Alps, but we have turned them." Soon after the troops descended the ridge, passed the Tanaro, and found themselves in the Italian plains. 1 CHAP. XX. 1796. 1 Napoleon, Thiers, viii. Serrurier was now detached by the bridge of St iii. 147. Michael to turn the right of Colli, who occupied the 233. intrenched camp of Ceva, while Massena passed the Tanaro to turn his left. The Piedmontese, who were about 8000 strong, defended the camp in the first instance with success; but, finding their communications on the point of being lost, they retired in the night, and took a position behind the deep and rapid torrent of the Cursaglia. There they were assailed, 19th April. on the following day, by Serrurier, who forced the Actions of bridge of St Michael, while Joubert, who had waded with Colli. through the torrent farther up, in vain endeavoured to induce his followers to pass, and was obliged, after incurring the greatest risks, to retire. Relieved now from all anxiety about his flank, Colli fell, with all his forces, on Serrurier, and, after a severe action, drove them back again over the bridge, with the loss of 600 men.2 Serrurier 2 Thiers, viii. 233. Hardenberg, Napoleon. This check exposed Napoleon to imminent danger. Jomini, viii. Colli occupied a strong position at Mondovi in his 88, 91. front, while Beaulieu, with an army still formidable, iii. 319. was in his rear, and might easily resume offensive Danger of operations. A council of war was held in the night, at which it was unanimously resolved, notwithstanding the fatigue of the troops, to resume the attack on the following day. All the dispositions, accordingly, were made for a renewed assault on the bridge, with increased forces; but, on arriving at the advanced posts at daybreak, they found them abandoned by the enemy, who had fought only in order to gain time for the evacuation of the magazines in his rear, and had retired in the night to Mondovi. He was over- 21st April. CHAP. taken, however, in his retreat, near Mondovi, by the XX. 1796. Actions at 1 Thiers, viii. 234. Napoleon, iii. 150. Jomini, viii. 92, 95. Immense indefatigable Victor, who had seized a strong position, where he hoped to arrest the enemy. The Republicans immediately advanced to the assault, and, though Serrurier was defeated in the centre by the brave grenadiers of Dichat, yet that courageous general having been struck dead by a cannon ball at the moment when his troops, somewhat disordered by success, were assailed in flank by superior forces, the Piedmontese were thrown into confusion, and Serrurier, resuming the offensive, attacked and carried the redoubt of Bicoque, the principal defence of the position, and completed the victory. Colli retired to Cherasco, with the loss of 2000 men, eight cannon, and eleven standards. Thither he was followed by Napoleon, who occupied that town, which, though fortified and important by its position at the confluence of the Stura and the Tanaro, was not armed, and incapable of resistance; and, by so doing, not only acquired a firm footing in the interior of Piedmont, but made himself master of extensive magazines.' This important success speedily changed the situation of the French army. Having descended from the sterile and inhospitable summits of the Alps, they found themselves, though still among the mountains, in communication with the rich and fertile plains of the French Italy; provisions were obtained in abundance, and operations. with the introduction of regularity in the supplies, advantages gained by by these the pillage and disorders consequent upon prior privations disappeared. The soldiers, animated with success, speedily recovered from their fatigues; the stragglers, and those left behind in the mountains, rejoined their colours, and the bands of conscripts from the depôts in the interior eagerly pressed forward to share in the glories, and partake the spoils XX. 1796. viii. 66. Napoleon, tion of the of the Italian army. In a short time the Republic. CHAP. ans, notwithstanding all their losses, were as strong as at the commencement of the campaign; while the Allies, besides having been driven from the ridge of the Alps, the barrier of Piedmont, were weakened by the loss of above 12,000 men, and 40 pieces of cannon.11 Jomini, The court of Turin was now in the utmost consternation, and opinions were violently divided as to iii. 150. the course which should be pursued. The ministers Consternaof Austria and England urged the king, who was court of by no means deficient in firmness, to imitate the Turin. glorious example of his ancestors, and abandon his capital. But for this purpose, they insisted that the fortresses of Tortona, Alexandria, and Valencia, should be put into the possession of the Austrians, in order to give Beaulieu a solid footing on the Po; and to this sacrifice in favour of a rival power, he could not be brought to submit. At length the They resolve Cardinal Costa persuaded him to throw himself into France. the arms of the French, and Colli was authorized to open negotiations. This was one of the numerous instances in the history of Napoleon, in which his audacity not only extricated him from the most perilous situations, but gave him the most splendid triumphs; for at this period, by his own admission, the French army was in very critical circumstances. He had neither heavy cannon nor a siege equipage to reduce Turin, Alexandria, or the other numerous fortresses of Piedmont, without the possession of which it would have been extremely hazardous to have penetrated farther into the country; the Allied armies, united, were still superior to the French, and their cavalry, of such vital importance in the plains, had not at all suffered, while his own troops, confounded at their own achievements, and to submit to CHAP. XX. 1796. Napoleon, ; as yet unaccustomed to his rapid success, were beginning to hesitate as to the expedience of any farther advance.1 "The King of Sardinia," says Napoleon, "had still a great number of fortresses left and in spite of the victories which had been gained, the slightest check, one caprice of fortune, would Napoleon, have undone every thing." " iii. 152. Jomini, viii. 96, 97. April 23. iii. 151, 193. iii. 323, 326. 2 It was therefore with the most lively satisfaction Hardenberg, that Napoleon received the advances of the Sardinian government; but he insisted that, as a preliminary to any armistice, the fortresses of Coni, Tortona, and Alexandria, should be put into his hands. The Piedmontese commissioners were at first disposed to resist this demand; but Napoleon sternly replied,"It is for me to impose conditions: your ideas are absurd listen to the laws which I impose upon you, in the name of the government of my country, and obey, or to-morrow my batteries are erected, and Turin is in flames." These words so intimidated the Piedmontese, that they returned in consternation to their capiArmistice. tal, where every opposition speedily gave way. After some negotiation, the treaty was concluded, the principal conditions of which were, that the King of Sardinia should abandon the Alliance, and send an ambassador to Paris to conclude a definitive peace; that in the meantime Ceva, Coni, and Tortona, or failing it, Alexandria, should be delivered up to 27th April. the French army, with all the artillery and maga Its condi tions. zines they contained; that the victors should continue to occupy all the positions which at present were in their possession; that Valence should be instantly ceded to the French in lieu of the Neapolitans; that iii. 155. the militia should be disbanded, and the regular troops dispersed in the fortified places, so as to give no umbrage to the French." 3 Napoleon, Hardenberg, iii. 328. Jomini, viii. 98. XX. 1796. The armistice was followed, a fortnight after, by CHAP. the treaty of peace between the King of Sardinia and the French Republic. By it his Sardinian Ma- 15th May, jesty finally renounced the coalition, and ceded to 1796. the Republic, Savoy, Nice, and the whole possessions a treaty of France and of Piedmont to the westward of the highest ridge of Followed by the Alps, extending from Mount St Bernard by peace beMount Geneva to Roccabarbonæ near Genoa, and tween granted a free passage through his dominions to all Sardinia. the troops of the Republic. The importance of this accommodation may be judged by the letter of Napoleon to the Directory the day the armistice was signed," Coni, Ceva, and Alexandria are in the hands of our army; if you do not ratify the convention, I will keep these fortresses, and march upon Turin. Meanwhile, I shall march to-morrow against Beaulieu, and drive him across the Po; I shall follow close at his heels, overrun all Lombardy, and in a month be in the Tyrol, join the army of the Rhine, and carry our united forces into Bavaria. That design is worthy of you, of the army, and of the destinies of France. If you continue your confidence in me, I shall answer for the results, and Italy is at your feet." 1 1 Corresp. Napoleon. 1796. 102. This treaty was of more service to the French Secret de general than many victories. It gave him a firm foot- 28th April, ing in Piedmont; artillery and stores for the siege of Jomini, viii. Turin, if the final conditions should not be agreed to by the Directory; stores and magazines in abun- Its immense dance, and a direct communication with Genoa and importance France for the future supplies of the army. Napoleon, from the solid base of the Piedmontese fortresses, was enabled to turn his undivided attention to the destruction of the Austrians, and thus commence, with some security, that great career of con to Napoleon. |