Editing Battle of Rivoli

{{Short description|1797 battle of the War of the First Coalition}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Rivoli
| partof            = the [[Italian campaign of 1796–1797]] in the [[War of the First Coalition]]
| image             = File:Napoleon at the Battle of Rivoli.jpg
| caption           = ''Napoleon at the Battle of Rivoli'', by [[Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux]]
| date              = 14 January 1797
| place             = [[Rivoli Veronese]], [[Republic of Venice]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|45.5667|N|10.8167|E|source:wikidata}}
| map_type          = Italy North#Europe
| map_relief        = 1
| map_size          = 300
| result            = [[French First Republic|French]] victory{{sfn|Forrest|2011|p=77}}
| territory         = 
| combatant1        = {{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[French First Republic|French Republic]]
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Habsburg monarchy]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Barthélemy Catherine Joubert|Barthélemy Joubert]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[André Masséna]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Gabriel Venance Rey]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Charles Leclerc (general, born 1772)|Charles Leclerc]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[Honoré Vial]] 
Jean Lannes
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[József Alvinczi]]<br>{{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Joseph Ocskay von Ocsko]]<br>{{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Anton Lipthay de Kisfalud]]<br>{{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Franz Joseph, Marquis de Lusignan]]<br>{{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Heinrich XV, Prince Reuss of Greiz]]<br>{{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich|Peter von Quosdanovich]]<br>{{flagicon|Habsburg Monarchy}} [[Josef Philipp Vukassovich]]
| strength1         = 22,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=318}}
| strength2         = 28,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=318}}{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=100}}
| casualties1       = 3,200{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=318}}{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=100}}–5,000{{sfn|Chandler|1979|p=328}}
| casualties2       = 12,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=318}}–14,300{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=100}}
}}
{{Campaignbox First Coalition}}
{{Campaignbox French Revolutionary Wars:Italy}}
{{OSM Location map
| coord = {{coord|45.3|10.5}}
|  zoom = 6
|   float = right
|    nolabels = 1
|     width = 304
|     height = 180
| title = [[War of the First Coalition]]:<br>[[Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars|Italian Campaign]]
| caption = {{legend|black|current battle}}{{legend|navy|Napoleon as subordinate}}{{legend|maroon|Napoleon in command}}

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| shape-colorD = maroon
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| label1 =
| mark-coord1 = {{coord|43.99|7.55}}
| mark-title1 = [[Second Battle of Saorgio (1794)]] from 24 to 28 April 1794
| shape-color1 = navy
| label-color1 = navy

| label2 =
| mark-coord2 = {{coord|44.65|7.87}}
| mark-title2 = [[Montenotte campaign]] from 10 to 28 April 1796

| label3 =
| mark-coord3 = {{coord|45.15|9.7}}
| mark-title3 = [[Battle of Fombio]] from 7 to 9 May 1796

| label4 = Lodi
| mark-coord4 = {{coord|45.32|9.5}}
| mark-title4 = [[Battle of Lodi]] on 10 May 1796

| label5 =
| mark-coord5 = {{coord|45.35|10.73}}
| mark-title5 = [[Battle of Borghetto]] on 30 May 1796

| label6 =
| mark-coord6 = {{coord|45.46|10.48}}
| mark-title6 = [[Battle of Lonato]] from 3 to 4 August 1796

| label7 =
| mark-coord7 = {{coord|45.38|10.48}}
| mark-title7 = [[Battle of Castiglione]] on 5 August 1796

| label8 =
| mark-coord8 = {{coord|45.88|11.05}}
| mark-title8 = [[Battle of Rovereto]] on 4 September 1796

| label9 =
| mark-coord9 = {{coord|45.77|11.73}}
| mark-title9 = [[Battle of Bassano]] on 8 September 1796<br>[[Second Battle of Bassano]] on 6 November 1796

| label10 =
| mark-coord10 = {{coord|45.42|11.18}}
| mark-title10 = [[Battle of Caldiero (1796)]] on 12 November 1796

| label11 =
| mark-coord11 = {{coord|45.35|11.28}}
| mark-title11 = [[Battle of Arcole]] from 15 to 17 November 1796

| label12 =
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| mark-title12 = Battle of Rivoli from 14 to 15 January 1797
| shape-color12 = black
| label-color12 = black

| label13 =
| mark-coord13 = {{coord|45.16|10.8}}
| mark-title13 = [[Siege of Mantua (1796–1797)]] from 27 August 1796 to 2 February 1797

| label14 =
| mark-coord14 = {{coord|46|12.87}}
| mark-title14 = [[Battle of Valvasone (1797)]] on 16 March 1797

| label15 =
| mark-coord15 = {{coord|46.51|13.58}}
| mark-title15 = [[Battle of Tarvis (1797)]] from 21 to 23 March 1797
}}
The '''Battle of Rivoli''' (14 January 1797) was a key military engagement during the [[War of the First Coalition]] near the village of [[Rivoli Veronese|Rivoli]], then part of the [[Republic of Venice]]. In the climax of the [[Italian Campaign of 1796-1797|Italian campaign of 1796-1797]], the outnumbered French [[Army of Italy (France)|Army of Italy]] commanded by General [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] decisively defeated the attacking Austrian army commanded by [[Feldzeugmeister|General of the Artillery]] [[Jozsef Alvinczi]], who was attempting to march south in a fourth and final attempt to relieve the [[Siege of Mantua (1796-1797)|siege of Mantua]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rothenberg |first=Gunther E. |title=The Napoleonic Wars |last2=Keegan |first2=John |date=2000 |publisher=Cassell |isbn=978-0-304-35267-8 |series=The Cassell history of warfare |location=London |pages=46-47}}</ref> The French victory at Rivoli further demonstrated Bonaparte's capability and deftness as a military commander, and led to the Austrian surrender of Mantua in February, French consolidation of northern Italy, and ultimately France's victory over Austria in the war later that year.

==Forces==
See [[order of battle at the Battle of Rivoli]].

==Prelude==
Alvinczi's plan was to rush and overwhelm [[Barthélemy Catherine Joubert|Barthélemy Joubert]] in the mountains east of [[Lake Garda]] by concentrating 28,000 men in five separate columns, and thereby gain access to the open country north of [[Mantua]] where Austrian superior numbers would be able to defeat Bonaparte's smaller [[Army of Italy (France)|Army of Italy]]. Alvinczi attacked Joubert's 10,000 men on 12 January. However Joubert held him off and was subsequently joined by [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]] and, at 2 am on 14 January, by Bonaparte, who brought up elements of [[André Masséna]]'s division to support Joubert's efforts to form a defensive line on favorable ground just north of [[Rivoli Veronese|Rivoli]] on the Trambasore Heights. The battle would be a contest between Alvinczi's efforts to concentrate his dispersed columns versus the arrival of French reinforcements.

==Battle==
[[File:Battle of Rivoli.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Battle of Rivoli]]
[[File:Bataille de Rivoli LCCN2003677129.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Battle of Rivoli]]
The morning of Saturday 14 January found Alvinczi engaging the division of Joubert. He had united three Austrian columns between [[Caprino Veronese|Caprino]] on the right and the chapel of San Marco on the left; the brigade of [[Franz Joseph, Marquis de Lusignan|Franz Josef de Lusignan]] was advancing to the north of [[Monte Baldo]]; and the troops of [[Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich]] and [[Josef Philipp Vukassovich]] were pouring down the roads on either side of the [[Adige]]. Before daybreak as the French were moving on the road from [[Rivoli Veronese|Rivoli]] to Incanale Joubert attacked and drove the Austrians from the chapel of San Marco.{{sfn|Burton|2010|p=84}}

At 9 a.m., the Austrian brigades of Samuel Koblos and [[Anton Lipthay de Kisfalud|Anton Lipthay]] counterattacked the French forces on the Trambasore Heights. Another column under Prince [[Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen|Heinrich of Reuss-Plauen]] attempted to turn the French right via the Rivoli gorge. Meanwhile, on the French right flank, Vukassovich had advanced down the east bank of the Adige and had established batteries opposite Osteria. The fire of his guns and the pressure from Quosdanovich forced the French out of the village of Osteria and onto the Rivoli plateau. By about 11 a.m. the position of Bonaparte was becoming desperate: an Austrian column under Lusignan was cutting off his retreat south of Rivoli. To reopen his line of retreat Bonaparte turned to Massena's 18th [[Demi-brigade]] ("the Brave"), newly arrived from [[Lake Garda]]. Meanwhile, Alvinczi was on the Trambasore Heights urging his victorious battalions forward, though they were unformed by combat and rough terrain.

With the 18th dispatched to check Lusignan, Bonaparte turned all his attention to Quosdanovich. He understood the defeat of this column was the key to the battle. Unfortunately the French had very few reserves left and mostly had to accomplish this with troops already at hand. Making the best of interior lines and his advantage in artillery, Bonaparte thinned out Joubert's lines facing the Austrians frontally at the Trambasore Heights as much as possible and concentrated them before the gorge. A battery of 15 French guns were massed and poured [[canister shot]] at point blank range into the advancing Austrian column that was emerging from the gorge. This devastating firepower struck first on the advancing Austrian [[dragoon]]s who broke and stampeded through their own infantry causing mass chaos. At this juncture the brigade of [[Charles Leclerc (general, born 1772)|Charles Leclerc]] assaulted the column frontally while Joubert laid down heavy flanking fire from San Marco. Here [[Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle|Antoine Charles de Lasalle]] with just 26 horseman of the 22nd Horse [[Chasseur]]s charged into the melee. Lasalle's men captured a whole Austrian battalion and seized 5 enemy flags.
In the centre the battle was not yet won; [[Joseph Ocskay von Ocsko|Joseph Ocskay]] renewed his attack from San Marco and drove back the brigade of [[Honoré Vial]]. But at midday French cavalry under [[Joachim Murat]] charged the flanks of Ocskay's troops, which were driven back to the positions they occupied in the morning.{{sfn|Burton|2010|p=85}}

Quosdanovich realized he could not force the defile and ordered his troops to fall back out of artillery range. Meanwhile, while Lusignan was being engaged frontally by the brigade of [[Guillaume Brune]], the division of [[Gabriel Venance Rey|Gabriel Rey]], coming up from [[Castelnuovo del Garda|Castelnuovo]] and the brigade of [[Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno|Claude Victor]] (reserve) began to arrive. They crushed the Austrian column of Lusignan who fled west with less than 2,000 men remaining.{{sfn|Burton|2010|p=85}}
The French lost 3,200 killed and wounded and 1,000 captured, while the Austrians suffered 4,000 killed and wounded, plus 8,000 men and 40 guns captured.{{sfn|Smith|1998|p=131}}{{sfn|Rothenberg|1980|p=248}} Although the number of prisoners can reach 10,000, the total losses exceed two-thirds of the total number of the army.{{sfn|Tarle|1901|p=112}} One authority gives the French 5,000 and the Austrians 14,000 total losses.{{sfn|Chandler|1979|p=328}}

==Aftermath==
[[File:Detaille Bonaparte in Italy 1797.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|alt=Painting shows men in dark blue uniforms escorting disarmed me in mostly white uniforms. The scene is being reviewed my mounted officers in dark blue uniforms.|Bonaparte reviewing Austrian prisoners. ''Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy, 1797'' is by [[Edouard Detaille]].]] 
The next day Joubert and Rey began a successful pursuit of Alvinczi, all but destroying his columns, the remnants of which fled north up into the Adige Valley in confusion. The Battle of Rivoli was Bonaparte's greatest victory at the time. After that he turned his attention to [[Giovanni Marchese di Provera|Giovanni di Provera]]. On 13 January his corps (9,000 men) had crossed north of [[Legnano]] and driven straight for the relief of [[Mantua]] which was besieged by French forces under [[Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier|Jean Sérurier]]. At night on 15 January Provera sent a message to [[Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser]] to break out in a concerted attack. On 16 January, when Wurmser attacked he was driven back into Mantua by Sérurier. The Austrians were attacked from the front by Masséna (who had force marched from Rivoli) and from the rear by the division of [[Pierre Augereau]], and were thus forced to surrender the entire force. The Austrian army in [[North Italy]] had ceased to exist. On 2 February Mantua surrendered with its garrison of 16,000 men, all that remained of an army of 30,000. The troops marched out with the 'honours of war', and laid down their arms. Wurmser with his staff and an escort were allowed to go free. The remainder were sent to Austria after swearing an oath to not serve against the French for a year, 1,500 guns were found in the fortress.{{sfn|Burton|2010|p=88}} On 18 February Bonaparte proceeded with 8,000 men to [[Rome]], determined to come to a settlement with the [[Papal States]], which had shown covert hostility so long as the campaign had proceeded with uncertainty as to the fate of Italy. But with the fall of Mantua the Austrians were finally driven from Italian soil, and [[Pope Pius VI]] agreed to an [[armistice]] dictated by Bonaparte in [[Tolentino]].{{sfn|Burton|2010|p=88}} Snow had closed the [[Alps|Alpine]] passes, but Austria still refused Bonaparte terms of a peace agreement. He prepared one last campaign to the east, into the heartland of Austria to the gates of [[Vienna]] itself.

==Legacy==
The [[Rue de Rivoli]], a street in central Paris, is named after the battle.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Tarle |first=Yevgeny |author-link=Yevgeny Tarle |date=1901 |lang=ru |script-title=ru:История Италии в новое время |trans-title=The history of Italy in modern times |others=The history of Europe by centuries and countries in the Middle and Modern Times |chapter=Италия в эпоху революционных нашествий и Бонапартовского владычества |trans-chapter=Italy in the era of revolutionary invasions and Bonaparte's rule |place=St. Petersburg |publisher=Типография Брокгаузена-Ефрона |url=https://elib.gsu.by/handle/123456789/18994 }}
* {{Cite book | last=Bodart | first=Gaston | date=1908 | title=Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_A0kNAAAAYAAJ | access-date=6 July 2022}}
* {{Cite book | last=Boycott-Brown | first=Martin | date=2002 | title=The Road to Rivoli | publisher=Cassell; New Ed edition | isbn=0-304-36209-3}}
*{{cite book | last=Burton | first=Reginald George | title=Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy 1796–1797 & 1800 | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-85706-356-4}}
* {{Cite book | last=Chandler | first=David | author-link=David G. Chandler | year=1979 | title=Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. | publisher=New York: Macmillan | isbn=0-02-523670-9}}
*{{cite book| last=Forrest | first=Alan | title=Napoleon | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEANxaQY27AC&pg=PT77| access-date=23 April 2013 |date=2011| publisher=Quercus Publishing |isbn=978-0-85738-759-2}}
*{{cite book |author-link=Gunther E. Rothenberg |first=Gunther E. |last=Rothenberg |title=The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon |location=Bloomington, Ind. |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1980 |isbn=0-253-31076-8}}
* {{cite book|last= Grant|first=R. G. |title=1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History|url=https://www.amazon.com/1001-Battles-Changed-Course-History/dp/0785835539 |year=2017 |publisher=Chartwell Books|isbn=978-0785835530 }}
*{{cite book |author-link=Digby Smith |last=Smith |first=Digby
 |title=The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815 |location=[[Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=[[Stackpole Books]] |year=1998 |isbn=1-85367-276-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Clodfelter|first=M.|title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|year=2017|edition=4th|isbn=978-0-7864-7470-7}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090424125841/http://www.historydata.com/places/rivoli-panorama.php Photographs of the battlefield of Rivoli]
* {{commons-inline}}

{{Sequence
| prev = [[Action of 13 January 1797]]
| list = French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns
| curr = Battle of Rivoli
| next = [[Action of 25 January 1797]]
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivoli 1797}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1797]]
[[Category:Italian campaign (1796–1797)]]
[[Category:1797 in the Habsburg monarchy]]
[[Category:1797 in France]]
[[Category:Battles of the War of the First Coalition involving Austria]]
[[Category:Military history of Veneto]]
[[Category:Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe]]
[[Category:Province of Verona]]
[[Category:1797 in Italy]]
[[Category:Battles commanded by Napoleon]]