| Battle of the Adda River (1799) | |||||||||
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| Part of theItalian campaigns in theWar of the Second Coalition | |||||||||
 Feldmarshal Suvorov at the battle of the Adda River on April 27, 1799 (engraving byLuigi Schiavonetti) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russian Empire Habsburg monarchy |  French Republic | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Alexander SuvorovPyotr Bagration (WIA)Adrian DenisovAndrey RosenbergMikhail MiloradovichYakov Povalo-ShveikovskyMichael von MelasJohann ChastelerMichael von FröhlichKonrad von KaimPeter OttPhilipp VukassovichFriedrich Hohenzollern-Hechingen Friedrich von Seckendorff Johann Zopf Franz Reisky | Barthélemy SchérerJean MoreauPaul GrenierClaude Victor-PerrinJean Sérurier (POW)François QuesnelNicolas BekerLouis Soyez [fr]Georges Kister [fr]François Argod [fr] † Jean Roussel | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 48,000–49,000[g] Numbers engaged: | 27,000–28,000[o] Numbers engaged: | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
2,000–2,500 killed and wounded[t] Other estimates:4,886–6,200[u] | 6,900–7,500 killed, wounded and captured[v] Other estimates:10,500–11,000[w] 27 guns and 3standards[38] | ||||||||
  Location within Europe | |||||||||
TheBattle of Cassano (French:Bataille de Cassano,German:Schlacht bei Cassano) was fought in 1799 from 27 to 28 April[x] (O.S.: 16 to 17 April) nearCassano d'Adda, which about 28 km (17 mi) ENE ofMilan. The clash is part of thebattle of the Adda River[17][32] (Russian:Сражение на реке Адда,German:Schlacht an der Adda) or the so-calledforcing of the Adda,[37] which on the first day of 26 April (O.S.: 15 April) resulted in a minor victory for theRussians under theCount Suvorov overBarthélemy Schérer'sFrench forces atLecco. Then, on the second day, Suvorov'sAustrians andCossacks prevailed overJean Moreau's army, who replaced Schérer as supreme commander, and trapped his isolated division on the third. The action took place during theWar of the Second Coalition, as part of the larger conflict known as theFrench Revolutionary Wars.[3] Moreau was not entirely responsible for his defeat, much of the responsibility for which lies with Schérer, who overextended his troops and failed to exploit the advantages of his position.
The battle of theAdda River was four separate combats. Lecco was a victorious combat for Suvorov's Russians, but it contributed little to resolve the entire battle along the Adda. The key engagement on 27 April was the combat atVaprio d'Adda[y] (at the end there were about 11,000 Austrians and Cossacks and 7,000 French[27]), which is north of Cassano; and on the same day, at Cassano itself, the AustrianReisky regiment (1,911 men[32]) successfully stormed thebridge-headfortifications—Moreau was thrown back everywhere. The French detachment cut off by the combat of Vaprio was afterwards surrounded atVerderio byJosef Philipp Vukassovich, who overcame the weakest French defenses inBrivio.[17]
While GeneralNapoleon Bonaparte campaigned inEgypt (seeFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria), theSecond Coalition launched an invasion of French-occupied Italy.General of Division (MG)Barthélemy Schérer fought inconclusive actions the Austrians atPastrengo,Verona, andLegnago on 26 March 1799.Feldmarschal-Leutnant (FML)Pál Kray and his Austrians then defeated Schérer at theBattle of Magnano on April 4. This defeat forced the French army into a long retreat. Attempts by Schérer to hold the lines of theMincio andOglio rivers failed when an Austrian force led by FMLJosef Vukassovich turned his northern flank. Austria's Russian allies, led byField Marshal (FM)Suvorov, soon began appearing at the front. Back inVicenza, when reporting on the state of affairs, the Austrians tried to find out the new commander-in-chief's plan, but the commander absentmindedly repeated: 'bayonets, bayonets,' pointing out his main method of action.[51]
Suvorovtook the fortress of Brescia without a fight. TheCossacksseized Bergamo andPrince Bagration'svanguard pushed back the Frenchoutposts inCaprino Bergamasco.[17]
When FM Suvorov joined the allied army, he took over the top command from Kray, though the latter had just been promoted toFeldzeugmeister. The arrival ofGeneral of the CavalryMichael von Melas displaced Kray the top Austrian field command. Therefore, Kray was assigned to capture the fortress ofMantua, while Melas and Suvorov pursued the French. Thesiege of Mantua lasted from April until the garrison surrendered on 28 July.
Schérer deployed the divisions of MGsPaul Grenier,Claude Victor,Jean Sérurier (each of the three divisions had around 8,000 men[15]), andPierre de Laboissière (4,000 men;[15] from Villa Pompeiana to thePo River[17]) to defend the line of theAdda River. Victor's and Grenier's divisions included thePolish andHelvetic legions.[52]
The Russian advance guard was led byPyotr Bagration (~3,000 men[15]), and the corps byGeneral of the InfantryAndrei Rosenberg (9,000 men of General of the InfantryPovalo-Shveikovsky's division on its way from Caprino to Lecco[15]).[38][17] The Austrians still made up the bulk of the allied army: 20,000 Russians and 30,000 Austrians at Suvorov's disposal, according toChristopher Duffy.[8] There were the following formations ofirregular Cossack cavalry: the regiments ofAdrian Denisov (ataman),Pyotr Matveyevich Grekov [ru], and Molchanov: a total of 1,500[23] men. The Austrian division commanders were FMLPeter Ott, FML Johann Zopf (each of the two divisions had around 5,000 men[15]),General-MajorFranz de Lusignan (acting commander for FMLMichael von Fröhlich), FMLKonrad Valentin von Kaim (Kaim and Fröhlich's joint force was 13,000 men[23]), and Josef Philipp Vukassovich (7,000 men[15]).[38][17] Michael von Melas was sent to Cassano and was nominally commander of all Suvorov's Austrian forces.[26]
Schérer relied on the advantages of his defensive position, as the river is wide and deep, has very few fords and in its upper part, as far as Cassano, flows in elevated steep banks, of which the right, occupied by the French, prevails over the left. But Schérer failed to take all the advantages of this natural defensive line.[12] He scattered 28,000 men over 100 kilometres (62 mi) along the river, nowhere having sufficient forces for defense. Suvorov separatedHohenzollern with 6,000 men toPizzighettone andSeckendorff toLodi to conduct diversionary operations,[17][53] and with a main body of 35,000[12] to 36,000 men concentrated offensive on the bulk of the French line. Thedisposition for April 26 instructed Ott's division to organize the crossing atCapriate San Gervasio.[17]
The Adda battle on 26 and 27 April was divided into three different clashes: the combat ofLecco, where Suvorov sent Bagration's Russians, most likely as a distraction, and Rosenberg's corps was also on its way there;[46] the combats nearTrezzo sull'Adda andVaprio d'Adda, where mostly Austrians were concentrated,—these fights proved decisive for the allied victory; and the combat around the fortified position of Cassano, where Melas' Austrians had been sent, they would go to the rear of the French at an end of battle with theirflanking maneuver; it would be by the time the fight at Vaprio is won by the Allies, however, this manoeuvre will force Moreau to retreat in a different direction. On 28 April, atVerderio, a French detachment cut off from the main army would lay down its arms after a brief battle.
On the night of April 26, Prince Bagration reported that Lecco was heavily occupied by the French. Assuming the entire division of Sérurier there, Suvorov stopped Vukassovich at Caprino and the entire Russian division in order, if necessary, to support Bagration, who moved to Lecco with his regiment ofjaegers,Lomonosov combined battalion and all Cossack regiments.[17]
On the same date, Bagration, following a mountain gorge, at 8 o'clock in the morning met a small advanced French unit 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Lecco, overturned it and approached the city, occupied by 4 battalions, 1squadron (108thdemi-brigade[19]) under the command ofBrigadier General Soyez; on the right bank of the Adda, opposite the bridge dismantled[40] by the French, there were 6 guns on the heights. In all, the French had 12 guns under Soyez.[11] The Cossacks surrounded the stone-fortified city; a company with 2licornes was placed against the bridge. Bagration divided the rest of the forces into 3 columns; one went straight to the city, the other bypassed, and the 3rd remained in reserve. The first two columns broke into the city, reached the square, but here they met stubborn resistance; Bagration brought a reserve into action and drove out the French, who, having left the city, scattered thick chains ofchasseurs over the surrounding mountains and vineyards. From the heights, they noticed the numerical insignificance of the Russian detachment, went on the offensive, drove the Russians out of the city and began to bypass them with mountains on the right in order to cut off the retreat along the gorge. Bagration also covered himself with a dense chain of jaegers and dismounted Cossacks, sending to Rosenberg to ask for help.[17]
Mikhail Miloradovich took out carts and rushed withDendrygingrenadier battalion at a time when the French were flanking Bagration from the village of Germanedo. Being higher in rank than Bagration, he refused to accept command over the detachment, saying:
"There is no place to be considered ranks here."
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and left Bagration to finish the job, which he had begun so successfully. The arriving battalion stopped the detour movement of the French; soon 2 battalions approached with the head of the division, Povalo-Shveikovsky, and the city was again occupied by the Russians;[17][19] the French cavalry, crashing into the Russian column, was slaughtered. Meanwhile, the French, standing on the right bank of the Adda, began to cross in boats betweenOlginate andBrivio, to the rear of the Russian troops. Due to the difficulty of moving along the gorge road, the Russian artillery was left under the cover of a battalion (Baranovsky[54]); the artillery met the French troops, andGeneral Shveikovsky himself rushed there;[54] the French were overwhelmed. The battle lasted 12 hours, from 8 am to 8 pm. The French fought hard, but left 100 prisoners behind, the number of killed and wounded is unknown; the Russians lost 385 men KIA or WIA; Bagration was among the wounded.[17][18] It was impossible to start the crossing on the same day.[17] However, the Russians managed to seize the bridgehead, as well as the town of Lecco.[55][56] If counting Lecco and Olginate–Brivio, then a total of 6 battalions and 4 squadrons (which belonged to Sérurier's division) were involved on the French side.[40]
Meantime, Vukassovich approached Brivio, which was very weakly occupied, beginning to arrange a crossing, and therefore the Russians moved away from Lecco, settling down for the night between Lecco and Brivio. Waiting for a report on the outcome of the battle on the right flank, Suvorov postponed the crossing at San Gervasio until the night of April 27.[17] In all, 4,993 Russians including approached reinforcements, and 5,000 French participated in this clash.
Eventually the French withdrew on rafts northwards from Lecco territory (night of 27–28 April), knowing that Adda had already been forced by the Allies elsewhere and that the road behind them would soon be cut off.[17]
On April 27, on orders from Paris, Schérer, completely out of his depth, handed over army command to the more capable MG Moreau.[17][57] When news of the change in command reached Suvorov he remarked:[58]
Here too I can see the hand of Providence. There would have been no great glory in fighting it out with a charlatan. But to beat Moreau — that would be something worth doing.
At midnight on 27 April, Ott began building apontoon bridge at Trezzo. The point for crossing was very inconvenient from the theoretical point of view: the steepness of the bank made it difficult to launch the pontoons on the water; the winding, fast flow of the river and the rocky bottom prevented the convenience of the bridge; but the French did not pay attention to this inconvenient place (the 2nd Battalion of the 33rd Line Demi-Brigade,[22] left by Sérurier at Trezzo, occupied the castle but had no posts on the bank itself), the night darkness covered the work, the river was not wide, so that only 7 pontoons were needed. The pontooner officer reported the impossibility of making a bridge at this place. ThenMarquessJohann Gabriel Chasteler, chief of staff, who had already learnt Suvorov's notions of intransigence in overcoming obstacles, arrived at the crossing point and took decisive measures.[59]
It was already tough for the French to rectify the situation: the Russians and Austrians surreptitiously pass through Adda in the centre of the French position near San Gervasio, in a places considered unsuitable for crossing.[46] A number of jaegers and volunteers fromNádasdy battalion crossed by boat and occupied the right bank to secure the bridge. They started putting in pontoons; the work was done in perfect silence, and by daybreak the bridge was ready. Only in the morning did the French battalion notice its blunder, but it was too late: 6 companies ofd'Aspré's jaegers and several Cossacksotnias crossed the bridge, followed by Ott's division, thenDenisov,Molchanov, andGrekov Cossack regiments that arrived very quickly from Lecco; at last Zopf's division also moved.[59] The Cossack regiment of Denisov[60] overtook the French battalion from the rear; pursued by Ott's head battalions, it had barely time to retreat.[59] Suvorov was at this point crossing the river with might and main across theTrezzo sull'Adda Bridge and its vicinity. At the same time Allied forces crossed at Brivio; but, nevertheless, Moreau gave orders for the immediate concentration of forces. Grenier and Victor were bringing troops from the south. General of the Cavalry Melas having the divisions of Fröhlich and Kaim would storm the French positions at Cassano in the afternoon: the eastern bank of the river was held by the French demi-brigade, to the aid of which Victor already rushed.[17][55]
According to some archival documents, it can be assumed that Suvorov himself was at Vaprio and hurried the crossing. He was able to concentrate around 20,000 soldiers there, while Moreau concentrated 15,000;[citation needed] Moreau had no doubt that the main Coalition's attack was under way here; he rode to the battlefield and almost fell into the hands of the Cossacks, who had already reachedInzago. Grenier was ordered to take position between Vaprio andPozzo d'Adda. Approaching Vaprio with 1 brigade, Grenier stopped Ott's advance, who had so far only 4 battalions, 4 squadrons and several Cossack sotnias.[17] It wasFrançois Quesnel's brigade.[59] The Allies attacked the French several times, but without success;[17] the French held the excellent terrain for defence, as the village of Vaprio itself was very advantageous for the infantry. The neighborhood was close country and mostly planted with vines, while the highway from Milan had on either side high banks built up with stones collected from the fields, like a naturalparapet.[29] The French posted themselves behind it,[29] whereas Grenier was approached by the 2nd brigade under Georges Kister;[61] he had 9 battalions and 8 squadrons assembled and took the offensive.[17] The French now had a strong numerical superiority. Grenier beat the Austrians out of their grip on Vaprio.[61] He began to dislodge Ott's division from the front, threatening its right flank at the same time.[62] Chasteler rushed to the aid with 2 battalions of Zopf's division and 2 squadrons, but even this support could not stop the French, and one of the approaching battalions (Stentsch[62]) was mauled up by French cavalry. This is where Denisov's Cossacks (all three Cossack regiments under his command) and Austrianhussars charged from the left of the French and halted their advance; joining together, the Cossacks and hussars broke into the ranks of the French infantry, forcing it to retreat towards Pozzo. At this time the French were approaching from Milan by 24thChasseurs à Cheval Regiment (under the direction ofNicolas Beker[22]): the Cossacks attacked it, overturned, and pursued as far asGorgonzola, capturing many prisoners.[17]
Ott and Zopf had broken through.[42] Then, with the arrival of the rest of Zopf's battalions, the Austrian infantry of Ott and Zopf attacked the villages of Pozzo and Vaprio (6 km or 3.7 mi north from Cassano), which were the flanks of Grenier's division.[17][55] Suvorov rode from one victorious unit to the next, urging the men on to final efforts. Discovering the 2nd battalion of the Austrian regiment ofEsterházy resting at a halt, he called out:[42]
Bayonets! On with the advance!
Colonel d'Aspré protested that the men had been on the march for fifty hours, and were totally spent, at which Suvorov answered:[42]
Well, I still have my Russians — I know that they will be after the enemy!
After a fierce battle both villages were taken by the Austrian infantry.[17] The combat of Vaprio was supervised directly by Suvorov himself.[32] At the end there were about 11,000 Austrians and Cossacks versus 7,000 French. It cannot be said that the outcome of the combat of Vaprio could have been the only outcome: the timely arrival of Sérurier's 3,000, Victor's 6,000 (2,000 he could abandon in Cassano d'Adda on the way), would be 16,000 French, led by skilful Moreau, against 11,000 of the enemy. This situation of the combat at Vaprio can be explained by the vigorous frontal attack of Melas' troops at Cassano; probably, this attack was conducted with the purpose of contributing to the allied success at Vaprio or, after the capture of Cassano, to move to the Grenier's rear, or to divert part of the French troops from that battlefield. Perhaps the sluggishness of the morning Melas' actions allowed Moreau to leave in Cassanobridgehead only 106th demi-brigade, which shows at the same time Moreau's eyesight. The attack itself at Cassano after 4 o'clock in the afternoon was conducted by Melas' troops excellently: the preparation by fire of 30-gun battery is instructive, and then a decisive blow up to the occupation of the town of Cassano.[27] Once the Austrians had secured the villages of Vaprio and Pozzo, Moreau, seeing that Victor was not approaching, and hearing the cannonade in the rear, from Cassano, orders Grenier to retreat and take a new position between Cassano and Inzago. However, it was too late. Thepre-bridgefortification in front of Cassano was just under a high pressure. The French 106th demi-brigade of Jean Roussel,[31][22] supported by a brigade of Victor's division (which arrived at 4 o'clock in the afternoon; under the command of Argod[31]), held firmly behind the Retorto canal, which covered the front of their position for 5 hours.[17] For most of the day Melas had contented himself with cannonading the French works until Suvorov pushed Melas to take decisive action.[32]
Suvorov ordered Melas to capture Cassano at all costs. The Austrians placed 30 guns, built a bridge, rushed to assault the fortification and burst into it so quickly that the French had no time to destroy the bridge over the river and remove the guns while retreating to the right bank of the Adda.[17] Argod was killed.[31] It wasReisky regiment that went to the assault[31][32] (1,911 men[32]). The Austrians crossed the bridge and found themselves in the rear of the French retreating from Vaprio. The direct road to Milan via Gorgonzola was cut off, the French had to hasten their retreat toMelzo, and parts of Victor's division, which had not had time to join Grenier and Laboissière's troops, were ordered to withdraw toMelegnano. Suvorov's assault forced Moreau to a general retreat.[17][63] After a continuous hard fighting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., both Allied columns were so fatigued that they could not pursue and stopped on the battlefield. The Cossacks followed the retreating French. The winners got 19 guns, acolour and over 2,000 POW with very heavy loss of KIA and WIA among the French; the allies lost over 1,000 men.[17][31] Reporting toEmperor Paul, Suvorov especially "praised the excellent courage ofDon Cossacks", calling theirAtaman Denisov "brave warrior". Thus by the evening of April 27 the fate of the battle on the Adda River was decided and the way to Milan was opened. At the same time Vukassovich succeeded in bringing down the enemy at Brivio (it was a small Frenchoutpost[28]), and at night passed to the right bank of the Adda; the French barely managed to retreat toLake Como, and Soyez, still occupying Lecco, seeing that the Russian troops were approaching again, rushed into the mountains and barely escaped, having crossed Como in vessels.[17]
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Sérurier, exactly following Moreau's orders, halted between Verderio andPaderno d'Adda (he was standing with his back to the Adda), carefully entrenched himself, and remained all the day of the 27th and the night of the 28th of April, awaiting further orders, cut off by Ott from the south and Vukassovich from the north; meanwhile on both sides, at Vaprio and Brivio, the cannonade rang out, and a fierce fight was going on. The fight was over. Moreau retreated, the allies slept on the field of battle; Sérurier remained unnoticed.[28] On the early morning of 28 April, an advance detachment of one battalion of Austrians underLouis Victor Meriadec de Rohan-Guéméné andPozdneev Cossack regiment met a cavalry post on the hill behindImbersago; Cossacks, advancing toward Paderno, overturned this post and unexpectedly saw a whole detachment of French. Vukassovich, considering it encircled, offered to lay down his arms, but, having received a refusal, led an attack.Rohan advance battalion and Cossacks drove the French out of Paderno, and with the rest of the force Vukassovich bypassed Verderio and attacked the enemy from the rear.[64] The French stubbornly defended at Verderio and even unsuccessfully attempted to attack the enemy on the flank, repelling the unsupported hussars, but the French ran out of ammunition, Austrian attack in several columns (a favourite tacticsince 1758) by superior numbers convinced Sérurier of the carelessness of the defense, and seeing the approach of Rosenberg's main Russian troops (a mere 17,000 coalition forces[65]), Sérurier decided that further resistance would be reckless and surrendered. Vukassovich trapped 3,000 men at Verderio.[17][33]
![Combat of Lecco A – Shveikovsky and Vukassovich on the night of 25–26 April B – Bagration upon the occupation of Lecco C – Soyez's detachment retreating from Lecco C' – A French column, sent to bypass Bagration D – Dendrygin's battalion, which arrived with Miloradovich E – 2 battalions of Rosenberg's and Baranovsky's regiments, who arrived with Shveikovsky F – Russian artillery left under cover of Baranovsky's battalion G – The main column of Russians on the move towards Lecco H – Vukassovich on the move to Brivio I – French posts protecting the crossings In all, approx. 5,000 French and approx. 19,000 allies (4,993 allies engaged).[40]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAction_of_Lecco.png)
![Combats of Vaprio and Cassano A – The initial Allied position from the evening of 26 April B – The troops' position at the battle itself on 27 April In all, approx. 10,500 French and approx. 24,500 allies.[60]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBattle_of_Vaprio_and_Cassano.png)
![Combat of Verderio no identification marks required In all, approx. 3,000 French and approx. 17,000 allies (7,470 allies engaged).[34]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAction_of_Verderio.png)
Soon after the coalition's victory, Suvorov wrote to a Russian diplomat:[66]
"The Adda is aRubicon, and we crossed it over the bodies of our enemies."
In the combats at Lecco, Vaprio, Cassano, and Verderio the French brought into the fray between 18,000[17] and 18,500[67] men; they suffered 2,500 killed and wounded, plus 5,000 soldiers, 27 cannon, and 3 colours captured.[68] Losses at Verderio were 300 killed and wounded, plus 2,700 captured.[43] The Austro-Russians lost 2,000 killed and wounded[68] (or 2,500[17]). Another authority gives allied losses as 6,000 and French prisoners as 7,000, without listing French killed and wounded. Perhaps the author included the losses at Verderio in his total.[3]Bodart estimated French losses at 11,000.[2] Another source claims 6,200 Allied losses (Austrians: 3,800 killed and wounded and 1,200 prisoners of war, Russians: 1,200).[5] The figure of 3,800 KIA and WIA almost identical withCarl von Clausewitz's data of around 3,700 Austrians killed and wounded. Clausewitz stated that the numbers of French and Austrians killed and wounded were roughly the same. He does not cited Russian losses and assesses 7,000 French prisoners of war.[48]
Moreau retreated, leaving a 2,400-man garrison in Milan's citadel. Grenier's division withdrew toNovara while Victor and Laboissière pulled back toValenza.[43] Kaim pressed on to captureTurin on 20 June.[69] Milan's citadel capitulated on 24 May. The bottom line of this battle was that theRepublic of France-createdCisalpine Republic was now back in the hands of theHabsburg monarchy.
The next battle for theAllied Field Army would be the unsuccessfulBattle of Bassignana on 12 May, and then Suvorov's forces would strike back at theFirst Battle of Marengo (Battle of San Giuliano) just 4 days later.
The nextmajor action was theBattle of the Trebbia on 17–20 June.
41,686
2,280
1,600
900The available forces that Moreau had during the battle after replacing Schérer: about 30,000.[4][5]
At the beginning of battle, the French had only 12,000between Lecco and Cassano before reinforcements arrived.[11]
In action (different estimates):
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Runivers, battle maps:
Media related toBattle of Cassano at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Battle of Magnano | French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Battle of Cassano (1799) | Succeeded by Battle of Bassignana |
