Dagobert Sigmund Von Wurmser - Campaign in Northern Italy

Campaign in Northern Italy

In 1796, Wurmser descended into northern Italy, with 25,000 men from his old Army of the Rhine, to unite with Beulieu's battered army of northern Italy. The two armies met at Trent, and marched to Mantua in three columns.

Wurmser's columns scored some initial successes. The forward column, under command of under Peter Quasdanovich moved toward Lake Garda, and a small reconnaissance force under Johann von Klenau advanced from the alps on the city of Brescia; there, they found the local French garrison unprepared. At midnight, Klenau led two squadrons of the Wurmser 8th Hussar Regiment and several other battalions and squadrons in an attack on the French garrison. They captured 600–700 French soldiers stationed there and three officials of the French Directory: Jean Lannes, Joachim Murat, and François Étienne de Kellermann. Quasdanovich managed to occupy Lonato.

Wurmser did not count on swift movement by the French. Within two days, Klenau's force retreated in the face of Napoleon Bonaparte and 12,000 Frenchmen; his small advance guard was quickly pushed out of Brescia on 1 August. At the subsequent Battle of Lonato of 2–3 August 1796, the French also forced Quasdanovich's column to withdraw into the mountains, with heavy losses. The mopping up operations lasted until mid-August, isolated Quasdanovich's force by Lake Garda, and freed the French to concentrate on Wurmser's main force at Castiglione delle Stiviere, further south; Bonaparte's subsequent victory against Wurmser at the Battle of Castiglione forced the old commander across the Mincio River and allowed the French to return to the siege of Mantua.

The resumed siege was not without its problems. To move swiftly against Wurmser, Napoleon had abandoned his all his siege equipment, leaving it at Mantua. When he resumed the siege, it was much less effective without his guns. Furthermore, by early September, many of the scattered Austrian units had rejoined Wurmser's column. Even so, at the Battle of Bassano on 8 September, the Austrians were outnumbered almost two to one by the French. As the Austrian army retreated, Bonaparte ordered a pursuit that caused the Austrians to abandon their artillery and baggage. Most of the third battalion of the 59th Jordis, and the first battalion of the Border Infantry Banat were captured and these units ceased to exist after this battle. The Austrians lost 600 killed and wounded, and 2,000 captured, plus lost 30 guns, eight colors, and 200 limbers and ammunition wagons. Wurmser's column fought its way to besieged Mantua, but emerged suddenly, in an effort to escape, at the Battle of La Favorita near there on 15 September. This was the second attempt to relieve the fortress; as the Austrians withdrew from the battle, they retreated into Mantua itself, and from 15 September until 2 February 1797, Wurmser was trapped inside the fortress while the city was besieged.

Following the Austrian loss at the Battle of Rivoli, 48 kilometers (30 mi) north of Mantua, on 14–15 January 1797, when clearly there would be no Austrian relief for Mantua, Wurmser sent one of his juniors, Johann von Klenau, to negotiate conditions of surrender with French General Jean Sérurier, Additional evidence suggests that Bonaparte was present and dictated far more generous terms than the Austrians had expected. Wurmser, who Napoleon held in high esteem, left Mantua with his men and officers, and his battle honors, and marched back to Austrian lands.