The Battle of Fombio was fought between the French Army of Italy led by Napoleon Bonaparte and the Austrian army under Feldzeugmeister Johann Peter Beaulieu between 7 and 9 May 1796. It was the decisive strategic point of the campaign, as Bonaparte crossed the Po River at Piacenza in Beaulieu's rear, threatening both Milan and the Austrian line of communications. This threat forced the Austrian army to withdraw to the east.

Battle of Fombio-Codogno
Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the First Coalition

The Battle of Fombio-Codogno
Date7–9 May 1796
Location45°09′00″N 9°42′00″E / 45.1500°N 9.7000°E / 45.1500; 9.7000
Result French victory
Belligerents
France France Holy Roman Empire Austria
Commanders and leaders
Strength
11,500 Lipthay: 5,000
Schübirz: 1,580
Casualties and losses
450[2] 1,568, 20 guns
Battle of Fombio is located in Northern Italy
Battle of Fombio
Location within Northern Italy
Battle of Fombio is located in Europe
Battle of Fombio
Battle of Fombio (Europe)

Map
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100km
62miles
15
Battle of Tarvis (1797) from 21 to 23 March 1797
14
Battle of Valvasone (1797) on 16 March 1797
13
Siege of Mantua (1796–1797) from 27 August 1796 to 2 February 1797
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Battle of Rivoli from 14 to 15 January 1797
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Battle of Arcole from 15 to 17 November 1796
10
Battle of Caldiero (1796) on 12 November 1796
9
Battle of Bassano on 8 September 1796 Second Battle of Bassano on 6 November 1796
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Battle of Rovereto on 4 September 1796
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Battle of Castiglione on 5 August 1796
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Battle of Lonato from 3 to 4 August 1796
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Battle of Borghetto on 30 May 1796
Lodi
4
Battle of Lodi on 10 May 1796
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2
Montenotte campaign from 10 to 28 April 1796
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Second Battle of Saorgio (1794) from 24 to 28 April 1794
  current battle
  Napoleon as subordinate
  Napoleon in command

Campaign

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After forcing the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont to sue for peace at the end of the Montenotte Campaign, Bonaparte turned on the Austrians, who retreated to the north bank of the Po. The French army commander ordered General of Division Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier to launch a pinning attack on Beaulieu's positions near Valenza. Forming an advance guard of 3,500 grenadiers and 1,500 cavalry, Bonaparte placed it under General of Brigade Claude Dallemagne. Then he sent Dallemagne on a rapid march to the east along the south bank of the Po. The advance guard was followed by General of Division Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe's division. Bonaparte intended to turn the Austrian left flank by crossing the Po near Piacenza.[3]

Battle

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Early on 7 May, the advance guard seized a ferry near Piacenza and quickly crossed the river, Colonel Jean Lannes being the first Frenchman on the north bank. Soon both Dallemagne and Laharpe's commands formed a bridgehead on the north bank. General-major Anton Lipthay de Kisfalud's forces, which numbered 4,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry,[4] soon detected the French and several clashes occurred during the day. When Beaulieu heard about the incursion, he ordered General-major Josef Philipp Vukassovich to march from Valeggio to Lipthay's support and ordered his army to pull back in the direction of the Adda River. Meanwhile, General of Division Pierre Augereau got his 7,000 soldiers across the Po farther west by using a captured barge.

On the morning of 8 May, Dallemagne's advance guard, supported by Laharpe's 6,500-strong division, assaulted the village of Fombio. Colonels Lannes and François Lanusse led the advance guard's left and center columns while Dallemagne personally commanded the right column.[5] At first Lipthay resisted stoutly, using his hussars to counterattack, but he decided to withdraw to avoid being trapped by the flanking columns. His Austrian and Neapolitan cavalry covered the retreat to Codogno. The French attacked Lipthay again in Codogno and the Austrians had to fight their way back to Pizzighettone, where there was a bridge over the Adda River. Lipthay's losses numbered 568 men on 7–8 May.[6] According to one report, the French suffered 150 killed and 300 wounded in the first volley.[7]

That evening, as Laharpe's 51st Line Infantry Demi-Brigade marched through Codogno, General-Major Anton Schübirz von Chobinin, with 1,000 foot soldiers and 580 uhlans attacked the town from the west. In one confused clash in the dark streets, Laharpe was killed, possibly by friendly fire. Bonaparte's chief of staff, General of Brigade Louis Berthier took charge and rushed two more demi-brigades into the fight before Schübirz withdrew about dawn on the 9th.[8] Cut off from the bridge over the Adda at Pizzighettone, Beaulieu directed his retreating units to make for the bridge at Lodi, farther north. The Battle of Lodi followed on 10 May as Beaulieu tried to get his army safely behind the Adda and Bonaparte attempted to head him off.

References

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  1. ^ Carlo Botta, Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 1814
  2. ^ Chandler Dictionary, p. 153.
  3. ^ Chandler Campaigns, p 78
  4. ^ Boycott-Brown, p 299
  5. ^ Boycott-Brown, p 300-301
  6. ^ Boycott-Brown, p 302
  7. ^ Chandler Dictionary, p 153
  8. ^ Boycott-Brown, p 303-304

Bibliography

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  • 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.
  • Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan, 1979. ISBN 0-02-523670-9.
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