Episode 1 of 3
Crossing of the Alps
- When
- mid-May to 2 June 1800
- Where
- Alpine passes into northern Italy
- Part of
- Battle of Marengo
Bonaparte led the Army of the Reserve over the Alps in mid-May 1800, reaching Milan on 2 June and threatening Melas' communications.
Surprised by the Austrian advance toward Genoa in mid-April 1800, Bonaparte led his army over the Alps in mid-May and reached Milan on 2 June. The crossing with the Army of the Reserve, officially commanded by Louis Alexandre Berthier, was daring and undertaken almost before the passes were open; Bonaparte himself crossed on a mule. The maneuver threatened Melas' lines of communications in northern Italy.
Sources
- Battle of Marengo Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-27
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.