Battle of Lodi
Battle of Lodi
| date | May 10, 1796 |
|---|---|
| place | Lodi |
| output | Victory of France |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| about 17,000 men | approx. 9,500 men |
| losses | |
|
1,000 |
2,000 |
First Coalition War (1792–1797)
Verdun - Thionville - Valmy - Lille - Mainz (1792) - Jemappes - Namur - Neerektiven - Mainz (1793) - Famars - Valenciennes (1793) - Arlon (1793) - Hondschoote - Meribel - Avesnes-le-Sec - Pirmasens - Toulon - Fontenay-le-Comte - Cholet - Lucon - Trouillas - Menin - Wattignies - Biesingen - Kaiserslautern (1793) - First Battle of Weissenburg (1793) - Second Battle of Weissenburg (1793) - Boulou - Tourcoing - Tournay - 13th Prairial - Fleurus - Vosges - Aldenhoven - San-Lorenzo de la Muga - Genoa - Hyeres - Handschuhsheim - Mainz (1795) - Loano - Montenotte - Millesimo - Dego - Mondovi - Lodi - Borghetto - Castiglione - Mantua - Siegburg - Altenkirchen - Wetzlar - Kircheib - Kehl - Kalteiche - Malsch - Neresheim - Deining - Amberg - Würzburg - Rovereto - Bassano - Limburg - Biberach I - Emmendingen - Schliengen - Arcole - Fall von Kehl - Rivoli (1797) - St. Vincent - Diersheim - Santa Cruz - Neuwied - Camperduin
The Battle of Lodi (also Battle of the Bridge of Lodi ) took place on May 10, 1796 near the city of Lodi .
prehistory
After the French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte at the beginning of the Italian campaign had succeeded in separating and defeating the troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont from the Austrian troops in the battle of Montenotte , they could now turn to the Austrian armed forces. They advanced along the Po to cut off the connection between Milan and Austria for the Austrian troops . The Austrians became aware of the danger and hurriedly retreated to Lodi on the southern bank of the Adda River, northeast . Here they were overtaken by the French troops and put to battle.
Course of the battle
On May 10, at around 9 a.m., the French vanguard met the rearguard of the Austrian troops and followed them towards Lodi. The city was captured by the French due to the weak defense. The French were able to advance in the direction of the bridge over the Adda . The Austrian General Sebottendorf decided to defend the bridge until dark. The attempt by the Austrians to destroy the bridge was prevented by the French fire. The 180-meter-long simple wooden bridge was in itself easy to defend. The French troops did not attempt the transition until further reinforcements arrived. In the afternoon the French began to cross the river after heavy fire. Allegedly, Bonaparte is said to have personally preceded the attack. At 6 p.m. the French managed to cross the river after the cavalry crossed the river a little further upstream and attacked the Austrians. The Austrian troops were already exhausted from the march and the fight without food and demoralized by the French shelling. Since there was also the danger of being cut off by the French cavalry, the Austrians hurriedly retreated towards Crema . The Austrian army lost 21 officers, 2,015 men and 235 horses who were killed, wounded or missing. In addition, 12 cannons , 2 howitzers and 30 ammunition wagons were lost. The French casualties are not exactly known, but they are likely to have been around 1,000 men.
Trivia
The military and thus social significance of the Battle of Lodi forms the starting point of Stendhal's novel The Charterhouse of Parma , the first chapter of which begins with the following paragraph:
"On May 15, 1796, General Bonaparte made his entry into Milan at the head of the young army that had recently crossed the Lodi Bridge and showed the world that Caesar and Alexander had a successor after so many centuries."
literature
(chronologically)
- Giuseppe Agnelli: La battaglia al ponte di Lodi e l'inizio della settimana napoleonica lodigiana. In: Archivio storico lombardo 60 (1933), pp. 1–73
- François Vigo-Roussillon: Journal de campagne (1793-1837). Paris, 1981
- Martin Boycott-Brown: The Road to Rivoli: Napoleon's First Campaign. Weidenfeld Military, 2001, ISBN 978-0-304-35305-7