XX. 1797. 1797. telligence which he received from treachery at the CHAP. Austrian headquarters, left no doubt that the enemy's principal forces were accumulated near Rivoli; and accordingly he set out with the whole centre of his army to support Joubert, who was there struggling with immensely superior forces. He arrived at two 14th Jan. in the morning on the Plateau of RIVOLI; the weather was clear and beautiful; an unclouded moon silvered the fir-clad precipices of the mountains; but the horizon to the northward was illuminated by the fires of innumerable bivouacs, and from the neighbouring heights his experienced eye could discover the lights of nearly 40,000 men. This great force was divided into five columns, which filled the whole space between the Adige and the Lake of Guarda: the principal one, under Quasdanovich, composed of all the artillery, cavalry, and a strong body of grenadiers, followed the high-road on the right, and was destined to ascend the Plateau by the zigzag and steep ascent which led to its summit. Three other corps of infantry received orders to climb the amphitheatre of mountains which surrounded it in front, and when the action was engaged on the high-road, descend upon the French army; while a fifth, under Lusignan, was directed to wind round the base of the Plateau, gain the high-road in their rear, and cut off their retreat to Verona. The plan was ably conceived, and had 'Th. viii. nearly succeeded: with a general of inferior ability to 513. NapNapoleon, and troops of less resolution than his ii. 414. army, it unquestionably would have done so." To oppose this great force, Napoleon had only 30,000 men; but he had the advantage of being in position on a plain, elevated among the mountains, while his adversaries must necessarily be fatigued in Jom. ix. 275. XX. 1797. CHAP. endeavouring to reach it; and he had sixty pieces of cannon, and a numerous body of cavalry in excellent condition. He immediately perceived that it was necessary, at all hazards, to keep his ground on the Plateau; and, by so doing, he hoped to prevent the junction of the enemy's masses, and overthrow them separately. Before daybreak he moved forward the tirailleurs of Joubert, to drive back the advanced posts of the Imperialists, who had already as1 Th. viii. cended to the Plateau, and, by the light of the moon, arranged his whole force with admirable precision on its summit.' 514. Nap. jii. 414. Jom. ix. 276. Battle of The action began at nine o'clock by the Austrian 14th Jan. columns, which descended from the semicircular heights of the Montebaldo, attacking the French left. After a desperate resistance, the regiments stationed there were broken, and fled in disorder; when Napoleon galloped to the village of Rivoli, where the division of Massena, which had marched all night, was reposing from its fatigues, led it to the front, and, by a vigorous charge, restored the combat in that quarter. This check had forced Joubert on the right to give ground; the divisions in front pressed down upon the Plateau, while at the same instant the head of the column of grenadiers appeared at the top of the zigzag windings of the high-road, having, by incredible efforts of valour, forced that perilous ascent, and their cavalry and artillery began to debouche upon the level surface at its summit. Meanwhile, the division of Lusignan, which had wound unperceived round the flanks of the Republicans, appeared directly in their rear, and the Imperial soldiers, deeming the destruction of the French army certain, gave loud cheers, and clapped their hands, as they successively took up their ground. The Republicans, 1 XX. Nap, iii. 1797. viii. 516. 279. attacked in front, flank, and rear at the same time, saw СНАР. their retreat cut off, and no resource from the bayonets of the Austrians but in the precipices of the Alps. At this perilous moment, the presence of mind of 416. Th. Napoleon did not forsake him. He instantly, in Jom. viii. order to gain time, sent a flag of truce to Alvinzi, proposing a suspension of arms for half an hour, as he had some propositions to make in consequence of the arrival of a courier with despatches from Paris. Alvinzi, ever impressed with the idea that military were to be subordinate to diplomatic operations, fell into the snare; the suspension, at the critical moment, was agreed to; and the march of the Austrians was suspended at the very moment when the soldiers, with loud shouts, were exclaiming-" We have them; we have them." Junot repaired to the Austrian headquarters, from whence, after a conference of an hour, he returned, as might have been expected, without having come to any accommodation; but meanwhile the critical moment had passed; Napoleon had gained time to face the danger, and made the movements requisite to repel these numerous attacks. Joubert, with the light infantry, was ordered to face about on the extreme right to oppose Quasdanovich, while Leclerc and Lasalle, with the light cavalry and flying artillery, flew to the menaced point; and a regiment of infantry was directed to the heights of Tiffaro, to make head against the corps of Lusignan. Far from being disconcerted by the appearance of the troops in his rear, he exclaimed, pointing to them, "These are already our prisoners ;" and the confident tone in which he spoke soon communicated itself to the soldiers, who repeated the cheering expression. The head of Quasdanovich's division, which had so bravely won the ascent, received in CHAP. XX. 1797. front by a terrible fire of grape-shot, charged in one flank by Lasalle's horse, and exposed on the other to a close discharge of musketry from Joubert, broke and staggered backwards down the steep. The fugitives, rushing headlong through the column which was toiling up, soon threw the whole into inextricable confusion; horse, foot, and cannon struggled together, under a plunging fire from the French batteries, which blew up some ammunitionwaggons, and produced a scene of frightful disorder. No sooner was the Plateau delivered from this flank attack, than Napoleon accumulated his forces on the troops which had descended from the semicircle of the Montebaldo, and these, destitute of artillery, and deprived now of the expected aid from the corps in 282, 283. flank, soon gave way, and fled in confusion to the mountains, where great numbers were made prison 1 Jom. viii. Th. viii. 518. Nap. iii. 416. Decisive Victory of Th. 518, 519. Jom. viii. 283, 284. Nap. iii. 417. During these decisive successes, the division of Lusignan had gained ground on the troops opposed to it, and came to the heights in rear of the army, in time to witness the destruction of the three divisions in the mountains. From that moment they foresaw their own fate. The victorious troops were speedily directed against this brave division, now insulated from all support, and depressed by the ruin which it had witnessed in the other parts of the army. For some time they stood firm; but the fire of fifteen pieces of heavy artillery, to which they had nothing to oppose, at length compelled them to retreat; and, before they had receded far, they met the division of Rey, the reserve of Massena, which was approaching. Such was the consternation produced by this unexpected apparition, that the whole division laid down its arms; while Quasdanovich, now XX. left to his own resources, retired up the valley of CHAP. the Adige, and the broken remains of the centre divisions sought refuge behind the rocky stream of the Tasso. 1797. Adige. Not content with these splendid triumphs, Napoleon, on the very night in which they were gained, flew to the assistance of the troops on the Lower Adige, with part of the division of Massena, which had marched all the preceding night, and fought on the following day. It was full time that he should do so, for on the very day on which the battle of to the Lower Rivoli was fought, Provera had forced the passage of the Adige at Anghiari, and marched between Augereau and the blockading force by Sanguenetto to the neighbourhood of Mantua, of which he threatened to raise the siege on the following morning. Augereau, it is true, had collected his forces, attacked the rear-guard of the Austrians during their march, and taken 1500 prisoners and fourteen pieces of cannon; but still the danger was imminent that the main body of Provera's forces would gain the Fort of St George and put the blockading force between two fires. Fully aware of the danger, Napoleon marched all night and the whole of the following day, and arrived in the evening in the neigh- 290. Th. bourhood of Mantua.' Meanwhile the hussars of Hohenzollern presented themselves, at sunrise on the 15th, at the gate of St George, and being dressed in white cloaks, were nearly mistaken for a regiment of French, and admitted within the walls. But the error having been discovered by an old sergeant who was cutting wood near the gate, the drawbridge was suddenly drawn up, and the alarm communicated to the garrison. Hohenzollern advanced at the gallop, but before he 15th Jan. 1 Jom. viii. viii. 520. |