Battle of Monte Settepani
Battle of Monte Settepani | |||||||
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Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the First Coalition | |||||||
![]() Monte Settepani as seen from Bric Gettina | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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![]() Republican France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
38,940 | 30,696 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | unknown, 20 guns |
The Battle of Monte Settepani (24 June–7 July 1795) saw the Coalition armies of
Background
The war between France and Sardinia-Piedmont began in the spring of 1792, but French troops did not invade the
On 1 January 1794, GD
Forces
![Sepia tone print shows a clean-shaven man wearing a light colored military uniform. It is labeled Giuseppe Baron de Vins.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Joseph_Nikolaus_de_Vins%2C_FZM.png/140px-Joseph_Nikolaus_de_Vins%2C_FZM.png)
On 20 June 1795, de Vins commanded an Austrian army composed of 23,380 infantry, 2,788 cavalry, and 772 artillerymen, a total strength of 26,940 men. Only the cavalry units from the Kingdom of Naples were not Austrian soldiers. The army was organized into two divisions led by FML Johann von Wenckheim and Generalmajor (GM) Karl von Türkheim. Wenckheim's division included four brigades led by GM Mathias Rukavina (5 battalions and 2 squadrons), GM Michael von Ternyey (4 battalions), GM Philipp Pittoni (5 battalions), and GM Anton Lipthay (6 battalions). Türkheim's division consisted of one infantry brigade led by GM Joseph Canto d'Irles (5 battalions), and two cavalry brigades led by GM Wilhelm Fischer (8 squadrons) and Alessandro Filangieri, Prince Cuto (12 Neapolitan squadrons).[13][note 1] Precise numbers are elusive, but there were 12,000 Sardinian troops opposing the Army of Italy in October 1795.[14] The Sardinians were commanded by Colli whose chief of staff was Colonel Joseph Henri Costa de Beauregard.[15]
On 19 June 1795, Kellermann's French army was organized into a strong Right Wing commanded by GD
Battle
Positions
![Painting shows a clean-shaven man with an 18th century style wig. He wears a late 18th century dark blue military uniform with gold trim and white breeches.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Fran%C3%A7ois-Christophe_Kellermann_%281792%29.jpg/140px-Fran%C3%A7ois-Christophe_Kellermann_%281792%29.jpg)
Kellermann's new chief of staff was GB Louis-Alexandre Berthier who had been dismissed in July 1793 and only recalled to duty on 14 March 1795. Kellermann's aide-de-camps were his son François Étienne de Kellermann and Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle. The Army of Italy's strategic situation was very awkward. It occupied narrow strip of coastline with its back to a sea usually controlled by the British Royal Navy. The army defended a chain of mountainous terrain with its base located on its left flank. Kellermann's two armies facing the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont counted 45,000 effectives, of which 15,000 belonged to the Army of the Alps. Previously, the Sardinians had been weakly supported by their Austrian allies. However, by 1795 the Austrians fielded a full army in the Italian theater. De Vins exercised authority over both the Austrian and Sardinian armies.[17]
The French right flank rested on the Ligurian Sea at Savona. From this place, the French defenses stretched west to include the Colle di San Giacomo, Monte Alto, Monte Settepani, and Colle del Melogno. The center division of the Army of Italy held the Col de Tende and the upper basin of the Roya River while the left division extended as far as Belvédère. To defend this line, Kellermann ordered fortifications to be constructed. Apparently, this order was carried out except on Massena's sector, so that the commanding general felt it necessary to write on 16 June, "Think once for all, my dear General, that the slightest negligence in war may have the greatest consequence." Massena began seriously fortifying only when the Austrians began massing in front of his positions on 18 June.[18]
Action
The port of Savona belonged to the Republic of Genoa which was neutral. Kellermann was convinced that the Austrians were going to seize the fortress of Savona, so he ordered GB Laharpe to storm the place. Laharpe and his superior GD Freytag believed that an assault would be repulsed, so a different strategy was tried. Laharpe stationed a French regiment in the suburb of Savona and was given permission by the Genoese fortress commander for French soldiers to take shelter in the covered way if threatened by the Austrians. Laharpe hoped that the Austrians might make a serious attack and thus allow the French to retreat into the fortress itself. In this way, they might gain control of the fortress. On the very early morning of 22 June, the regiment moved close to Savona, but was not attacked, so it returned to its own defenses. Laharpe ordered the regiment's commander to repeat the operation the next day and this time get his soldiers into the covered way. Accordingly, on 23 June the regiment moved close to the fortress and began skirmishing with the Austrians. The French soldiers retreated into the covered way where they were fired on by part of the garrison. Other Genoese fired on the Austrians, who did not press their attack. The French regiment remained in the covered way until 26 June when it was evacuated by sea to Vado. In any case, the Austrians were prevented from seizing Savona's fortress.[19]
On 24 June 1795, de Vins mounted a major assault on the French defenses. From 24–26 June, Laharpe's brigade succeeded in repelling every Austrian attack in the coastal sector. Inland, the Austrians captured Monte Alto and the Colle di San Giacomo from Cervoni's brigade on 25 June, possibly because the French defenses had not been fully constructed. Cervoni's counterattack to recapture the Colle di San Giacomo failed. However, the Austrian soldiers got drunk on alcohol left by the French, panicked, and decamped. This allowed the French to briefly reoccupy the position before abandoning it to the Austrians on 26 June.[20]
Farther west, GM
![Black and white print of a man in a light-colored uniform with his hair worn in an 18th century style.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Supreme_Command_entrusted_by_Pope_Pius_VI_to_General_Colli_who_leaves_for_the_border.jpg/140px-Supreme_Command_entrusted_by_Pope_Pius_VI_to_General_Colli_who_leaves_for_the_border.jpg)
On 27 June, Colli's Sardinian troops drove Massena's center division from Monte Spinarda, which is between Garessio and Calizzano. This was the only other Coalition success because Colli's operations were not well-coordinated with de Vins and the French were fully entrenched near the Col de Tende.[22] Kellermann ordered Massena's right wing to withdraw in two phases. The supply dumps at Vado and Finale were evacuated by sea while the one at Loano was also transferred farther west. By 5 July, the French right wing established its new defenses from Borghetto on the coast to Monte Galero[note 2] on the crest of the Ligurian Alps. Massena's two right flank divisions, 14,000 strong, held this line while Sérurier's 6,000-man division guarded the area around Ormea. The Army of Italy's center and left divisions held the same positions as before.[23]
Also on 5 July, Sérurier with Massena's left division reported that the Colle dei Termini was partially captured and that his troops might have to retreat. Kellermann quickly called a council of war at Albenga with Massena, Laharpe, Berthier, and others to decide what to do if the Coalition forces seized Ponte di Nava. In that case, the Army of Italy might have to make a deep withdrawal to Sanremo or Ventimiglia, and contingent orders were drawn up. By some mistake, this message was dispatched to the Committee of Public Safety, leading that body to distrust Kellermann. In fact, late on 5 July, GB Louis Pelletier's brigade ousted its foes from their foothold, and Sérurier announced that the Colle dei Termini position was saved.[24]
Aftermath
![Photo shows a lake in the foreground and a mountain in the background.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Monte_Settepani_from_Lake_Osiglia.png/180px-Monte_Settepani_from_Lake_Osiglia.png)
The Coalition allies were exhausted by the fighting. They slowly followed the French withdrawal and immediately fortified their new positions. Kellermann stated that his troops showed "truly Republican courage" and believed that they inflicted more losses on the enemy than they sustained. He declared that he had merely "drawn in" his forces and was miffed that the operation was criticized by some persons as a retreat. The only Coalition trophies were 20 iron guns that the French left behind.[25] Kellermann was not pleased at the way Garnier handled the left division, so he was replaced by Sérurier.[26]
In May 1795, Bonaparte was transferred from his post as chief of artillery of the Army of Italy to command an infantry brigade in the Army of the West engaged in the War in the Vendée. Bonaparte had no intention of fighting in a counter-insurgency campaign and sent in his resignation. The French government reacted to its loss of territory in Italy by reappointing Bonaparte to his former rank and assigning him to the Bureau Topographique at the War Ministry. From his new post, Bonaparte soon produced a flow of strategic advice for the Army of Italy.[27]
The
Notes
- Footnotes
- Citations
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 75.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 69.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 85.
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 78.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 60.
- ^ a b Clerget 1905, p. 39.
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, pp. 89–91.
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, pp. 95–97.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 92.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 234.
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 100.
- ^ Clerget 1905, p. 47.
- ^ Nafziger 2024a.
- ^ Chandler 1966, p. 38.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 246.
- ^ Nafziger 2024b.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 239–242.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 242–243.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 243.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 243–244.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 244.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 245.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 248–249.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 245–246.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 249.
- ^ Chandler 1966, pp. 36–38.
- ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 255–257.
References
- Boycott-Brown, Martin (2001). The Road to Rivoli: Napoleon's First Campaign. London, UK: Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35305-1.
- ISBN 0-02-523660-1.
- Clerget, Charles (1905). Tableaux des Armées Françaises pendant les Guerres de la Révolution (in French). Paris: Librarie Militaire R. Chapelot et Cie. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- Nafziger, George (2024a). "Austrian Army of Italy, 20 June 1795" (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- Nafziger, George (2024b). "French Army of Italy, 19 June 1795" (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ISBN 978-1-908692-26-9.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
Further reading
- "Napoleon's 1796 Bloody Nose". napoleoninpiedmont. Retrieved 3 January 2024.