 30,000 men under General Ott before Genoa; 25,000 under General Elsnitz were along the Var fighting General Suchet; 10,000 under General Vukassovich were facing the St. Gothard and Simplon passes; 3,000, under General Haddick, stood in the lower Aosta valley, watching the St. Bernard passes, 5,000 under General Kaim, occupied Susa, at the foot of the Mont Cenis Pass; and 2,000 more were spread along the Maritime Alps near the Tenda Pass. A further 6,000 were en route from Tuscany and 16,000 occupied Alessandria, the fortresses of Tortona and Mantua, and various other garrisons in northern Italy.
On 21 May Melas learned that the French Army of the Reserve had crossed the Great St. Bernard Pass. On 22 May he learned that Bonaparte was in Italy and any thoughts that the French were simply a raiding party designed to harass his rear vanished.
All of his sources had advised him that the Army of the Reserve was simply fiction and now it stood in his rear with infantry, cavalry, and artillery! After recovering from his shock, he began issuing orders to concentrate his forces and began to march to meet Bonaparte.
Suchet, knowing of Melas' situation took advantage of it to move to Tenda Pass ahead of General Elsnitz. Suchet then engaged the 17,000 Austrians with his 14,000 French and inflicted on them a crushing defeat, capturing, wounding, or killing half their number. With his 8,000 survivors, Elsnitz moved to Ceva, where he arrived on 7 June. From there he moved towards Alessandria. Suchet, joined by part of Massena's command, then marched to Acqui and awaited the results of Bonaparte's operations.
Bonaparte remained in Milan, resting and refitting his forces, while planning his next moves. On 6 June Genoa surrendered and Bonaparte's situation changed. General Ott's forces were now free to join Melas' other forces and the odds of the pending decisive battle had gotten worse. On 9 June Bonaparte left Milan and moved to Montebello. He began to arrange his forces for the pending battle. Picking a strong position, Bonaparte organized his forces, now 29,000 men, near Casteggio, in frontof the Stradella Pass. His flanks were covered on one side by the Po and on the other by spurs of the Appenines.
On 11 June General Desaix, Bonaparte's comrade in arms from Egypt arrived and was given command of two divisions. Later in the day, Bonaparte began to fear that the Austrians were trying to escape, either by marching directly to Genoa or by crossing the Po at Valenza.
Bonaparte, worried that the Austrians were attempting to avoid a battle, abandoned his entrenched camp, and marched out to meet the Austrians. On 13 June his army stood on the Marengo plain. Victor chased away the only Austrian forces encountered, a small garrison in Marengo. The Austrians quickly shuffled across the Bonida and into Alessandria. The entire plain before Alessandria was free of any other Austrian forces. Bonaparte's anxieties grew and grew. In a desperate bid for information, and assuming the Austrians were maneuvering away from him, Bonaparte dispatched Desaix with Boudet's division, 6,000 men, to search out the Austrians on the road to Novi.
The remainder of the French forces were deployed as follows: Victor was in Marengo, Lannes and Murat were on the plain behind Victor. The Consular Guard, two cavalry regiments and Monnier's division, were along the Scrivia, near Tortona. Bonaparte had a total of 24,262 infantry, 3,218 cavalry, and 40 guns.
In Alessandria confusion reigned. Melas, being
unable to make a decision, called a council of war. This
assembly evaluated three alternatives. The first two,
maneuvers to escape or withdrawal into Genoa and suffer a
siege, were abandoned in favor of advancing across the
Bormida against the French. Melas had 22,912 infantry,
5,989 cavalry and 92 guns.
[1]
The plain of Marengo lies between the Scrivia and
Bormida Rivers. These two rivers begin in the valleys of the
Appenines and flow north into the Po. Marengo stands
onneartheeastbankof theBormida, onthemain road from
Alessandria to Mantua. On the main road, just east of
Alessandria, are two bridges over the Bormida. They were
defended by a single bridgehead on the right bank.
The surrounding countryside is generally flat, but
towards San Giuliano, about three miles to the east of
Marengo, there are a number of hillocks that break up the
otherwise flat land. About two miles to the north of
Marengo stands the village of Castel-Ceriolo. Each of these
villages was to play an important role in the next day's
battle.
At dawn on 14 June the Austrian army flowed out of
Alessandria and across the Bormida. O'Reilly with 3,000
Grenz, Jdgers, and hussars led the advance. These
aggressive light troops quickly drove back the French
pickets and advanced on Marengo.
Behind O'Reilly came the forces of Generals Haddick,
Kaim, and Ott. By 8:00 A.M., the Austrians had deployed
their forces for battle. The Austrians began the battle by
leading with their strong suit, their artillery. Their infantry
then surged towards Marengo.
Before them Victor stood along the muddy stream
known as Fontanone. The French were formed in echelons,
by division, their left forward. Gardanne's formed the left
echelon, near Pedrabona. Chambarlhac's division was the
second echelon at Marengo, and Lannes' division formed
the third division. Lannes' forces held the right of the
French line, with their left flank behind Chambarlhac's right
flank. The divisions of Carra Saint-Cyr and Desaix's one
remaining division were held in reserve. Murat, commanding
all the cavalry, placed Kellermann on the left and
Champeaux on the right. The 21st Chasseur A Cheval
Regiment and the 12th Hussars stood in Sale under the
orders of Rivaud. They were to watch the Austrian
movements on the right flank and to support that flank.
Victor received the Austrian attacks along the banks
of the Fontanone. After a bloody defensive battle, the 44th
and 10 1st Demi-Brigades were soon pushed back towards
Marengo. Kaim pushed across the Fontanone and Haddick
deployed his forces to support him. This effort soon
stopped when Gardanne's light troops and a single gun,
which were in Stortigliana, attacked and
disordered the head of the column moving against the French left.
Melas, however, strongly reinforced his attack. Two
Austrian divisions, Kaim and Haddick, were sent against
Marengo and Ott's division was directed against
CastelCeriolo, in order to turn the French right flank.
Marengo became the center of the attack. Victor was
ordered to hold the village as long as possible. Gardanne's
division now stood to the right of the village, supported by
the stream and the swampy ground on that flank.
Haddick maneuvered his division to turn the French
left and Kaim sought to deploy to the French right and turn
that flank. O'Reilly, commanding a part of Haddick's
division, struck Chambarlhac. O'Reilly struck the 24th
Legere Demi-Brigade and two battalions of the 96th Demi-
Brigade with the full force of his corps. The French were
supported by the 2nd and 20th Cavalry Regiments and the
6th Dragoon Regiment, which charged the Austrian front
line and stopped their advance.
About 10:00 A.M., Lannes brought his corps into line
on Victor's right. Supporting him was the cavalry brigade of
Champeaux. Kellerman's brigade supported Victor. Watrin's
division and Mainony's Brigade formed to the right and
advanced to attack Kaim's Austrians, which were moving
to Castel-Ceriolo. Threatened by cavalry, Kaim stopped his
advance and deployed to meet the French attack. He was
struck by the 6th Legere, 22nd, 28th, and 40th Demi-
Brigades. Champeaux's cavalry brigade was ordered to
charge in support of the French right. The Ist and 8th
Dragoon Regiments charged and General Champeaux was
mortally wounded during this attack.
Lannes' attack stopped the Austrians along the
Barbotta stream and successfully supported Gardanne's
defense of Marengo, but a new threat appeared in the form
of General Elsnitz's cavalry. Elsnitz had moved his cavalry
around Castel-Ceriolo and turned the French right. He
deployed by squadrons by Buzana and stood to strike the
back of the French line.
These brave grenadiers were to stand like a rock, with
an ocean of cavalry striking and washing past them, but not
breaking them. Their bravery was to hold the French right
firmly in place. The cavalry checked, Carra Saint-Cyr moved
his forces into position to support Lannes' right flank and s
top the Austrian turning maneuver. He then moved 0
through Castel-Ceriolo and pushed out the Tyrolian Jagers
and the du Loup Chasseurs, despite the efforts of Morzin's
grenadiers, who came to their support.
At this time the French line, about 15,000 men,
covered a distance of about 2 miles. It ran from along the
Fontanone northwards from Marengo towards
CastelCeriolo and then west from Marengo towards the
Bormida.
Melas faced Victor and Lannes with 26,400 men. Ott's
division formed his left and Elsnitz's division fon-ned his
reserve. However, somewhat earlier Melas received word
that Suchet was in Acqui and had detached about 2,500
cavalry, probably Morzin's division, from his cavalry
reserve on a reconnaissance in that direction.
At 10:00 A.M., Melas launched his major assault. He
was determined to seize Marengo. Melas felt that he had
either to conquer or die and his troops fought with the same
determination. The French fought with no less
determination and the fight and carnage was terrible.
However, numbers began to tell and the French line began
to fall back to Marengo, where a second attempt to stand
was made. Victor fought from the village for a while, but
was eventually obliged to abandon it as well. The
withdrawal turned into a rout, though Berthier refers to
rather politically as a careful, step by step retreat. Victor's
troops rapidly retired towards San Giuliano, pursued at a
leisurely rate by the victorious Austrians.
Lannes had been successful in resisting Melas to his
front and Ott to the right, but when Victor's line collapsed,
both of his flanks were turned. No one could stand in such
a situation and Lannes was forced to withdraw. In contrast
to Victor, Lannes executed a fighting withdrawal. It was as
Lannes' forces withdrew that Bonaparte arrived on the
battlefield. It was 11:00 A.M.
Bonaparte immediately sent word for Desaix to
return and moved to the front with all the troops he could
muster. He brought with him the 1,232 Consular Guard
infantry, cavalry and artillery, Monnier's division (8,930
infantry) and two regiments of cavalry from Rivaud's
brigade.
Bonaparte formed the Consular Guard into squares to
hold the pursuing Austrian cavalry, he sent a column of
infantry to Castel-Ceriolo, sent the bulk of Monnier's
division to support Lannes, and directed Murat to take the
reserve cavalry and cover Victor's retreat.
These fresh forces renewed the fight with the
Austrians, but the momentum of the battle was with the
Austrians and Melas continued to drive the French before
him. Victory was nearly in his grasp and he ordered forward
his reserves forward and threw them into the fight. The
Austrian cavalry charged repeatedly, striking at the French
flanks. The Austrians passed through Marengo and pushed
out into the open fields in pursuit of the French.
His position hopeless, Bonaparte ordered his forces to
withdraw, falling back slowly and contesting every foot of
ground he surrendered to Melas. This process was to
continue for two hours and cross over a distance of about two
miles. However, the French were at the end of their tether.
They pulled behind the hills near San Giuliano, where the
remnants of Victor's Corps was reassembling.
In truth, Melas had won a great victory. He had
destroyed the bulk of the French cavalry and taken two
thirds of their guns. Their infantry was in bloody tatters,
having left 6,000 dead, wounded, and captured on the field
behind them. However, the day was still young and destiny
had another fate in store.
Convinced that his victory was complete, Melas
turned command of the army over to General Zach and
returned to Alessandria to rest after his labors of the day.
Zach organized his forces to pursue a supposedly
defeated French army and ordered it down the road towards
San Giuliano. However, they had never been an army for
head long pursuits and were no longer in such condition as
would be desirable for a hard pursuit. Lannes and Victor's
forces had severely handled the Austrian cavalry that
morning and another 2,500 cavalry had been dispatched
towards Acqui to observe Suchet. By the time the Austrian
pursuit was ready it was 4:00 p.m.
Zach led 5,000 men forward as the leading elements of
the pursuit. Behind him, at a distance of three quarters of a
mile, came Kaim's Corps and then the Hungarian Corps.
General Ott marched his light forces from Castel Ceriolo,
eastwards towards Ghilina. Expecting no resistance, the
Austrians moved forward in road column and were not
prepared for battle. And why should they? The beaten
French were fleeing before them!
Bonaparte, not being pressed heavily by the pursuing
Austrians, found time to stop and reorganize his shattered
army. Bonaparte anxiously awaited the arrival of Desaix,
hoping his order had been received and that Desaix would
arrive in time. Desaix had taken matters in his own hands
upon hearing the sound of the battle at Marengo. He had
stopped his division and ordered a small cavalry force
towards Novi to ensure that there were no Austrians there.
When this cavalry force returned with the news that there
were no Austrians in Novi, Desaix turned his division about
and marched to the sound of the guns. His leading elements
arrived near San Giuliano at about 4:00 p.m.
The arrival of Desaix's division raised the spirits of
Bonaparte and his army. Though several officers favored a
resumption of the retreat, Desaix and Bonaparte were
opposed to this. There was still time and powder enough to
fight another battle!
The French then formed line of battle again. Carra
Saint-Cyr, the first echelon of the second line of the reserve,
occupied Castel-Ceriolo. His forces were barricaded in the
village, facing the Austrian cavalry that threatened the road
to Sale. The Consular Guard were placed diagonally behind
and to the left of CastelCeriolo, Lannes' echelon ran
diagonally behind the left of the grenadiers. Desaix's
division, to Lannes' left, stood before San-Giuliano,
straddling the highway down which the Austrians marched.
As the Austrians broke the crest of the rising ground,
they were surprised to find the French standing before them,
formed for battle. The Austrians were marching with cavalry
on each flank, but in a careless manner and not prepared for
a fight. The French artillery immediately opened a 10
minute barrage on the stunned Austrians as Desaix's
advanced with bayonets lowered. The 9th Legee Demi-brigade executed a furious bayonet attack. Desaix advanced with the 9th only to be killed in the furious melee that resulted. Boudet, now commanding in Desaix's place, led forward his division once again and crushed a column of Austrian grenadiers that had just arrived at Cassina-Grossa.
Bonaparte then ordered Kellerman's cavalry forward. Kellerman's cavalry moved through the intervals in Boudet's division, and crushed a column of grenadiers. The cavalry then deployed on the left flank of an Austrian column and by a quarter conversion to the left, threw themselves onto that brigade, crushing it as well. Two thousand Austrians were captured, including General Zach.
The Consular Guard continued to stop every effort
by the Austrians to pass them and Watrin's division, part
of Lannes' Corps, advanced to the attack as well.
CarraSaint-Cyr advanced his skirmishers along the stream
running from Castel-Ceriolo to the swamp near Marengo.
Rivaud's cavalry, however, made the decisive move, and
engaged Elsnitz's cavalry and kept it from intervening in the
infantry battle.
To the north Lannes attacked with the reserve corps
and succeeded in driving the Austrians before him. General
Bessieres, commanding the Grenadiers and the Chasseurs it
Cheval de la Garde, led the last charge against the
Austrians on this flank, breaking them and driving them
back. The young Eugene Beauharnais led the Guard
Chasseurs in this attack.
Bonaparte now drove his entire line forward,
attacking and defeating Kaim and the Hungarians in turn.
Bonaparte continued to drive forward, chasing the routed
Austrians before him towards the gates of Alessandria.
This French advance recaptured in 45 minutes what
the Austrians had taken in four hours. Boudet's division
had the honor of recapturing Marengo.
General Ott, to the north, heard the firing near
Marengo and marched in that direction, arriving in time to
cover the retreat of the main Austrian body across the
Bormida. By 10:00 p.m., all the Austrians were back across
the Bormida River.
Ever aggressive, the following morning Bonaparte
made plans to attack across the Bormida, but was taken
short when an Austrian officer arrived, sent by Melas to
discuss terms of surrender. The negotiations were
completed on the 15th and Melas was given the honors of
war. He was to go to Mantua. From there he would
evacuate the whole of northern Italy as far as the Mincio,
surrender the fortresses of Conio, Alessandria, Genoa, and
Tortona, the fortified cities of Milan, Turin, Pizzighettone,
Placentia, Ceva, Savona, and Arona.
The Austrians had lost 7,000 men hors de combat and
3,000 captured. The French lost about 7,000 hors de
combat, but only 1,000 captured. The greatest loss was
probably that of Desaix who fell at the front of his division.
What had begun on 15 May as the French passed through
the Alps had ended on 15 June, a bare 30 days later, with
the destruction of the Austrian army in Italy and the
passing of northern Italy into French hands.
[1] The strength
figures are drawn from Berthier's account.
Berthier, A., Relation de la bataille de Marengo, Paris,
1805, Imperimerie Imperiale.
Battle of Marengo 14 June 1800
Seeing this, Bonaparte ordered his second line to
march forward in echelons, the right forward. Carra Saint-
Cyr, who commanded the right echelon was not positioned
to stop the Austrian threat, so Bonaparte moved the
Consular Guard and their guns forward to stop Elsnitz's
cavalry. The Consular Guard Grenadiers, isolated from the
French right wing by more than 300 paces, stood exposed
in the middle of an immense plain facing an overwhelming
force of Austrian cavalry.
To the right were Lannes, Monnier, and the Consular
Guard. Victor stood in the rear. Kellerman's cavalry brigade
assumed a position to the left and rear of Desaix, while
Champeaux's cavalry brigade stood to the right and rear of
Lannes. Bonaparte had only 12 guns remaining, the rest
having been lost. These guns were placed on Desaix's right,
towards the front of the French line. As his forces stood
awaiting the Austrians, Bonaparte is reputed to have stated,
Soldats, souvenez-vous que mon habitude est de coucher sur le
champ de bataille. (Soldiers, remember that it is my habit to
sleep on the battlefield.)
Endnotes
Bibliography
Bulow, Histoire de la campagne de 1800 en Allemagne et en
Italie, Translated by Brevet Major Emmett, London, 1831,
Chez Whittaker, Treacher, et Arnot.
Chandler, D., The Campaigns of Napoleon, New York,
1966, Macmillan Publishing Co.
de Cugnac, Capitaine G.J.M.R., Campagne de l'armee
de Reserve en 1800,
Deuxieme Partie, Marengo, Paris, 1901, Librairie
Militaire R. Chapelot et Cie.
Petit, J., Marengo ou campagne d'Italie par l'armee de
reserve,, Paris, 1801, Favre Librairie.
Sargent, H.H., The Campaign of Marengo, Chicago,
1901, A.C.McClurg & Co..
The Battle
Berthier's Plates: Introduction
Berthier's Plates: Plate 1: 8:00 am
Berthier's Plates: Plate 2: Noon
Berthier's Plates: Plate 3: The Climax
Berthier's Plates: Plate 4: The Morning AFter
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