The 1799 Campaign in Italy: The Left Wing – led directly by General Schérer (deployed with Delmas)
Note: along the right margin are two columns of numbers giving manpower strengths; the left total is taken from Jomini’s order of battle, the right total from Gachot’s.
Division du Tyrol GdD Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier[1] 7347 8328
After a brief period in which Sérurier was again in Livorno (December 1798-February 1799), he returned to the battlefield at Verona, leading the so-called Tyrol Division. He had fought some hard engagements in March 1799 (Pastrengo, Parona, and Magnano) which almost destroyed his command. While retreating, he was caught at Verderio by the Allied advance guards, surrounded, and taken prisoner. After an exchange in November 1799, he helped Bonaparte to carry out his 18 Brumaire Coup (November 1799), and went on to have an impressive career during the First French Empire.
Adjudants-généraux:
Pierre-Joseph Guillet and Leonard-Nicholas Becker, comte de Mons[2]
HQs and supply depot at Peschiera
Artillery:
Light artillery – approximately 6 pieces (4 4-pdr guns and 2 howitzers) 60 60
Horse Artillery 1 Bty
Light foot artillery 3 Btys
Sappers 1 ½ platoons
Advance Guard (Brigade): Chef-de-brigade Louis Garreau (He was the Advance Guard commander on March 30th)[3]
18e Demi-Brigade Légère – Chef Louis-Stanislas-Xavier Soyez[4] 1967 2041
1st Piedmontese Light Demi-Brigade – Conte di Mussano[5] – 1st Bn. Guards 940 1386
Brigade of GdB Jean-Baptiste Meyer[6]
2 Grenadier Companies – from the Line Infantry 180 188
29e Demi-Brigade Légère[7] – Chef Charles-Joseph César Balleydier 1400 1447
30e Demi-Brigade Légère[8] – Chef Aubin Vérideau [?] 1950 2045
Cavalry:
9e Régiment Dragons – Chef-de-brigade Prov. Sebastiani[9] – 3 sqns. — 576
2nd Piedmontese Dragoon Rgt.[10] – 2 sqns of the former Savoia Chevauxlegers 200
Total Cavalry (2 Rgts.) 850
Peschiera Fortress – Cdr. Adjudant-général Couthieux
Gunboat Flotilla 19 14 ??
Master and Commander Sébille (or Sibille) and Lieutenant Commander Pons
Guns 75Cisalpine garrison 1600
1st Piedmontese Light Demi-Brigade – Conte di Mussano – [other Btns ??] 480 ?
3rd Line Brigade Chef Vérideau[?][11]
63e Demi-Brigade de Ligne[12] – Chef Antoine-Francois Brenier de Montmorand 1700 1585
Jomini put this unit with Hatry’s Division
45e Demi-Brigade de Ligne[13] – 1st & 2nd Bns 800 1051
Jomini put this unit with Montrichard’s Division. Sheviakov-Dzuis indicated the 45e DB to have had only one battalion with Montrichard, the 3rd, which would retire into Mantua to be besieged after the retreat. He listed the 1st and 2nd Bns as under Delmas.
Sérurier’s Deployment at Pastrengo battle (Cavalcaselle Camp)
Advance Guard – Louis Gareau
18e Demi-Brigade Légère (1 how. + 1 4-pdr gun)
Advance Guard Wing Protection
9e Régiment Dragons 25
2nd Piedmontese Dragoon Rgt. 25
GdB Jean-Baptiste Meyer – 1st Line
1st Piedmontese Light Demi-Brigade
GdB Jean-Baptiste Meyer – 2nd Line
29e Demi-Brigade Légère (1 how. + 1 4-pdr gun)
Reserve – 3rd Line – Brigade Chef Vérideau
30e Demi-Brigade Légère 2 Grenadiers Coys
63e Demi-Brigade de Ligne
45e Demi-Brigade de Ligne
Rearguard – 4th Line
9e Régiment Dragons 50
(1 4-pdr gun)
“L’armée occupant les positions ci-dessus désignées, l’objet de I’attaque générale est de surprendre, de forcer sur un ou deux points le passage de l’Adige et de prendre ou détruire le corps ennemi placé dans le Véronais el en deçà de l’Adige et de s’emparer de Vérone. A cet effet , il sera jeté un pont à pontons près de Polo sous la protection des 3 divisions Sérurier, Delmas et Grenier,et un autre vis-à-vis d’Albare ou d’Anguiari, sous la protection des divisions Victor, Montrichard et la réserve.Lc premier pont est indispensablement nécessaire à la réussite de 1’attaque générale. L’autre n’est que secondaire dans le premier moment de l’attaque; mais, suivant les circonstances, il pourra étre également d’une absolue nécessite, afin de couper a l’ennemi sa relraile sur Vicenze.Le pont qui est à Peschiera suivra immédiatement la colonne du général Sérurier, à moins que la route que tiendra cette division ne fut impraticable pour la marche d’un équipage de pont ; dans ce cas, le pont suivrait l’avant-garde.”
~French War Archive “Plan du général Schérer”
Advance Guard Division 7706
GdD Antoine-Guillaume-Maurailhac d’Elmas de la Coste, alias Delmas[14]
Camp Castelnuovo
Adjudant-généraux:
Adj. Gen. Jean Baptiste Paul Gastine
Claude-Antoine chevalier de Préval[15]
Généraux-de-brigade:
Louis-Gabriel Monnet de Lorbeau (promoted on the battlefield April 5, 1799)
Baron Jean-Baptiste Dalesme
Baron Charles-Louis-Dieu Donné Grandjean
“L’avant-garde, aux ordres du général Delmas, partira également à la nuit tombante, le.., de Castelnovo. Ce général se portera rapidement sur Osteria-Vecchia, Piovezano et Gampara et chargeant a l’arme blanche, sans hésiter, tout ce qu’il reincontrera devant lui. La colonne du général Sérurier, marchant à la même hauteur que lui, ne doit laisser aucune retraite aux ennemis qui se trouveraient entre eux deux, et tout doit être pris ou tué. Le général Delmas, arrivé à Gampara, aussitôt que le pont sera jeté vis-à-vis de Ponton, passera la rivière, prendra position sur la rive gauche et y restera jusqu’à ce que la division du général Grenier se soit réunie à lui.”
~French War Archive “Plan du général Schérer”
Artillery brigade
Chef-de-bataillon François Alexis Guyonnet-Pambour[16] 120
Light foot artillery (4 5-pdr guns) 1 Bty.
Heavy foot artillery (1 5-inch howitzer + 2 8-pdr guns) 1 Bty.
Position artillery (1 12-pdr gun + 2 5-inch howitzers) 1 Bty.
Horse artillery (2 6-inch how. + 2 6-pdr & 2 8-pdr guns) 2 Bty.
Sappers 1 ½ platoons 180
Notes:
[1] Général Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier, born in Laon December 8, 1742, died in Paris December 24, 1819. A child of middle-class parents, he became a lieutenant of the Laon militia, and then entered the French Royal Army, served in the Seven Years’ War campaigns in Hanover (1759) and Portugal (1762), and against Pasquale Paoli in Corsica (1771). At the beginning of the French Revolution he attained the rank of major ( March 17, 1789), and throughout it he rose through the remaining ranks to that of général-de-division. Up until August 7, 1792, he served in the Médoc Infantry Regiment (which became the 70e régiment d’infanterie in 1791). On January 1, he was made lieutenant-colonel, and on August 7, 1792, colonel and (until June 25, 1793) commander of 70e régiment d’infanterie. He fought in the French Revolutionary Wars.
On June 25, 1793, he was promoted general-de-brigade à titre temporaire and sent to the army in Italy until October 5, 1793. Confirmed general-de-brigade ( August 22, 1793), he was in the armée des Alpes (05/10/93-28/11/93) under François Christophe Kellermann, after which he was returned to the armée d’Italie (until August 1, 1795), where he was named general-de-division à titre temporaire ( December 22, 1794). He was confirmed général-de-division (June 13, 1795), leading a division under Barthélemy Schérer until March 27, 1796, when the army was taken over by Napoleon Bonaparte. Until April 29, 1796 he was the commander of the 2nd Division of the armée d’Italie, and until August 1, 1796 led the 4th Division of the army, fighting in the Italian Peninsula in the battles of Vico, Mondovì, Castiglione and, later, in the siege of Mantua. On August 15, 1796 (officially from November 21, 1796), he was the commander of the important post of Livorno ( Leghorn). He then returned to lead the siege corps in front of Mantua, and from February 4, 1797, resumed leadership of the 4th Division (which from August was re-numbered as the 6th Division).
Sérurier also showed great administrative talent as governor of Venice (October 18, 1797-January 18, 1798) and Lucca (1798). He was the Supreme Commander of the French troops in the Cisalpine Republic between January 24, 1798 and November 5, 1798, after which (from September 15, 1798) he had the task of General Inspector of the Inland infantry troops returning to the Italy ’s army. Following a brief period in which he was again in Livorno (December 1798-February 1799) he returned on the battlefield at Verona at the head of the “Tyrol Division”.
Over the course of his later career under the First French Empire, he was made senator, count, marshal, and Governor of Les Invalides, in Paris, where, in March 1814, upon the arrival of the Sixth Coalition armies, he destroyed the 1,417 captured enemy flags and personally burned the sword and sash of Frederick the Great as to prevent them falling into the allies’ hands. Nonetheless, he voted for the downfall of Napoleon later in the year, and under the Bourbon Restoration was made a Peer of France. He was dismissed from his post at the Invalides for having joined Napoleon during the Hundred Days (the Emperor’s return from Elba), but as Peer he still voted in favor of the death penalty for Marshal Michel Ney. Sérurier died in retirement and was buried at Père Lachaise, until his body was transferred to Les Invalides in 1847.
[2] Leonard-Nicholas Becker, comte de Mons – born Öbernai or Obernheim (the Low-Rhine) on January 18, 1770. Employed in a regiment of dragons when the revolution began, he rose through all the lower ranks quickly. Successively adjudant–général and brigadier general, General Becker married Desaix’s sister. He was transferred to the Staff of Sérurier’s division on January 22, 1799. During the clash at Parona, he was taken prisoner. He was later paroled by the Austrian on April 27.
Becker was promoted major general on the field at the battle of Austerlitz. He was member of the Chamber of the People’s Representatives during the Hundred Days. Fouché knew that General Becker had personal reasons to complain of the Emperor, so he gave Becker the task, for the provisional government, to keep guard on Napoleon at Malmaison. Fouché did not doubt he would find in Becker a sour soul bent on revenge, but he could not have made a more coarse mistake. Becker did not cease showing respect and devotion to the emperor, and it was through Becker that the Emperor sent an offer to the provisional government to march as an ordinary citizen at the head of the troops to push back Blùcher’s advance. Napoleon trusted Becker, but this was the cause of subsequent disgraces which soon followed. General Becker left Rochefort after Napoleon had finally embarked on the HMS Bellérophon. Stopped in Orleans by the Prussians, Becker was led to Paris as a prisoner of war, but was put immediately freed there. Arrested again in Poitiers, he returned to his castle in Mons, where he remained until the publication of the Ordinance of September 9, 1816. Named Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor on March 21, 1831, he died in his Mons castle in November 1840.
[3] Adjutant-Général Louis Gareau (or Garreau), born May 28,1769 and died May 30, 1813. On December 13, 1793, Gareau was named adjutant général chef-de-bataillon in the Brest Coast Army, and then assigned to the Pyrénées Army in 1795. From June 13, 1796, he was adjutant général chef-de brigade in the Coast Army and, after a brief period of rest, transferred (in 1799) to the Army of Italy, in Serurier’s Division and, later, in General Grenier’s. On March 30, 1799, he crossed the Adige at Polo’s bridge, leading the Piedmontese. Pescantina was occupied, but disorder among ranks of Meyer’s Brigade led to a disaster. Serurier’s losses at Polo: 1,500 prisoners. Gareau was named général-de-brigade on May 11, a provisional promotion after the battle at Bassignana. On October 10, 1799, he was transferred to the French Maltese garrison where he was taken prisoner (in 1800) by the British and then released on parole. He became the commander of the Alpes-Maritimes Department, or 8th Military District, from June 10, 1801. He was forced into retirement on the charges of having trafficked with the British, and on December 1, was put on the assignment-list to the Expeditionary Corps destined for Louisiana. In August 1803, he was reintegrated in the armée Batave, but then left without a military command in 1804. On April 5, he led the Charente Department, or 20th Military District. On June 14, 1804 he was awarded the Commander Cross of the Legion d’Honneur.
During the years 1807-1809 he fought with the Army of the Kingdom of Italy, leading the 1st brigade (in 1809) in the Reserve infantry division under Gen. Seras. He was engaged at Sacile; then he commanded the post of Brück (June). During the period 1810-1811, he was in the Army of Catalonia, serving under the loval Governor, General Baraguey-d’Hilliers. He was named Imperial Baron, October 6, 1810. On February 29, 1812, he was tasked with reorganizing the reserve in the 10th Military District, but he died one year later, on May 30, 1813.
[4] Chef-de-Brigade Louis-Stanislas-Xavier Soyez, born on May 21, 1769, he was promoted to Chef-de-Brigade, 22e bis demi-brigade d’infanterie légère, on April 20, 1795, but his official rank was not confirmed until December 15, 1796, when he became the Chef-de-Brigade of the famous 5e demi-brigade d’infanterie légère. After the reorganization in the wake of the losses suffered in Italy, he was made Chef-de-Brigade of the new 18e demi-brigade d’Infanterie légère (September 18, 1797), with which he fought in Italy, distinguishing himself during the combat at Lecco, where he repulsed the Austro-Russian advance guard along the Adda river. He would survive is wounding on August 15, 1799. He was promoted to General-de-Brigade on August 29, 1803, made Commander of the Legion d’Honneur on June 14, 1804, and Baron of the Empire on July 2, 1808. He died February 21,1839.
[5] Chef-de-Brigade> Gaspare Gaetano des Hayes, Count of Mussano, former commander of the regiment Guardie del Re di Sardegna, or “Guards of the King of Sardinia”, who had refused to lead the troops in battle. So the demi-brigade was taken over by the Adjudant-général Louis Garreau, initially charged with the defense of the Peschiera fortress. The demi-brigade had three battalions (1st was the former Btn. Guardie, the 2nd was the former Btn. Leggero, and the 3rd was the old Corpo Franco), totalling about 1,800 men. In effect, during the first two days of the battle, between Affi and Calmasino, almost the whole 3rd battalion deserted en masse, reaching the Austrian lines.
[6] Général-de-brigade Jean Baptiste Maur Ange Montanus Joseph Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee (1768-1802). Born in Switzerland . Général-de-brigade from June 13,1795, he led Joubert’s brigade at Rivoli in 1797. He served under Serurier during the 1799 Italian campaign. Detached from the rest of the division, he was charged with command of Modena, Ferrara, and Bologna, and later he was sent to defend Mantua. In 1802 he participated to the Santo Domingo Expedition, dying there of yellow fever.
[7] Chef-de-Brigade Charles-Joseph César Balleydier. When in March 1796 the 18e Légère was merged with the 6e Légère, a new light infantry demi-brigade was constituted: the 29e demi-brigade legère. In reality, this amalgamation produced a weak unit, only 1,200-1,300 men strong. It was commanded by a rough old soldier, César Balleydier, former commander of the 18e, who had participated in several episodes of bravery and who knew no fear. During the amalgamation, the 29e formed, together with the 4e Légère, or old demi-brigade Allobroge, the advance guard brigade of General Rusca, in Augereau’s Division. In September, Balleydier was wounded and taken prisoner in the Tyrol. The command of the unit was taken over for the interim by Claude Clement who, when the Chef returned after exchange, refused to leave the command. Otherwise, even with that strange quarrel, Balleydier returned to his position in 1797.
César Balleydier (1762-1805), born in Savoy, and thus a Piedmontese citizen, had a very lively military career in the Republican armies. He was the son of a notary, a young rebel boy always on the road, like a bully. César enrolled first in a Swiss regiment (1783-1787), but, when Savoy was joined to France in 1792, he took the command of the Annecy Volunteers. During the following year, 1793, he was a chef de bataillon at the siege of Toulon, and then, in 1794, he became a chef-de-brigade. He was given a demi-brigade formed by volunteers from the new French provinces, for the most of indifferent commitment, some even being brigands. With these “pirates” he fought in Corsica and Italy . In September 1796, as mentioned, he was wounded and taken prisoner, though released some months later when exchanged. Recovering his command in 1797, in 1799, after having saved his units from an Austrian encirclement at Parona, he withdrew into Mantua, where he was again taken prisoner. Returned to France , he was forced into retirement because of Bonaparte’s determination to punish all the officers who where at Mantua when the fortress capitulated. Recalled in 1802, Balleydier took service as commander of the post of the island of Elba and, in 1803, he led a new regiment at camp Utrecht, in the Netherlands . In 1804 he received the Knight Cross of the Legion d’Honneur. With his regiment he participated in the Ulm campaign of 1805, and was then sent against the Russian advance guard. During his approach march, in November, he was killed at Leoben, in Styria, a few days before the fateful Battle of Austerlitz.
[8] The 30e demi-brigade d’Infanterie Légère was newly organized at the beginning of 1797 (2nd formation) with Belgian and Flemish units and Dutch soldiers who had served in the following corps: 8e bataillon Volontaires de la Somme; 1er ans 6e bataillon, Volontaires du Nord; 1er bataillon Volontaires de Cambrai; 2e bataillon Volontaires de la Legion des Ardennes – (French); 3e bataillon Volontaires des Vosges; 3e bataillon Volontaires de la Nieve; 2e bataillon Volontaires de la Haute-Saone; 3e bataillon Volontaires de Lot-et-Garonne; 10e bataillon Volontaires du Var; 3e bataillon Volontaires de la Charente-Inferieure; 8e bataillon Volontaires de la Sarthe and the demi-brigade de la Dordogne. The name of its Chef is unknown, but it is possible he could have been Chef Aubin Vérideau.
[9] Chef-de-Escadron Horace-François-Bastien Sebastiani de la Porta, born November 17, 1772, he was promoted to the rank of chef-de-brigade after the battle at Magnano, replacing Joseph André Thirion (retired), on April 20, 1799. He was then elevated to général-de-brigade on August 29, 1803, and général-de-division on December 21, 1804. He was made Grand Eagle of the Legion d’Honneur April 7, 1807, and Count of the Empire on December 31, 1809. He died, July 20, 1851.
[10] Jomini, in his order of battle, lists the 5th Piedmontese Dragoon Regiment, but it had just been disbanded in February. C. L. F. Pancoucke, in his Victoires, conquêtes, désastres, revers et guerres civiles des français, de 1792 à 1815 (volume XI, Paris, 1818), tells about Piedmontese Dragoons led by the Marquis of Saluzzo (Saluces) and about a 2nd Piedmontese Dragoon Regiment. The 5th Piedmontese Dragoon Regiment (the former Savoy Chevauxlegers) was disbanded on February 1799 as the result of the great number of desertions it suffered. The remainder of the unit was merged with the new dragoon regiments having even numbers (2 and 4). The 2nd Dragoons was formed by the old 2nd, or Cavalleggeri del Re, with two squadrons of the Savoia cavalleria. The unit was deployed initially with the Reserve Division (Hatry), while the two Savoy squadrons were assigned to Sérurier to perform field intelligence. They were at Parona, where they strove to cover the retreat of the infantry under the command of Chef Maurizio Ignazio Fresia (Baron of Oglianico and also Marquis of Saluzzo – Pancoucke), commander of Hatry’s cavalry.
[11] This unit doesn’t exist in Jomini’s and Gachot’s orders of battle. However, it is listed in Gachot’s book in Serurier’s third Line of battle. The officer is not listed in the Almanach National an VIII, while a similar name could be found in the Procés Verbaux du Directoire as Chef-de-Brigade Aubin Virideau, born on December 3, 1764, in Sarrazac. He was a grenadier on May 15, 1785, in the Royal Regiment Des Vaisseux, the future 43rd Infantry Regiment. Retired on March 13, 1788, he was placed in command of the National Guard at Thiviers ( January 1, 1798 – Directoire: Séance du 11 pluviose) and made provisional commander at Sarlat, in Dordogne. The French historians Robert Goetz and Frederic Bey think that Vérideau could have been the Chef of the 30e Légère.
[12] Chef-de-brigade Antoine-Francois Brenier de Montmorand, born November 12, 1767, and died on October 8, 1832; wounded April 4 and 14, 1799. Promoted Chef-de-brigade of the 14e Demi-Brigade d’Infanterie de Ligne on September 1, 1795; Chef-de-brigade of the 63e Demi-Brigade d’Infanterie de Ligne on January 1, 1797; général-de-brigade on June 15, 1799; général-de-division on March 26, 1811; Grand Officer of the Legion d’Honneur, December 18, 1813; and Baron of the Empire, February 12, 1812.
[13] Chef-de-brigade Jean Baptist Philip, promoted on April 9, 1799 (19 germinal an VII), together with another challenger to the leadership, Jean François Simon. The demi-brigade commander at Magnano is not known. The 45e DB retreated, detaching the 3rd battalion to Mantua, where it was taken prisoner with the whole garrison. At the capitulation, it lost the glorious flag of the old 100e DB, bearing the honors of the Italian 1795-96 Campaign (Montenotte, Millesimo, Mondovì, Bridge of Lodi, Castiglione, la Brenta, Arcole, 1st and 2nd Rivoli, San Giorgio).
[14] Général Antoine, Guillaume, Maurailhac d’Elmas de La Coste, dit Delmas, born at Argentat on June 21, 1768, died at Leipzig in 1813. He was the a son of Pierre d’Elmas, a captain in the Regiment of Touraine, and Knight of Saint-Louis. While too young to be a soldier, at the age of 12 years, Delmas embarked for America and acted as “battle boy” during the American War of Independence. This surely inspired a sense of civic virtues and patriotism which guided him throughout his life. He completed subsequent military studies in Paris, in 1788, with the rank of lieutenant, and withdrew to Argentat. With the beginning of the revolution, Delmas busied himself in the new service, forming the local National Guards. In 1792, as the Fatherland was in danger, Delmas was recalled and elected by the volunteers as commander (chef) of the first battalion of Corrèze. In the Armée du Rhine, Armée du Nord, and in Holland, Delmas and his volunteers distinguished under Hoche and Moreau, before being transferred to the Armée d’ Italie in 1795. He was named general of brigade on June 30, 1793, and at this rank participated in the 1797 Tyrol campaign. From February 2, 1799, he was a general-de-division in the Army of Italy under Schérer. There he was wounded and underwent a long rest period. Otherwise, in 1800, Bonaparte, as First Consul, recommended him to Carnot who appointed Delmas as lieutenant-général of général Brune, another Corrézien protégé, serving in the Adige Countryside. After peace returned, Delmas had some contact with the monarchical Party and so he was subsequently exiled in Switzerland . Twelve years later, after the Russian defeat, facing the threat of the new coalition, and setting aside his objections to the Emperor, he offered his sword again, saying: “I want still to serve France: believe me. The Fatherland’s defense is the most important thing for a soldier and nobody should deprive me of this honor.” Recalled to duty by an Imperial decree on April 10, 1813, he arrived in “modest clothing without embroideries and decorations as a republican general must have had, the blue coat worn.” When the “golden” officers of the Emperor entourage smiled seeing that strange and simple uniform Napoleon advanced and said: “I present to you General Delmas, the first advance-guard general of the Republic.”
Placed in command of a division in Marshal Ney’s Corps, he led the conscripts to Bautzen and drove out the Prussians at Dessau. On October 18, 1813, the last day of battle at Leipzig, he was hit by a Swedish ball which broke two of his vertebrae. He died from this wound two weeks later, on October 30, 1813. Bernadotte, his former comrade-in-arms, now a royal prince of Sweden in the enemy’s coalition, visited Delmas at his bedside, proposing that he join Bernadotte’s army when he recovered: “Never!” answered Delmas loudly. “Even if I had difficulties with Napoleon, I had nothing to complain about France . It is my Fatherland and I will always serve it. I will not betray the Emperor. I am not a fellow who’s able to bear weapons against my Country.”
[15] Claude-Antoine Hyppolite chevalier de Préval, born in Salins, in Franche-Comte, on August 18, 1772, and died in Paris in 1853. He was transferred in 1797 to the Armée d’Italie with Grandjean. By a Directory decree of February 5, 1798, he was promoted chef-de-bataillon and inserted into a list of ten Officers authorized by Directory to became provisional adjudants-généraux. He had good battle “eyesight” and was very calm and cold-blooded in combat. With Delmas, he had the task of forming a second line with two battalions to support the advance guard which moved against the Bussolengo redoubts. The services he performed in this battle garnered him promotion to adjudant-général chef-de-brigade, a rank confirmed on April 23, 1799, in an official letter from the Directory. At Magnano, he led a brigade of four battalions and four cavalry squadrons, maneuvering them so skillfully that he forced the Austrians to stop in the open country, in front of the village of Buutapietra, unable to take the place. He repulsed the last Austrian attack with great determination, and with some opportune tactical maneuvers he was able to take prisoner a number of Hungarian grenadiers with 6 guns. After the battle he was awarded with the rank of advance guard division chief of staff, under general Laboissière, who substituted for the wounded Delmas.
[16] Generał François Alexis Guyonneau de Pambour (1766-1802). Artillery chef-de-brigade. From April 23, 1799 to 1801 he was the provisional “Colonel” of the 7th Artillery Regiment. From 1801 to 1802 he was the commander of the 8th Horse Artillery Regiment. On June 15, 1802, he was promoted général-de-brigade and sent to Santo Domingo, where he died of Yellow Fever in the course of the campaign there.