After Napoleon led his Reserve Army across the Alps with the goal of relieving the Austrian siege of Genoa, the Battle of Marengo began early on the morning of June 14, 1800, when Austrian Army troops under the command of Lieutenant General Michael Melas crossed the Bormida River in Northern Italy and attacked several isolated divisions of the French army. Earlier that morning Napoleon had sent part of his strength away to the north and south in the belief that Melas would attempt to circumvent the approaching French Army. This inaccurate appraisal of his enemy’s intent nearly spelled disaster, for as the Austrian Army of Italy marched out of their bridgehead east of the city of Alessandria the French Army lay scattered before them
Despatching riders to recall two divisions he had sent earlier to flank the Austrians when they “retreated”, Bonaparte then set about trying to hold off the vastly superior enemy. After several hours of fighting and with no reserves, Bonaparte’s position was perilous and, at about 2pm, the French line began to give way.
Napoleon was fortunate and two events occurred that swung the battle in his favour. Firstly, Melas made the decision to leave the field and left his troops under General Zach and secondly, the talented General Louis Desaix had heard the cannons firing and had turned around his divisions and “marched to the sound of the guns”.
The Austrian pursuit of the French was to slow which gave Napoleon time to reorganize and with the arrival of General Desaix with his fresh corp, the French counter attacked late in the afternoon. Almost immediately General Desaix was killed. The Austrian forces had been surprised by the counter attack, with a furious French attack and the French cavalry under General Francois E Kellerman slashing their way through the Austrian infantry. To the astonishment of all, the 2,000 Austrians at the front of the pursuit column threw down their weapons and surrendered, allowing Zach to be captured in the process. The Austrian advance was turned into a retreat and with General Murat and Kellerman’s cavalry repeatedly attacking their lines, it was turned into a rout. By midnight the battle was over and a French victory for Napoleon.
Less than a day after the French victory, von Melas entered into negotiations which resulted in the Convention of Alessandria and the Austrian withdrawal from northern Italy. Coupled with General Jean Moreau’s triumph at Hohenlinden in December, the Battle of Marengo effectively ended the War of the Second Coalition.
