Editing Battle of Trebbia (1799) (section)

===MacDonald's offensive===
[[File:MacDonald par Antoine Jean Gros.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|alt=Painting of a man decked out in an elaborate high-collared dark blue military uniform with lots of gold braid. His head is tilted back so his nose is slightly upturned and he has thinning gray hair.|Jacques MacDonald]]

On 14 April 1799, the French Directory ordered MacDonald to help the French forces in northern Italy. Accordingly, he assembled the ''[[Army of Naples]]'' and moved north, leaving southern Italy in the hands of local forces. MacDonald reached [[Rome]] on 16 May and Florence ten days later. From there, the safest course was to use the west coast road to reach Genoa, keeping the [[Apennine Mountains]] between him and the Allies. However, MacDonald believed that the coast road was unusable for his artillery beyond [[Lerici]] and feared that Austrian columns might interfere with the operation. But perhaps the real reason was that MacDonald wished to make a theatrical entrance to the campaign by smashing his way through the Coalition allies. In order to accomplish this, he asked Moreau to march north and east to meet him near [[Piacenza]], an impractical move that would place the ''Army of Italy'' in the midst of its enemies. After his passage across the Apennines, MacDonald hoped to crush some of the Austrian covering forces.<ref name=Duffy87>Duffy (1999), p. 87</ref> As it moved north, the ''Army of Naples'' absorbed the divisions of Victor, Montrichard and Gaultier, bringing its total field force to 36,728 soldiers.<ref name=Duffy84/>

[[File:Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|alt=Black-and-white print of a man in profile from head to chest. He wears a light-colored coat and his hair is pulled back into a queue.|Peter Karl Ott]]

On 9 June Suvorov received news from [[Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz]] that Victor and Montrichard reinforced MacDonald and that the French captured [[Pontremoli]]. Ott commanded 5,000 soldiers that belonged to Bellegarde's corps, but were acting independently near [[Parma]]. Immediately, Suvorov ordered Ott to conduct a staged withdrawal to [[Stradella, Lombardy|Stradella]],<ref name=Duffy84/> but to hold that position at all hazards. The Russian commander quickly made up his mind to move east to confront MacDonald. With the exception of Kaim's division, the Austro-Russian army marched to [[Asti]], reaching there on 11 June. The Allied troops reached the [[Bormida (river)|Bormida River]] near the French-held fortress of [[Alessandria]] on 13 June. That day, Suvorov got definite news of MacDonald's offensive. Meanwhile, a French squadron put in at Genoa on 2 June to drop off French reinforcements. Intelligence indicated that Moreau was about to descend from the mountains. Suvorov ordered Bellegarde's corps to march on Alessandria to keep an eye on Moreau while the rest of his army concentrated against MacDonald.<ref>Duffy (1999), p. 85</ref>

The ''Army of Naples'' negotiated the Apennine Mountains in four major columns. The divisions of Montrichard and [[Jean-Baptiste Dominique Rusca]] formed the easternmost column, moving from Florence to Bologna. Next to the west were the divisions of [[Jean-Baptiste Olivier]] and [[François Watrin]], accompanied by MacDonald and advancing from [[Pistoia]] on [[Modena]]. Farther west was [[Jean Henri Dombrowski]]'s division descending the [[Secchia]] River valley.<ref name=Duffy87/> The westernmost column was made up of Victor's division marching from [[Borgo Val di Taro]] down the [[Taro (river)|Taro River]] toward Parma. Because MacDonald's offensive across the Apennines was so unlikely, it took the Austrian covering forces by surprise. These were Klenau's command southwest of Ferrara, now reduced to 3,500 men,<ref>Duffy (1999), p. 88</ref> [[Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen]] at Modena with 4,800 troops and Ott west of [[Fornovo di Taro]]. MacDonald planned to destroy Hohenzollern's division by pinning it with his own column while enveloping it with Dombrowski's division from the west and Rusca's division from the east. Klenau deduced the French strategy and shifted northeast behind the [[Panaro River]] to block Rusca. MacDonald lost touch with Dombrowski's command. Nevertheless, MacDonald fell on the Austrians at Modena with two divisions.<ref name=Duffy89>Duffy (1999), p. 89</ref> On 12 June in the [[Battle of Modena (1799)|Battle of Modena]], the French inflicted losses of 750 killed and wounded on their enemies while capturing 1,650 men, eight guns and three colors. French casualties were 400 killed and wounded and 200 captured.<ref>Smith (1998), p. 158</ref> During the pursuit, MacDonald was set upon by a troop of French Royalist cavalry and suffered saber cuts on the head and arm before his own soldiers could finish off their enemies.<ref name=Duffy89/>

Since the fortress of Alessandria commanded the only crossing of the Bormida, the Austro-Russian main body waited on a pontoon train which finally arrived on 15 June. At 5:00 pm the span was in place and Suvorov's army crossed and marched all night to reach [[Castelnuovo Scrivia]] on the morning of the 16th. After only three hours of rest, the soldiers continued the forced march during the day to their bivouac between [[Casteggio]] and [[Casatisma]].<ref name=Duffy91/> In a period of 24 hours the Allied army covered {{convert|56|km|mi|0}}<ref name=Duffy91/> in the scorching heat. Many fell down from fatigue.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Petrushevsky |first=Alexander |url=https://archive.org/details/libgen_00294791/page/n125/mode/2up |title=Generalissimo Prince Suvorov |date=1884 |publisher=Типография М. М. Стасюлевича |edition=1st |volume=3 |pages=113–115 |language=ru}}</ref> To provide security for his right flank, Suvorov detached Mikhail Mikhailovich Veletsky with one battalion of the ''Jung-Baden'' Musketeer Regiment, 50 [[Cossacks]] and 80 [[dragoon]]s from the [[Andreas Karaczay|''Karaczay'']] Regiment. Allowing for the possibility of defeat, the Russian army commander ordered the Po to be bridged at [[Cava Manara|Mezzana Corti]] for the main army and [[Valenza]] for Bellegarde's corps.<ref name=Duffy91>Duffy (1999), p. 91</ref> By this time, Bellegarde and 14,500 troops arrived to maintain the siege of Alessandria and contain Moreau. To keep MacDonald from raising the siege of Mantua, Kray manned the north bank of the Po with several thousand troops.<ref name=Duffy90/>

On 16 June at 10:00 am, MacDonald's vanguard arrived near [[Piacenza]] and began pressing Ott's command. Suvorov reiterated his orders for Ott to make a fighting retreat to the Stradella defile. By this time Austrian military engineer Albert Johann de Best got the Piacenza citadel into a defensible state after eight days of work; two or three companies of the ''Fröhlich'' Regiment were assigned to garrison it. Victor's division led the French attack on Ott as Rusca's soldiers edged toward the south as if to flank the Austrians out of position. That night, Suvorov's [[chief of staff]] [[Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles]] rushed toward Ott's position with 100 dragoons of the ''Karaczay'' Regiment plus a half-battery of horse artillery. Following behind was an improvised force including the ''Wouwermanns'' Grenadier Battalion, three battalions of the ''Fröhlich'' Regiment, the remainder of the ''Karaczay'' Regiment and one and one-half batteries of horse artillery. If Ott could hold out along the Tidone River, it would allow ample space for the Austro-Russian army to deploy between the Po and the mountain spurs to the south. If Ott were forced back into the narrow Stradella position, it would be difficult for the Allies to form a line of battle and might even cause a rout.<ref name=Duffy92>Duffy (1999), p. 92</ref>