First Battle of Marengo

First Battle of Marengo (1799)
Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the Second Coalition

Habsburg Austrian grenadiers fought at First Marengo.
Date16 May 1799
Location
Spinetta Marengo, present-day Italy
44°53′N 8°41′E / 44.883°N 8.683°E / 44.883; 8.683
Result Allied victory
Territorial
changes
Suvorov's Austro-Russian forces occupy the Piedmontese Republic
Belligerents
French First Republic French Republic Russian Empire Russian Empire
Habsburg monarchy
Commanders and leaders
Jean Moreau[a]
Claude-Victor Perrin
Gaspard Gardanne
Luigi Colli Ricci
Alexander Suvorov[b]
Pyotr Bagration
Franz de Lusignan
Konrad von Kaim
Anton Mittrowsky
Strength
5,000–8,000[c] 11,000–16,500[d]
Casualties and losses
500 to 1,500[e] 150 to 720[f]

The First Battle of Marengo or Battle of San Giuliano (16 May 1799; Julian calendar: 5 May) saw Republican French soldiers under General of Division Jean Victor Marie Moreau launch a reconnaissance in force against a larger force of Habsburg Austrian and Imperial Russian troops led by Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov. The French enjoyed initial success, pressing back their opponents. However, large Austrian and Russian reinforcements soon arrived, causing the French to withdraw into Alessandria. This War of the Second Coalition meeting engagement occurred near the town of Spinetta Marengo, located just east of Alessandria in northwest Italy.

A series of Austrian and Russian victories in the spring of 1799 drove the French armies from north and northeast Italy. The commander of the combined Austro-Russian armies, Suvorov massed his forces opposite the fortress city of Alessandria. After a Russian force received a costly repulse in the Battle of Bassignana, Moreau sent General of Division Claude Perrin Victor's division to discover the Austro-Russian positions. After the action, Moreau sent half of his army into Genoa while taking the other half to the west. Meanwhile, Suvorov marched his troops up the north bank of the Po River to capture Turin.


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  1. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 136.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Acerbi 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Petrushevsky, Alexander (1884). Generalissimo Prince Suvorov (in Russian). Vol. 3 (1st ed.). St. Petersburg: Типография М. М. Стасюлевича. p. 85.
  4. ^ Duffy 1999, p. 79.
  5. ^ a b c d e Smith 1998, p. 155.
  6. ^ a b c d Bodart 1908, p. 334.
  7. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 137.
  8. ^ a b c d Duffy 1999, p. 80.

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