The 1799 Campaign in Italy: The Summer’s Pause June - August 1799

The Situation on 24 June

By Enrico Acerbi

Austrian Avantgarde

Brigade General major Freiherr Josef Philipp von Vukassovich     

First Line

Alexandria Garrison

Reserve: On the left bank of the Tanaro

Pursuing the Armée de Naples

Macdonald’s Armée de Naples was retreating along the Via Emilia, uncertain whether to defend the Duchies (Parma and Modena) or to drive up to Appennines to link with the Army of Italy. The first to recover in Liguria was General  Lapoype. He arrived too late to fight at the Trebbia and withdrew too late to find the Bobbio passage free. Russain General  Veletzky blocked the passage and Lapoype’s troop had to fight hard to open a way through the mountains. [1]

Macdonald reached the main body of the army at Borgo San Donnino, on June 21 in the early morning. From there he gave orders to march towards Bologna. Montrichard marched to Parma and forced Prince Hohenzollern to leave the city without a fight. Watrin, Rusca and Dąbrowsky took a defensive position on the right bank of the River Taro, waiting the for the reserve troops (the former Olivier’s Division now led by Adjudant Lacroix) to seize Reggio and clear the bank of the Enza Creek. Victor was the quickest of all; he left the army pointing towards Fornovo and, then, turning back near the Pontremoli Passes. The Austrians (Ott and his vanguard) reached Borgo San Donnino on the same day, just after the French evacuation, and made some reconnoissances till the Taro (the river was impossible to ford, as the rains had turned it in a powerful flood).

Reggio Emilia

Modena

Borgo San Donnino (today Fidenza) - Parma

Casalmaggiore Po Bridgehead

The Army of Naples rallied at Reggio on June 22. The lack of superior Officers (almost all wounded or prisoners near Piacenza) forced MacDonald to disband the vanguard and Rusca’s units, which were used to  reinforced Watrin and Dąbrowsky units. Montrichard was the rearguard with the task of protecting the retreat. Suvorov, having learned about Bellegarde’s defeat, stopped the army and moved it back, towards Alexandria. He left General Ott to control the French movement, with the support of Hohenzollern and Klenau. On June 23,  General Dąbrowsky disengaged himself by driving towards the mountains, to Vezzano and Castelnovo. Watrin and Lacroix marched against Modena, also abandoned by the Imperial garrison, and deployed along the Secchia Creek. The three generals were replaced by Montrichard, who remained to guard the Taro passage.  Calvin’s  brigade marched towards Sassuolo, Lacroix to Formigine and Maranello, while Montrichard blocked the Rubiera Bridge. General Ott, now supported by Klenau troops, attacked the French rearguard at Sassuolo, in order to cut off the Appennines passage to Pistoia. Calvin did not resist very long, forcing Macdonald to send there his reserve, Lacroix, to stop the Austrians. Lacroix acted very well, not only regaining the control of the road to Tuscany, but also capturing about 600 prisoners of the garrison (the 7th Varasdiner Croatian Battalion and one Bussy squadron.). This little clash, called Sassuolo, allowed the safe retreat of the Armée de Naples. Only Montrichard, detached to Bologna, remained in the (now) “enemy” territory of the lost Cisalpine Republic. 

Situation of the Armée de Naples on June 25 at  Fivizzano (Appennines)

Commander: Général de Division Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre Macdonald
Chief-of-Staff : General Victor Berthier
Adjudants-généraux: Pierre-Edme Gauthrin, Sarrazin, Grandjean, Cambray, Blondeau.
Brigadiers : Jean-Baptiste Carvin, dit Calvin, chef de brigade à l'Armée de Naples

Avantgarde Brigade: Jean-Baptiste (Andrè) Carvin called Calvin 

2nd Polish Division: General Jan Henrik Dąbrowski
Chef-de-Legion General  Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (Chef Maciej Forestier – prisoner after the Trebbia)
(Adj-Gen. – Adiutanci) - Jan Dembowski,  Paweł Tremo, Major Pflugbeile

Artillery and sappers

1st Polish Legion – provisional Chef Jan Strzałkowski (took command at Genoa in July) [2]

Brigade Chef-de-Brigade Jérôme-Joseph Goris

3rd Division: Général  Joseph-Ëlie-Desiré Perruquet de Montrichard
Brigadiers: General Bertrand Clauzel
Adjudants-généraux: Pierre Louis Marie Joseph Puthod  - Pierre-Augustin Hulin (was at Bologna garrison until the June’s end)

Already detached units, they left the plain on June 22 to reach Pontremoli and Cento Croci pass.

Division: Général Claude Victor Perrin
Général de brigade « a titre provisoire » Henri-François-Marie Charpentier

Avantgarde brigade  Général Henri-François-Marie Charpentier

Général de brigade  baron Charles-Louis-Dieu Donné Grandjean

The Armée de Naples remained in the Appennines until the middle month of July, when it begun its withdrawal “par l’aile droit” into the Ligurian territory.

Notes:

[1] General  Veletzky had one Russian infantry battalion and 50 Karacsay Dragoons entrenched in Bobbio. As for Suvorov Lapoype lost 500 soldiers (??), dead or wounded, and 103 prisoners; the Russians lost 69 men (23 dead and 46 wounded).

[2] The 1st Polish Legion completed its reorganization in July receiving some artillery crews left by Montrichard on the Appennines before the Trebbia, the Milanese Depot personnel, wounded Officers and soldiers of the 2nd Legion. All unfit personnel was transferred to Nice by ships. Chef de bataillon Zagorski had the task to organize the new 2nd Legion Depot at Nice, major Au that of the 1st Legion, captain Stuart the artillery depot and captain Potrykowski that of cavalry. With this organization, the 1st Legion reached again the number of 2500 troopers, cavalry included.

[3] François-Joseph Pamphile de Lacroix, vicomte Born at Aimargues (Gard), on June 1, 1774, he entered the service on May 12, 1792, in the 14e régiment d'infanterie, the former Forez, as a 1st lieutenant, fighting in Champagne and Belgium. For his barvery, in 1793, he was called on duty in the Staff of the armée du Nord, under Dampierre. In this occasion he became very close to the général de brigade Macdonald, commander of the régiment de Picardie, as officier général. For ten years he followed and supported Macdonald, till the 1799 campaign, distinguishing himself at the siege of Terracina, where he suffered a wound in the left thigh. There he was named chef de bataillon, fighting also at Capua and Naples, where he was promoted to the rank of adjudant-général. After the Trebbia, he was charged with the command of the Reserve division (former Watrin) and distinguished himself during the night attack against Sassuolo. In 1800 he was at Bard (fortress) tracing a causeway which surrounded the fort and allowed the French to bypass the main road. He was also at Marengo and, when, in 1801, Macdonald had a command in Switzerland, he was called to command the vanguard, with which he opened the Splügen pass path. In 1802 he was at Santo Domingo, where he took part in the Port-au-Prince capture, receiving another wound. Then, finally, he officially became General of brigade. But it was destiny that Lacroix in the moment of his promotions would always had been called to superior command. So, in the island, when the fresh General de brigade knew General Boulet had been wounded, he had to take command of the division. Returned in France (1803) he received the membership of the Légion-d'Honneur, and in the same year the commander rank. He was after in the Netherlands and then at Ulm, Germany and Friuli in Italy with his brigade. In 1808, June 24, the Emperor made a Baron of him and promoted him as chef d'état-major de l'armée de Naples, distinguishing, in  1809, in the campaigns against the anglo-sicilians troops and against the local insurgents (briganti). He asked then for a dismissal to reanch France, had some troubles with the Imperialty and was emprisoned at Montpellier. Recalled on duty with the first Restoration, Lacroix, for few days under the Bourbons, was recalled also by Napoleon, becaming the Chief od Staff of the 2nd Corps with the rank of lieutenant-général titulaire. After Waterloo, Napoléon ordered him to stay at Charleroi in order to organize the traffic of the retreat.Then he retired. However he was again recalled on duty in 1820, by his personal friend Latour-Maubourg, and sent to Grenoble as Chief of the 7th territorial division. Passed through the 1821 riots he became Viscount on August 10, 1822. He died in 1841.

Placed on the Napoleon Series: August 2008

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