Battle of Cassano (1799)

While General Napoleon Bonaparte campaigned in Egypt, the Second Coalition launched an invasion of French-occupied Italy. General of Division (MG) Barthélemy Schérer fought inconclusive actions the Austrians at Pastrengo, Verona, and Legnago on 26 March 1799. Feldmarschal-Leutnant (FML) Pál Kray and his Austrians then defeated Schérer at the Battle of Magnano on April 4. This defeat forced the French army into a long retreat. Attempts by Schérer to hold the lines of the Mincio and Oglio rivers failed when an Austrian force led by FML Josef Vukassovich turned his northern flank. Schérer, completely out of his depth, handed over army command to the more capable MG Moreau. Austria's Russian allies, led by Suvorov, soon began appearing at the front.

When Field Marshal Suvorov joined the allied army, he took over the top command from Kray, though the latter had just been promoted to Feldzeugmeister. The arrival of General of Cavalry Michael von Melas displaced Kray the top Austrian field command. Therefore, Kray was assigned to capture the fortress of Mantua, while Melas and Suvorov pursued the French. The Siege of Mantua lasted from April until the garrison surrendered on 28 July.

Schérer deployed the divisions of MGs Paul Grenier, Claude Victor, Jean Sérurier, and Pierre de Laboissière to defend the line of the Adda River. The Russian corps were commanded by Pyotr Bagration and Andrei Rosenberg. The Austrians still made up the bulk of the allied army, since only three formations of irregular Cossack cavalry were present: the regiments of Adrian Denisov, Pyotr Matveyevich Grekov, and Molchanov. The Austrian division commanders were FML Peter Ott, FML Johann Zoph, General-Major Franz de Lusignan (acting commander for FML Michael Fröhlich), and FML Konrad Valentin von Kaim.[6]

Schérer scattered 28,000 men over 100 km along the river, nowhere having sufficient forces for defense. Suvorov separated Hohenzollern with 6,000 men to Pizzighettone and Seckendorff to Lodi to conduct diversionary attacks, and with a main body of 36,000 men concentrated offensive on the bulk of the French line.[7]

The battle was divided into three separate clashes: in Lecco, where Suvorov sent Bagration's Russians, most likely as a distraction; near Trezzo sull'Adda and Vaprio d'Adda, where the major allied forces were concentrated (mostly Austrians); and around Cassano, where Melas was sent, he will go to the rear of the French at an end of battle.

Russian force under Bagration assaulted on April 26, initially he had 4,189 men altogether, while the French used 1,800 soldiers to counter Bagration on the east bank of the river. For the Russians, much of the success of taking Lecco was due to the speed and courage of Mikhail Miloradovich. After the Russians captured Lecco, the French with all the forces available there (about 5,000) launched a counter-attack, beating them back. Bagration had to request reinforcements. Eventually the French withdrew on rafts northwards (night of 27-28 April), knowing that Adda had already been forced by the Allies elsewhere and that the road behind them would soon be cut off.

On April 27, on orders from Paris, Moreau arrived and succeeded Schérer as commander-in-chief. However, it was already tough to rectify the situation: the Russians and Austrians surreptitiously pass through Adda in the centre of the French position near Capriate San Gervasio, in a places considered unsuitable for crossing. Suvorov now crosses the river with might and main across the Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge and its vicinity. They overcome weak French resistance. But, nevertheless, Moreau gave orders for the immediate concentration of forces. Grenier and Victor are bringing troops from the south. General of the cavalry von Melas having the divisions of Fröhlich and Kaim stormed the French positions at Cassano: the eastern bank of the river was held by the French demi-brigade, to the aid of which Victor already rushed. Meanwhile, Ott and Zoph attacked 6 km farther north at Vaprio.[9] According to some archival documents, it can be assumed that Suvorov himself was at Vaprio and hurried the crossing. He was able to concentrate around 20,000 soldiers there, while Moreau concentrated 15,000; the French 24th Chasseurs à cheval regiment managed to overturn Austrian grenadier battalion, but Suvorov brought Denisov's Cossacks, who attacked from the left of the French near the village of Pozzo d'Adda. The French army begins to give way in all directions. Suvorov's assault forced Moreau to retreat.[10]

On the morning of 28 April, Vukassovich trapped Sérurier's division of 3,000 men at Verderio, and then Rosenberg's main Russian force had arrived here. A mere 17,000 coalition forces. After a brief brave but desperate struggle, Sérurier was forced to surrender.

The French suffered 2,500 killed and wounded, plus 5,000 soldiers, 27 cannon, and 3 colors captured. These numbers include the combat at Verderio (300 killed and wounded, plus 2,700 captured). The Austro-Russians lost 2,500 killed and wounded. Moreau retreated, leaving a 2,400-man garrison in Milan's citadel. Grenier's division withdrew to Novara while Victor and Laboissière pulled back to Valenza.[11] Another authority gives allied losses as 6,000 and French prisoners as 7,000, without listing French killed and wounded. Perhaps the author includes the losses at Verderio in his total.[1] Kaim pressed on to capture Turin on 20 June.[12] Milan's citadel capitulated on 24 May. The next major action was the Battle of the Trebbia (1799) on 17–19 June.

However, the bottom line of this battle was that the Republic of France-created Cisalpine Republic was now back in the hands of the Habsburg monarchy.

• Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 7 July 2022.
• Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1. Translated by Murray, Nicholas; Pringle, Christopher. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-3025-7. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
• Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7470-7.
• Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24913-1. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
• Anonymus (1800). Feldzüge der Oesterreicher und Russen in Italien im Jahre 1799. Leipzig: Verlag Reinicke und Hinrichs. p. 75. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
• "Адда". Military Encyclopedia: In 18 Volumes. 1911–1915.

• The Austrians Advance by Enrico Acerbi
• Media related to Battle of Cassano at Wikimedia Commons