Battle of Fombio

Battle of Fombio-Codogno
	Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the First Coalition
	; The Battle of Fombio-Codogno
Date	7–9 May 1796
Location	Fombio, Lombardy45°09′00″N 9°42′00″E / 45.1500°N 9.7000°E
Result	French victory
Belligerents
France	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon Bonaparte; Amédée Laharpe †; Claude Dallemagne;	Johann Beaulieu; Anton Lipthay; Anton Schübirz;
Strength
11,500	Lipthay: 5,000; Schübirz: 1,580
Casualties and losses
450	1,568, 20 guns
	class=notpageimage\| Location within Northern Italy Battle of Fombio (Europe)

War of the First Coalition:
Italian Campaign

100km
62miles

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Lodi

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current battle

Napoleon as subordinate

Napoleon in command

The Battle of Fombio was fought between the French

Po River at Piacenza in Beaulieu's rear, threatening both Milan

and the Austrian line of communications. This threat forced the Austrian army to withdraw to the east.

Campaign

After forcing the

General of Brigade Claude Dallemagne. Then he sent Dallemagne on a rapid march to the east along the south bank of the Po. The advance guard was followed by General of Division Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe's division. Bonaparte intended to turn the Austrian left flank by crossing the Po near Piacenza.^[3]

Battle

Early on 7 May, the advance guard seized a ferry near Piacenza and quickly crossed the river,

Pierre Augereau

got his 7,000 soldiers across the Po farther west by using a captured barge.

On the morning of 8 May, Dallemagne's advance guard, supported by Laharpe's 6,500-strong division, assaulted the village of Fombio. Colonels Lannes and François Lanusse led the advance guard's left and center columns while Dallemagne personally commanded the right column.^[5] At first Lipthay resisted stoutly, using his hussars to counterattack, but he decided to withdraw to avoid being trapped by the flanking columns. His Austrian and Neapolitan cavalry covered the retreat to Codogno. The French attacked Lipthay again in Codogno and the Austrians had to fight their way back to Pizzighettone, where there was a bridge over the Adda River. Lipthay's losses numbered 568 men on 7–8 May.^[6] According to one report, the French suffered 150 killed and 300 wounded in the first volley.^[7]

That evening, as Laharpe's 51st Line Infantry Demi-Brigade marched through Codogno, General-Major

Louis Berthier took charge and rushed two more demi-brigades into the fight before Schübirz withdrew about dawn on the 9th.^[8] Cut off from the bridge over the Adda at Pizzighettone, Beaulieu directed his retreating units to make for the bridge at Lodi, farther north. The Battle of Lodi

followed on 10 May as Beaulieu tried to get his army safely behind the Adda and Bonaparte attempted to head him off.

References

^ Carlo Botta, Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 1814
^ Chandler Dictionary, p. 153.
^ Chandler Campaigns, p 78
^ Boycott-Brown, p 299
^ Boycott-Brown, p 300-301
^ Boycott-Brown, p 302
^ Chandler Dictionary, p 153
^ Boycott-Brown, p 303-304

Bibliography

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.
Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan, 1979.
ISBN 0-02-523670-9
.

External links

[1] Carlo Botta, Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 1814

[2] Chandler Dictionary, p. 153.

[3] Chandler Campaigns, p 78

[4] Boycott-Brown, p 299

[5] Boycott-Brown, p 300-301

[6] Boycott-Brown, p 302

[7] Chandler Dictionary, p 153

[8] Boycott-Brown, p 303-304

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