Battle of Marengo

Background. The 1799 campaign had exhausted the Austrian army in Italy, with casualties and disease reducing some regiments to 300 men. The French position was similarly dire: in 1799 the 36,000 French troops in Italy were in a desperate state, and the army of March 1800 was scarcely larger than at the conclusion of the 1799 campaign. Although a simpler uniform with a leather helmet and smaller-caliber muskets was introduced, little had reached the field armies by 1800.

The Alpine Crossing and Approach. 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. By a daring crossing of the Alps with his Army of the Reserve—officially commanded by Louis Alexandre Berthier—almost before the passes were open, Bonaparte, who crossed on a mule, had threatened Melas' lines of communications in northern Italy.

The Battle. The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. The engagement included the defeat of Bonaparte's Guard at Marengo during the fighting. The battle was the victory that sealed the success of Bonaparte's Italian campaign of 1800.

Aftermath and Commemoration. The victory secured France's success in the War of the Second Coalition, and the Austrians capitulated, signing the Treaty of Lunéville in February 1801. In 1802, the Marengo department was named in honour of the battle. A column erected in 1801 was later removed, only to be restored in 1922.