Battle of Bassano

Battle of Bassano

Part of: First Coalition War

date	September 8, 1796
place	Bassano del Grappa in the Brenta Valley (Veneto)
output	French victory
consequences	Withdrawal of the Austrians

Parties to the conflict
France	Austria
Commander
Napoleon Bonaparte	Dagobert Wurmser
Troop strength
20,000	11,000
losses
400 killed or wounded	600 killed or wounded, 30 guns, 8 flags

The Battle of Bassano was fought on September 8, 1796 during the First Coalition War in the province of Veneto near the city of Bassano between a French army under Napoleon and Austrian forces under the command of Dagobert Siegmund Graf von Wurmser . The battle ended with the victory of the French, with the Austrians abandoning their artillery and baggage train and losing a significant amount of guns, supplies and other material to the French. The meeting took place as part of the second attempt by the Austrians to liberate the Austrian troops in Mantua, encircled and besieged by the French .

background

The first attempt at relief from Mantua came to a standstill in early August after the Battle of Lonato and the Battle of Castiglione , which caused General Wurmser to retreat to the northern Adige Valley.

Armed forces

French army

• Italian Army : Napoleon Bonaparte (46,500 men)
  • Division: André Masséna (13,000)
  • Division: Charles Pierre François Augereau (9,000)
  • Division: Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois (11,000)
  • Division: Jean Sahuguet (10,000)
  • Reserve: Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine (3,500)

Austrian Army

Field Marshal Dagobert von Wurmser (43,000 men available)

• Main Army: Wurmser (19,348)
  • Division: FML Peter Quosdanovich (4,589)
  • Division: FML Karl Sebottendorf (4,086)
  • Division: FML Johann Mészáros (10,673)
• Corps: Davidovich (13,695)
• Garrison of Mantua: Joseph Canto d'Irles (17,259, 10,271 capable of fighting)

geography

In 1796 there were only three practicable routes between Trento and the Po Plain in the south: the first route led past Lake Garda to the west , the second route was the road that went down the Adige Valley to Verona , and the the third ran via Levico Terme and Borgo Valsugana into the Brenta Valley (Valsugana) and then south to Bassano del Grappa. An army controlling both Trento and Bassano could move troops and supplies freely between the two squares without worrying about enemy interference.

plans

On the orders of Emperor Franz II to break through and end the French siege of Mantua, Field Marshal Wurmser and his new Chief of Staff Field Marshal Lieutenant (FML) Franz von Lauer developed a strategy. This envisaged leaving FML Paul Davidovich with 13,700 men in Trento to defend the city and thus also the access to Tyrol and to block it for the French. Meanwhile, Wurmser was to lead two divisions eastwards via Levice and Borgo into the Brenta Valley, then to unite in Bassano with the 10,500-strong garrison stationed there under Mészáros and then to lead the assembled troops to Mantua, while Davidovich the French in the north, waiting for an opportunity to assist Wurmser. This plan was based on Lauer's plan that the French would be incapacitated because of the recent casualties.

On the French side, the French government wanted General Bonaparte and his troops to join the army under General Jean-Victor Moreau , which was operating in southern Germany. For this purpose, Bonaparte Général de division Claude Vaubois with 10,000 men posted on the western side of Lake Garda. In addition, Général de division André Masséna was to defend the Adige Valley with 13,000 troops, while Général de division Pierre Augereau was to cover Verona with 10,000 soldiers. The blockade of Mantua - due to the lack of heavy artillery, a siege was impossible - was maintained by Generals Charles Kilmaine and Jean Sahuguet with 8,000 men, while 2,000 reserve troops were stationed in Verona.

Action

Bonaparte went on the attack in early September and sent Masséna and Augereau north towards Trento. Meanwhile, the division under Vaubois moved past Lake Idro in the direction of Riva at the northern end of Lake Garda. On September 4, the French troops routed the outnumbered corps under Davidovich, causing the Austrians 3,000 men to lose and 750 of their own dead and injured. When Bonaparte discovered that Wurmser was on his way to Bassano, he gave up the plan to link his army with Moreau. Instead, he left Vaubois and his troops in the north to secure the access to Tyrol, while he decided in a decisive but very daring move to follow Wurmser. Thus cut off from his direct supply route, he ordered Augereau, followed by Masséna, to march towards the Brenta Valley. On September 7, Augereau's 8,200 men overwhelmed Wurmser's 4,000 troops at Primolano and took 1,500 prisoners.

Course of the battle

Surprised by the speed of the advance of the French, Wurmser only managed to field 11,000 soldiers for the battle.

Bassano

On September 8, the assembled French troops attacked Wurmser from the north, the first being the 3,800-strong Austrian rearguard under FML Peter Quosdanovich Major General Adam Bajalics , with Bonaparte Masséna sending down the western bank of the Brenta, while Augereau also following on the eastern bank Moved south. Overwhelmed by the repeated attacks of the cavalry under Colonel Joachim Murat and pursued by him, the rearguard collapsed and Bajalics was taken prisoner. In response, Wurmser set up a division on the west bank, a second on the east bank and a third in Bassano. Colonel Jean Lannes finally managed to break through enemy lines and invade the city through a successful assault. Quosdanovich then took command of the defeated Austrians retreating to the east, while 3,500 men fell back south under the command of FML Karl Sebottendorf, together with Wurmser.

The French suffered 400 casualties in the form of dead, wounded and missing during the attacks, while on the Austrian side 600 men were killed or reported missing. 2000 to 4000 Austrians were captured, as well as eight flags and 30 artillery pieces.

Race to Mantua

Unexpectedly, Wurmser did not retreat to the east, but marched west and united his troops with the division of Mészáros in Vicenza . Bonaparte immediately dispatched two divisions to pursue the Austrians: Masséna was sent to the southwest to Vicenza, Augereau to Padua in the south, thus cutting off any escape route to the east. Major General Peter Ott stood out for his speed in this race to Mantua, leading the vanguard of the Austrians under Wurmser. A French battalion , which Legnano had occupied, withdrew in the face of the enemy advance and allowed the Austrians to cross the Adige. Wurmser then left 1,600 men to control the city and continued his march. On September 11th, Masséna attacked the Austrians with two brigades at Cerea , exhausted by the march , only to be held up by Ott until the main force arrived under Wurmser and inflicted 1,200 losses on the French. Bonaparte responded to the Austrian advance and ordered Sahuguet to take positions in Castel d'Ario and Governolo at the confluence of the Mincio and Po rivers . The next day Field Marshal Wurmser, with the help of a local guide, crossed a bridge that Sahuguet had not destroyed in time, with 10,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry to Mantua. After defeating the troops left behind in Legnano, Bonaparte moved to Mantua, only to meet Wormser, who had set up his army in battle order on the east bank of the Mincio and thus his right flank in the suburb of San Giorgio and his left wing in front of the La Favorita Palace stationed. While the left wing under Ott was able to hold up Saguhuet's attacks all day long, the Austrian line gave way after attacks by Masséna in the center and on the right flank after attacks by Brigadier General Louis André Bon, who led Augereau's division. The French then succeeded in conquering the suburb of San Giorgio and driving the Austrians back to Mantua. During this battle the Austrians lost 2,500 men, 11 cannons and 3 flags, the French 1,500 soldiers and nine captured cannons.

Result

Following this battle, the garrison of Mantua grew to 30,000 men, of which 4,000 Austrians died within the next six weeks from injury or illness in the overcrowded fortress. In this context, one historian notes:

“The second attempt to relieve Mantua therefore came to a rather deplorable result for the Austrians. Their general had managed to lock himself up in the very city he was trying to liberate, losing over 11,000 men. The French had failed to link their armies in Italy and Germany, and Bonaparte was, in a sense, back where he had started, still faced with the problem of taking Mantua, which, however, now had a much stronger garrison. "

swell

• 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.
• Fiebeger, GJ The Campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte of 1796–1797. West Point, NY: US Military Academy Printing Office, 1911.
• Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9