Editing Battle of Novi (1799) (section)

==Battle==
===Kray attacks===
[[File:Jean-Victor Moreau.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|alt=Sepia-toned print of a man with long sideburns looking directly at the artist. He wears a dark-colored military coat of the 1790s trimmed with gold braid.|Jean Victor Moreau]]

Joubert did not plan on fighting at Novi Ligure, but the position that his troops held was well-suited for a defensive battle. Facing north, the French held an arc of high ground from Serravalle on the right to [[Pasturana]] on the left. In the center, Novi was surrounded by a wall and ditch dating to the Middle Ages. One weakness of the position was that the deep ravines of the Riasco and Braghena streams cut across the rear, obstructing any retreat. Kray had the Allied right wing in movement before dawn with Bellegarde on the right and Ott on the left. Seckendorf on the far right aimed for the place where the Riasco stream emerged from its ravine. The crackle of muskets began at 3:20 am as the Austrian columns bumped into French picket lines. This provoked a great racket in the French camps as their surprised troops rushed into formation. At first light, the Allies saw that the heights were crowned by the blue lines of French infantry. Instead of striking the flank of an enemy army on the move, the Austrians of the right wing were making a frontal attack on a strong position.<ref name=Duffy138/>

[[File:Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|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 the extreme French right, Dombrowski's division blockaded the Austrians in Serravalle Castle.<ref>Duffy (1999), p. 132 map</ref> Next in line was Watrin's division which was still deployed in the low ground to the east of Novi. Gardanne's brigade held Novi while the rest of Laboissière's division lined the heights behind the town. Farther to the left was Lemoine's division and then Grouchy's division on the far left. The left was braced by the reserves of Clausel, Partouneaux and Richepanse.<ref name=Duffy138/>

At the foot of the plateau, Ott and Bellegarde deployed from marching columns into lines. At first their assault enjoyed some success against their sleep-groggy opponents. However, the slopes were steep and obstructed by vineyards, forcing the Austrians to redeploy into column. Pérignon brought Clausel and Partouneaux to the assistance of Grouchy, while Saint-Cyr sent Colli's brigade from the right wing to help Lemoine. Moreau took charge of the French center in the contest against Ott.<ref>Duffy (1999), p. 139</ref> In this phase of the battle Joubert was fatally hit while leading a counterattack by the 26th Light Demi Brigade. Despite mounting losses, the Austrian infantry bravely and repeatedly struggled forward in columns. As they reached the top of the slope and tried to redeploy into line, they were struck by French counterattacks and forced back. At last, Ott's columns were overthrown by the 26th Light and 105th Line and Kray's entire wing fell back to the bottom of the heights to reform.<ref name=Duffy142>Duffy (1999), p. 142</ref>

By 9:00 am Kray and his officers managed to reorganize their troops when an order arrived from Suvorov to renew the attack. Once more the Austrians attacked the heights and once more they were defeated with loss. While Clausel and Richepanse helped repulse Bellegarde's division, Partouneaux counterattacked Ott. Encouraged by his success, Partouneaux unwisely charged down into the plain where his troops were scattered by four squadrons of the ''Archduke Joseph'' Hussars and ''Kaiser'' Dragoons. Partouneaux was among those captured. After the repulse of his second attack, Kray massed a 40-gun battery with which he bombarded any French troops who dared to line the crest. But the Austrian general refused to launch more attacks until the rest of the army joined the fight. Suvorov had planned to encircle a French army in motion. The unexpected circumstances threw the Allied plan out of gear.<ref name=Duffy142/>

===Bagration and Miloradovich in battle===
[[File:Louis Lemoine.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|alt=Black and white print of a man in dark military coat with gold braid and white breeches. Seated at a table, he gestures with his left hand toward a document held in his right hand.|Louis Lemoine]]

Suvorov realized that every man must be thrown into the battle. Bagration's command belatedly attacked Novi at 10:00 am. As the Russians moved forward they were subjected to an intense artillery barrage. Bagration's troops were able to press back the French skirmish lines through the outlying ditches, gardens and suburbs of Novi, but were foiled when they encountered Novi's city wall. Moving to their right, they were easy marks for the [[tirailleur]]s who were concealed in the vineyards and farm buildings. The Russians ran into Quesnel's brigade of Laboissière's division defending the heights; it held back the Russians. As the Russians pushed forward, they were attacked in flank by Gardanne's men from Novi and even by Watrin's division from the French right flank, which was eager to gain its revenge for the defeat on the Trebbia. Most of Miloradovich's division was sent into the fray to assist Bagration ({{ill|Ivan Förster|ru|Ферстер, Иван Иванович|vertical-align=sup}} was appointed commander of Miloradovich's dispatched force{{sfn|Milyutin|1852|p=55}}): the ''Miller'' Jaeger and the ''Lomonosov'' and ''Sanaev'' grenadiers succeeded in containing Gardanne's thrusts from Novi, but every Russian assault on the French center came to grief. Bagration's Cossacks found employment by luring French skirmishers into the plain and then killing or capturing them.<ref>Duffy (1999), p. 143</ref>

===Melas' movement===
[[File:Michael von Melas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|alt=Black and white print shows a clean-shaven white-haired man in a white military uniform. He is shown standing from head to waist.|Michael von Melas]]

In due course, Derfelden's division arrived at the front and was hurled into a new attack near Novi. Kray's wing attacked once more and his attack stalled. Around 11:30 am Suvorov directed the Allied left wing under Melas to advance. However, Melas, shortly after Derfelden left, declined to attack Novi as ordered by Suvorov's sent adjutant Colonel Lavrov. Instead of a full-fledged frontal attack on the right of the Novi position, he carefully reconnoitered the ground and also decided to head out east of this strong position—on the distant right flank. The Austrian sent Nobili's two battalions and two squadrons south along the east bank of the [[Scrivia]] River toward the Serravalle Castle to prevent any French threat from that direction. Nobili was aided by Lieutenant Colonel Dworschak and the garrison of Serravalle Castle, which made a sortie into the town. The remainder of the left wing, the main force, moved down the west bank of the river with Mittrowsky's brigade on the left and the grenadier battalions on the right, to help the Russians against Watrin as directed; Melas would instruct Lusignan's brigade to attack to the east of Novi in conjunction with Derfelden, while Loudon's brigade made a wider sweep eastwards toward the heights with Mittrowsky. Loudon and Mittrowsky headed that way due to pressure from the Austro-Russian commander in chief, who directed them to be moved from the east bank, thus only Nobili's brigade remained there, going to Serravalle. At the same time Melas himself with Lusignan's brigade and Liechtenstein's cavalry joined the Russian left flank.<ref name=Duffy144/>{{sfn|Orlov|1892|pp=297–298}}

Around 3:00 pm the most recent Austro-Russian attack was repulsed from the line of heights. According to [[:Ru:Грязев, Николай Алексеевич|Gryazev's]] chronicles, ''Rosenberg'' Grenadiers advanced half way up the slopes, but recoiled in the face of a fire at point blank range. They were saved from destruction by Suvorov, who ordered them to veer to the right, and then fall back downhill. By this time Watrin had positioned his division on the heights to the east of Novi. Lusignan's grenadiers made three frontal attacks on Watrin without breaking through. Meanwhile, Loudon's grenadiers approached Watrin's right flank and Mittrowsky's command threatened an even deeper envelopment. In the face of the new attacks, Watrin's division crumbled. Saint-Cyr threw the 106th Line Demi Brigade into a counterattack which stopped the Austrians and captured Lusignan, who was wounded. By 5:00 pm, Watrin and the 106th were finally beaten by superior numbers and retreated. On the opposite flank Kray attacked again between 3:00 and 4:00 pm.<ref name=Duffy144/>

[[File:Battaglia di Novi.jpg|thumb|right|Plan of the battle of Novi by [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]]]]

===Coalition breakthrough===

Around 5:30 pm the entire French position started to disintegrate. The ''Paar'' Grenadier Battalion drove Colli's 68th Line from the crest near Novi. The troops of Derfelden and Melas broke into Novi at about the same time, driving out most of Gardanne's men. Laboissière's division managed to follow Watrin's men in their escape. But at about this time the French army split into two halves which were not reunited until three days later.<ref>Duffy (1999), p. 146</ref> As the French left started to pull back, the Allies closed in for the kill, unleashing their cavalry. Earlier, Bellegarde had posted a battalion and four squadrons near Pasturana on the far right. Now, as the French retreated they had to negotiate the streets of Pasturana, the Braghena Gorge immediately to the south and Bellegarde's small force.<ref name=Duffy147>Duffy (1999), p. 147</ref>

The entire French left wing had to squeeze through the blockage. The Russians took no prisoners, killing every Frenchman that they caught. If a French soldier survived as a prisoner, it was because he was taken by Kray's Austrians. In the melee Grouchy tried to rally his men but was cut down and captured. Pérignon was also taken prisoner after suffering three wounds including a deep saber cut above his left eye. Colli and at least 2,000 other French soldiers and 21 artillery pieces were captured, mostly in the bottleneck at Pasturana. As night fell, the French army streamed away and the exhausted Allies stopped. Near midnight, some of Gardanne's men were discovered hiding out in Novi and the Russians went through the town again. Having accomplished their purpose, they began looting and Suvorov ordered his drummers to beat assembly to stop the pillage.<ref name=Duffy147/>