Battle of Marengo (1800): Napoleon's Narrow Victory in Italy

The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 near Alessandria in Piedmont, northern Italy, between the French army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and the Austrian army of General Michael von Melas. For most of the day the Austrians were winning, but the late arrival of General Louis Desaix and a sudden French counter-attack turned defeat into victory. The battle drove Austria out of most of northern Italy and secured Bonaparte’s new regime in France.

Background

When Bonaparte seized power in the Coup of 18 Brumaire in November 1799, France was still at war with the Second Coalition, chiefly Austria and Britain. Russia had already left the war. The French had lost almost all of their Italian conquests in 1799, and Bonaparte needed a quick success to justify his rule.

In spring 1800 the Austrians under Melas, an experienced general of over 70, pushed into Liguria and besieged General André Masséna in Genoa. Meanwhile a second French army under General Jean Moreau advanced into southern Germany against another Austrian force.

Bonaparte had secretly assembled an “Army of Reserve” around Dijon and Geneva. Rather than relieve Genoa directly, he planned to cross the Alps and strike into the Austrians’ rear, cutting their communications with Austria.

Crossing the Alps

Between about 15 and 20 May 1800 the Army of Reserve, some 40,000 men, crossed the Great St Bernard Pass, still deep in snow. Cannon barrels were dragged up in hollowed tree trunks. Bonaparte himself crossed on 20 May on a mule.

Beyond the pass, the small Austrian garrison of Fort Bard blocked the valley road and held up the French artillery for about two weeks. Even so, the infantry pushed on, and Bonaparte entered Milan on 2 June. On 4 June, however, the starving garrison of Genoa surrendered, freeing Austrian troops to turn against him.

On 9 June General Jean Lannes defeated an Austrian corps at Montebello. Two days later General Desaix, just returned from Egypt, joined the army. Unsure where Melas would go, Bonaparte spread his forces out, and on 13 June sent Desaix with a division south towards Novi to block a possible Austrian escape.

The battle

Early on 14 June Melas did the opposite of what Bonaparte expected. He led around 30,000 men with about 100 guns out of Alessandria, across the Bormida river, and attacked the French corps of Generals Claude Victor and Lannes near the village of Marengo. The French, perhaps 22,000-24,000 strong at the start, were badly outgunned.

The French held a line along a stream, the Fontanone, for several hours, but by early afternoon Austrian pressure and a flanking move through Castel Ceriolo forced them back. Bonaparte, who had arrived late in the morning, committed his last reserves, including the Consular Guard and the division of General Jean-Charles Monnier. By mid-afternoon the French were retreating towards San Giuliano.

Melas, slightly wounded and believing the battle won, handed command to his chief of staff, General Anton von Zach, and returned to Alessandria. He reportedly sent news of a victory to Vienna. Zach organised a column to pursue the beaten French along the main road.

Desaix and the counter-attack

Bonaparte had sent urgent messages recalling Desaix that morning. Desaix had already halted on hearing the guns, and about 5 pm he reached the battlefield with the fresh division of General Jean Boudet, about 6,000 men. Tradition holds that he said the battle was lost but there was still time to win another.

The French launched a combined counter-attack. General Auguste Marmont massed the remaining guns, perhaps 18 pieces, to fire on Zach’s column at close range. Boudet’s infantry advanced, and Desaix was shot dead at its head. At the critical moment General François Étienne Kellermann, son of the victor of Valmy, charged the flank of the Austrian column with a few hundred cavalry.

The surprised column broke, Zach himself was captured, and panic spread through the tired Austrian army. By nightfall the Austrians had streamed back across the Bormida into Alessandria, and the French held the field.

By the numbers

Figures differ between sources; those above are commonly cited ranges.

Key people

• Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821): First Consul of France, who planned the Alpine crossing but misjudged Austrian intentions on the day of the battle.
• Michael von Melas (1729–1806): the elderly Austrian commander, who came close to victory but left the field before the battle was decided.
• Louis Desaix (1768–1800): a respected general recently returned from Egypt, whose arrival saved the French army and who was killed in the counter-attack.
• François Étienne Kellermann (1770–1835): cavalry commander whose charge broke the Austrian column; he later complained that his role was played down.
• Anton von Zach (1747–1826): Austrian chief of staff, captured while leading the pursuit.
• Auguste Marmont (1774–1852): artillery commander who massed the guns for the final French attack and later became a Marshal of the Empire.

Consequences

On 15 June Melas signed the Convention of Alessandria, agreeing to withdraw his army east of the Mincio river and to hand over the fortresses of Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria. In a single day France regained most of northern Italy.

The war did not end at once. Austria fought on until Moreau won a decisive victory at Hohenlinden in Bavaria on 3 December 1800. The Treaty of Lunéville followed on 9 February 1801, confirming French gains in Italy and on the Rhine. Britain made peace at Amiens in March 1802, briefly bringing a general peace to Europe.

In Paris, Marengo removed the danger that a defeat might topple the First Consul. It confirmed his image as a winning general and helped him consolidate his power.

Myths and facts

The official French bulletin and later accounts, revised several times on Bonaparte’s orders, presented Marengo as a carefully planned victory. In fact Bonaparte was surprised by the Austrian attack and very nearly lost; the credit belongs largely to Desaix, Marmont and Kellermann, as many historians have pointed out.

Jacques-Louis David’s painting “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” (1801) shows the First Consul calmly mastering a rearing stallion. This is propaganda: he crossed the pass on a mule in fine weather, a scene Paul Delaroche painted in 1850. Napoleon did, however, name a grey horse Marengo, and the skeleton of a horse claimed to be it is displayed at the National Army Museum in London.

Timeline

• 1800, 20 April: Austrian forces begin the blockade of Masséna in Genoa.
• 1800, 15-20 May: The Army of Reserve crosses the Great St Bernard Pass.
• 1800, 2 June: Bonaparte enters Milan.
• 1800, 4 June: Masséna surrenders Genoa.
• 1800, 9 June: Lannes defeats the Austrians at Montebello.
• 1800, 14 June: Battle of Marengo; Desaix is killed.
• 1800, 15 June: Convention of Alessandria is signed.
• 1800, 3 December: Moreau defeats the Austrians at Hohenlinden.
• 1801, 9 February: Treaty of Lunéville ends the war between France and Austria.

Why it matters

Marengo was the victory on which Napoleon’s political career was built. Fought only seven months after he took power, it showed both his daring and his luck, and it set up the peace that allowed him to reform France before war returned and led to triumphs such as the Battle of Austerlitz.