Battle of the Trebbia
| date | June 17 - June 19, 1799 |
|---|---|
| place | In Trebbia , Northern Italy |
| output | Victory of the Russian-Austrian army |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
 15,000 men 7,000 men
 |
 36,000 men
|
| losses | |
|
900 dead |
6,000 dead, |
Ostrach - Feldkirch - Stockach I - Verona - Magnano - Cassano d'Adda - Frauenfeld - Winterthur - Zurich I - Trebbia - Mantua - Novi - Vlieter - Bergen - Zurich II - Muotatal - Egmont - Genola - Wiesloch - Genoa - Stockach II - Engen - Meßkirch - Biberach II - Montebello - Marengo - Höchstädt - Oberhausen - Hohenlinden - Walserfeld - Pozzolo - Copenhagen - Algeciras I - Algeciras II
The Battle of Trebbia was a battle of the Second Coalition War between the French Army and the Russian - Austrian Army, which ended with a decisive victory for the coalition and the destruction of the Neapolitan-French units.
Numerical strength
The Battle of Trebbia took place between June 17th and 19th, 1799. The size of the French army was about 36,000 men, 25,000 of whom participated initially and the remainder arrived on the night of June 7th and 8th. The size of Alexander Suvorov's army was 30,000 men, of which only 22,000 men took part in the battle, while 8,000 secured the army's back against the approaching 14,000-man formation of General Moreau .
Course of the battle
The battle began on the evening of June 17, when Suvorov's vanguard reached the small river Tidone , after having successfully marched (80 km in 36 hours without stopping). However, a large part of the army could not keep up with the avant-garde and did not reach the battlefield until night. But the surprise attack by the numerically small units was still a complete success. The French had 2,000 deaths and 1,200 prisoners and were pushed to the Trebbia River .
Suvorov's plan at Trebbia was to employ the French in the center and right wing with Austrian troops in order to break through the left wing of the French with an attack by Russian troops, get into the rear of the army and destroy them. For this purpose two thirds of the army, 15,000 men, were concentrated on the left wing. The fighting on June 18 ended with another defeat for the French, who were further thrown back and suffered considerable losses. However, due to the tiredness of Suvorov's troops and the relative passivity of the Austrian allies, the French had not yet been finally defeated.
On the night of June 18, the French received reinforcements. General MacDonald knew that the Russians were outnumbered and decided to attack. Suvorov learned of the reinforcement of the French, but did not change his plan. On June 19, the Russians had to back off before the attack by the outnumbered French. But Suvorov's appearance in the middle of the battle had such a boost in motivation that the situation was reversed and the troops that had just retreated went over to counterattack. On the left wing, the Russians destroyed most of the French troops with bayonet attacks. Towards the evening the French army was largely incapable of fighting and the individual small parts were pushed behind the Trebbia.
losses
6,000 French people were killed and around 7,150 injured on the battlefield. The survivors were captured the next morning. Before that, around 5,000 French men, including four generals and 510 officers, had been captured by the coalition forces during the course of the battle, bringing the total French casualties in the Battle of Trebbia to more than 18,000 men.
Suvorov's losses were 900 dead and 4,300 injured. 500 Austrians captured on June 19 were liberated by the Russians that evening. The total losses of Suvorov thus amounted to 5200 men.
On the night of June 20, the French army command decided that resumption of fighting the next morning would result in immediate disaster. Leaving the wounded behind, the French began to retreat. Another 7,000 French were captured in the pursuit, bringing the total French casualties to around 23,000 to 25,000. The remnants of the French united with the forces of Moreau, while the Neapolitan army ceased to exist.
consequences
The Battle of Trebbia in 1799 was one of the most effective battles in military history. It was one of the extremely rare battles that ended not only with defeat, but with the almost complete annihilation of the main groups of an outnumbered enemy. General MacDonald later admitted that this defeat could have ruined his career and that his only salvation was that his adversary was General Suvorov.
The Battle of the Trebbia laid the foundation for the expulsion of the French from northern Italy in the course of the Second Coalition War. After the victory, the French withdrew from Rome; on September 30, 1799, the Neapolitan army marched into Rome under King Ferdinand IV .