Montenotte campaign

Montenotte campaign
Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the First Coalition
View of the Battle of Mondovi by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti (1764-1831)
Date 10–28 April 1796 Location Republic of Genoa and Kingdom of Sardinia today Liguria and Piedmont regions in Italy 44°39′N 7°52′E / 44.650°N 7.867°E / 44.650; 7.867 Result French victory, Sardinia sues for peace
Belligerents
Republican France	Kingdom of Sardinia Habsburg monarchy
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon Bonaparte André Masséna Pierre Augereau Jean-Baptiste Meynier Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier	Michelangelo Colli Johann Beaulieu
Strength
37,600, 60 guns [1]	67,000 total
Casualties and losses
6,000	25,000 total
class=notpageimage| Location within Northern Italy Show map of Northern Italy Montenotte campaign (Europe) Show map of Europe

War of the First Coalition:
Italian Campaign

100km
62miles

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

Lodi

4

3

2

1

  

  current battle

  Napoleon as subordinate

  Napoleon in command

The Montenotte campaign began on 10 April 1796 with an action at Voltri and ended with the Armistice of Cherasco on 28 April. In his first army command, Napoleon Bonaparte's French army separated the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont under Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi from the allied Habsburg army led by Johann Peter Beaulieu. The French defeated both Habsburg and Sardinian armies and forced Sardinia to quit the First Coalition. The campaign formed part of the Wars of the French Revolution. Montenotte Superiore is located at the junction of Strada Provinciale 12 and 41 in the Liguria region of northwest Italy, 15 kilometres (9 mi) northeast of Carcare municipality. However, the fighting occurred in an area from Genoa on the east to Cuneo on the west.

In the spring of 1796, Bonaparte planned to launch an offensive against the combined armies of Sardinia and the Habsburg Monarchy. However, the Habsburg army moved first, attacking the French right flank at Voltri, near Genoa. In response, Bonaparte counterattacked the center of the enemy array, striking the boundary between the armies of his adversaries. Beating the Austrians at Montenotte, the budding military genius strove to drive the Piedmontese west and the Austrians northeast. Victories at Millesimo over the Sardinians and at Second Battle of Dego over the Austrians began to drive a deep wedge between them. Leaving a division to observe the stunned Austrians, Bonaparte's army chased the Piedmontese west after a second clash at Ceva. A week after the French drubbed the Sardinians at Mondovì the Sardinian government signed an armistice and withdrew from the War of the First Coalition. In two and a half weeks, Bonaparte had overcome one of France's enemies, leaving the crippled Habsburg army as his remaining opponent in northern Italy.