The French army had six weeks of respite before the Austrian army
advanced from the north for a second attempt at pushing the French out of
Northern Italy. During those six weeks, Napoleon, following a long historical
tradition, laid siege to the Mantova stronghold. Three lakes to the north and
east surrounded the formidable fortress with marshes protecting the
fortification from the south and west. By the 3rd
of June Mantova was under attack from Sérurier and Augereau, with assistance
from Dallemange, Lannes, and Kilmaine.
During the months of June and July, Napoleon brought the Tuscany region
and the Papal States to the south to a quick armistice. However, by the end of
July Napoleon was back near Lake Garda, preparing his army for the eventual and
inevitable return of the Austrian army. On the 29th of July, Sérurier
was ordered to abandon the siege of Mantova and move west to Marcaria to prepare
for the Austrian advance.
Austrian Calvary general, Count Würmser, took overall command of the
Austrian army from Beaulieu, and by the end of June had amassed over 50,000 men
in the Trento region. It was Würmser’s plan to move south, fighting his way
through the French army to relieve Mantova and then drive the French forces out
of Northern Italy. To achieve this, he divided his army into three corps, one
moving down along each side of Lake Garda and the third moving through the
Brenta Valley to the east.
The central column made the first contact with the French army on the 29th
of July. Napoleon quickly had his forces in that region retreat to just beyond
the Mincio River. General Augereau was positioned on the eastern side of Lake
Garda and moved to stop Austria’s Quasdanovitch at Brescia on the 1st
of August. Napoleon was anxious about the Austrian advance. Within a few days,
the Austrian central column was in control of Rivoli and Madonna di Corona, just
to the north of Rivoli. On the western coast of Lake Garda, Sauret had to
abandon Salo. Other French divisions were giving up valuable ground to the
enemy. Napoleon’s greatest fear was that Würmser was going to succeed in
joining his two columns south of Lake Garda. This would give him numerical
superiority. Fortunately for Napoleon, Würmser was unable to capitalize on his
initial success, as he became completely obsessed with reaching Mantova.
A small window of opportunity opened for the French when Massena was
able to fight off Quasdanovitch while Augereau fought back Würmser’s advance
guard near Castiglione. The main body of Würmser’s army waited in the area of
Vallegio from the 30th of July to the 2nd of August to
ensure that the siege of Mantova had been fully lifted by a smaller rescue
force. Thus Würmser did not set out for Castiglione until the 3rd of
August. This allowed Napoleon to maneuver Augereau’s division between
Massena’s division and Würmser’s column. On the 3rd of August,
much to Würmser’s surprise, he found Augereau’s forces blocking his advance
to help Quasdanovitch.
Massena was finally able to defeat Quasdanovitch and as the Austrian division retreated
north, Massena moved south to join Augereau’s forces. Sérurier also was
ordered into the area taking up the left flank to the rear of Würmser’s army.
Thus, on the 5th of August, the Austrian general with his stationary
army of 25,000 men near Castiglione was descended upon from three sides by
30,000 French troops. Würmser was quickly forced to retreat eastward to
Vallegio. As the French army regained the occupation of the towns to the east, Würmser
completed a full retreat of his army back to Trento. Napoleon had succeeded in
repulsing the first attempt by the Austrian army to regain control of the
Lombard Plain. The battle was not yet over as Würmser was sure to attempt
another advance to the south in the weeks to come.
Sources:
Chandler, David G. (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: MacMillan
Publishing Co., Inc.
Britt, Albert Sydney (1986). Atlas for Wars of Napoleon. Wayne, N.J. : Avery Publishing Group.