Battle of Bassano
Battle of Bassano | |
---|---|
Part of the Venetia, present-day Italy 45°46′00″N 11°44′00″E / 45.7667°N 11.7333°E | |
Result | French victory |
6,000 captured,
30 cannons, 8 standards
The Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September 1796, during the
Background
Austrian plans
The first relief of
Ordered by
Forces
See
Geography
In 1796, there were only three practicable routes between
Operations
Bonaparte posted
After Castiglione, Bonaparte had rearranged his intelligence gathering: the French representative in Venice, Lallement, was sent money to pay for spies to check out the areas between Venice and Trent [6] and Bonaparte's station chief, Angelo Pico, based at Peschiera, sent his men forward into the Tyrol. More importantly, his spy Francesco Toli had penetrated Austrian headquarters and forewarned Bonaparte that Wurmser had left Davidovich at Trento.[7] So, Bonaparte struck first, sending Masséna and Augereau north toward Trento. Meanwhile, Vaubois advanced past Lake Idro to Riva at the north end of Lake Garda. Vaubois and Masséna converged on Rovereto on the Adige. At the Battle of Rovereto on 4 September, the French routed Davidovich's outnumbered troops, inflicting 3,000 casualties at a cost of 750 killed and wounded.[8]
Finding that Wurmser had moved toward Bassano, Bonaparte abandoned the plan to link with Moreau. Leaving Vaubois to observe the fleeing Austrians in the upper Adige valley, the French army commander decided to take a bold but risky course of action. Cutting loose from his supply line, he ordered Augereau, followed by Masséna, to the east into the Brenta valley.[9] On 7 September, Augereau's 8,200 soldiers overwhelmed the 2,800 to 4,000 Austrians of Wurmser's rear guard at Primolano (6 km north of Cismon del Grappa), capturing 1,500 men and their commander Oberstleutnant Alois von Gavasini. The victorious French then followed the valley as it turned south toward Bassano.[10][11]
Battle
Bassano
Despite being surprised by the French rapid advance, Wurmser had gathered up 20,000 men the day before the collision took place.
On 8 September, 20,000 French soldiers fell upon Wurmser from the north. First, they attacked the 3,800-man Austrian rearguard under FML
The French suffered 400 killed, wounded, and missing. Wurmser lost 600 killed and wounded. Between 2,000 and 6,000 Austrians, eight colors and 30 artillery pieces were captured. The vigorous French pursuit also seized a bridging train plus 200 limbers and ammunition wagons.[13][14]
Race for Mantua
Wurmser unexpectedly headed west toward Mantua and joined the division of Mészáros at
After capturing the detachment at Legnago on 13 September, Bonaparte appeared before Mantua. On 15 September, Wurmser awaited the French on the east bank of the
Results
Mantua's garrison was swollen to nearly 30,000 men. But, within six weeks, 4,000 Austrians died of wounds or disease in the crowded fortress. One historian notes that,
The second attempt to relieve Mantua had therefore come to a rather sorry conclusion for the Austrians. Their army commander had managed to get himself shut inside the very place he was trying to liberate, losing more than 11,000 men in the process. The French had failed to make the link between their armies in Italy and Germany, and Bonaparte was, in a sense, back to square one, still faced with the problem of reducing Mantua, which now had a much more powerful garrison.[19]
Footnotes
- ISBN 978-88-6036-714-3.
- ^ Rickard, J (30 January 2009), Battle of Bassano, 8 September 1796 , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_bassano_1796.html
- ^ Boycott-Brown, p 416
- ^ a b c Fiebeger, p 12
- ^ Boycott-Brown, p 419
- ^ "Oeuvres de Napoleon Bonaparte. Tome premier -sixieme!: 1.2". 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ Histoire militaire de Masséna. Le première campagne d'Italie (1795 à 1798) by E. Gachot, p.170 https://archive.org/details/histoiremilitai02gachgoog
- ^ Smith, p 122
- ^ Chandler, p 97
- ^ Smith, p 123
- ^ Boycott-Brown, pp 429–431. This source lists 2,800 Austrians.
- ^ Boycott-Brown, p 431
- ^ Smith, p 123. Chandler says 4,000 were captured.
- ^ Rickard, J (30 January 2009), Battle of Bassano, 8 September 1796
- ^ Fiebeger, p 13
- ^ Boycott-Brown, pp 433–434
- ^ Smith, pp 123–124
- ^ Boycott-Brown, p 434
- ^ a b Boycott-Brown, p 435
- ^ Smith, p 124
References
- Boycott-Brown, Martin. The Road to Rivoli. London: Cassell & Co., 2001. ISBN 0-304-35305-1
- Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Macmillan, 1966.
- Fiebeger, G. J. (1911). The Campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte of 1796–1797. West Point, New York: US Military Academy Printing Office.
- Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9
- Gachot, Eduoard Histoire militaire de Masséna. Le première campagne d'Italie (1795 à 1798) (1898)
- Napoleone Bonaparte, Memorie della campagna d'Italia, Roma, Donzelli editore, 2012, ISBN 978-88-6036-714-3.
- Rickard, J (30 January 2009), Battle of Bassano, 8 September 1796.
External links
- Peter Ott by Digby Smith, compiled by Leopold Kudrna
- http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_bassano_1796.html
- Media related to Battle of Bassano at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Battle of Rovereto |
French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Battle of Bassano |
Succeeded by Battle of Emmendingen |