Date and place
- April 22 (or 21), 1796, near the town of Mondovì, Piedmont (now in the province of Cuneo, Italy).
Involved forces
- French army (over 20,000 men) under the command of General Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Kingdom of Sardinia troops (10,000 to 12,000 men), under the command of general Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi.
Casualties and losses
- French army: around 600 dead or wounded.
- Kingdom of Sardinia troops: around 1,800 men, including 1,300 prisoners, 8 cannons, 21 flags.
Aerial panorama of Mondovi battlefield
The battle of Mondovì marked the end of the very first phase of the Italian campaign, which ended with the Cherasco armistice. By signing this agreement, the Kingdom of Sardinia recognized its defeat and withdrew from the first coalition, leaving its former Austrian ally to face Napoleon Bonaparte alone.
Sources often differ by a day or two in the dates they give for this battle and the events surrounding it. We have preferred the chronology adopted by the famous Prussian military theorist Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz
The general situation
Thanks to the victories at Montenotte, Millesimo, Cosseria and Dego, the French army had succeeded in establishing itself between the Austrian and Sardinian forces. It then turned its attention to the weaker Sardinian forces, with the aim of destroying them as quickly as possible. The aim was to do this before the Austrians had time to come to the rescue of their allies.
The Sardinians were under the command of Austrian general Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi
On April 16, 1796, Colli and his followers were dislodged from their entrenched camp at Ceva
From this very solid position, the Sardinians achieved one of their few successes of the campaign on the 20th (or 19th), two days before the battle of Mondovì. Well established on the left bank of the Corsaglia
For its part, the French army was both somewhat discouraged by its recent failure and exhausted by the constant marching. However, at a council of war held by the divisional generals in Lesegno
Positions
The French command has taken the following attack positions:
- Jean Mathieu Philibert Sérurier will face the Sardinian right, to the south, with the three brigades Jean Joseph Guieu, Pascal Antoine Fiorella
Pascal-Antoine Fiorella and Elzéar Auguste Cousin de DommartinElzéar Auguste Cousin de Dommartin ; - a Jean-Baptiste Meynier division, created for the occasion with the Sextius Alexandre François Miollis and Louis Pelletier brigades, broke through the enemy center at San Michele
San Michele . The Henri Christian Michel de Stengel cavalry division, which had been ordered to accelerate its march to join the army, provided support; - André Masséna, who was unable to cross the Tanaro
The Tanaro river, view #1 at Castellino [Castellino-Tanaro]Castellino-Tanaro the day before and had to turn back to CevaCeva, view #1 , was now returning via Lesegno. Reinforced by the brigade of Barthélemy JoubertBarthélemy Catherine Joubert , he will attack the enemy left wing to the north of the battlefield; - Charles Augereau, at Castellino
Castellino Tanaro, general view , will threaten Sardinian communications to the northeast.
On April 22nd (or 21st) 1796, General Colli was still occupying the very strong position that had enabled him to checkmate the French the day before.
- The left of the Sardinian army, under the command of General Vitali, guarded Lesegno, taking cover behind the Corsaglia. Situated near the confluence
Near the confluence of the Corsaglia and the Tanaro of this river and the Tanaro, the Sardinian position here seemed virtually invulnerable: the bridge crossing the TanaroThe Tanaro river, view #2 nearby was destroyed, and the banks of the Corsaglia were extremely steepCorsaglia gorges The gorges of the Corsaglia river in these parts; - The center was at San Michele
The village of San Michele , commanded by general Jean-Gaspard Dichat de Toisinge; - The right was based at Madonna de Vico [Santuario di Vicoforte]
Santuario di Vicoforte , led by general Heinrich von BellegardeHeinrich von Bellegarde ; - The reserve occupied Bicocca
View from the Bicocca in San Michele Mondovì [44.38771, 7.91663], a hill crowned by a redoubt (a closed fortification building with no re-entrant angles) overlooking San Michele MondovìThe Corsaglia and San Michele to the northeast:
Two usable bridges remained open over the Corsaglia, at San Michele
Colli knew he was outnumbered. Although he was unable to assess the extent of the problem, he decided to withdraw his troops several kilometers to the west. An orderly retreat seemed more advantageous than a new engagement. The movement began the night before the battle. The Sardinians judged that the position they were retreating to was just as strong as the previous one. It was centered on Brichetto [or Bricchetto] [44.38107, 7.84740], an elevation
The fighting
When the French launched their attack at around 8 a.m. on the very spot that had seen their failure two days earlier, they were relieved to discover that the position had been abandoned. Without missing a beat, Bonaparte ordered the pursuit of the enemy. The Sérurier division was the first to rush towards Vico, followed by the cavalry and artillery. Masséna stopped at San Michele
Napoleon set up camp at the Bric della Guardia
Unfortunately for his men, Colli had not ordered the retreat soon enough. The French surprised the Sardinians before they had reached their new position and made all their preparations.
In the center, Sérurier came into contact with the enemy just before Vico [Vicoforte]. Colli hurriedly countered with a few battalions, which were too quick to stop the attackers. The Sardinians were pushed back into the village
Colli retreated as best he could to Mondovì
The Sardinians retreated as far as Fossano, north-northwest towards Turin [Torino]. They lost 1,000 men and eight cannons. The only success of the day for the Sardinians was to repel a risky French cavalry charge on the left bank of the Ellero
Consequences
The separation of the two sections of the Austro-Sardinian armies, which Bonaparte had begun a few days earlier at Montenotte, Millesimo, Cosseria and Dego, was now complete. On April 23, 1796, Colli proposed an armistice, which Napoleon rejected in order to consolidate his advantage. It was finally signed on the 28th at Cherasco
Map of the battle of Mondovì.
Picture - "The Battle of Mondovì, April 21st, 1796". Painted by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti.
During the operations, Napoleon Bonaparte's headquarters were successively :
- at the castle of Lesegno
Lesegno Castle [village sometimes spelled Lesogno in period sources] from April 20 to 23 ; - at Carrù
Headquarter of Napoléon Bonaparte in Carrù on April 23 and 24.
General Stengel was buried in the church of San Giovanni in Lupazzanio
Panoramics of the battlefield of Mondovi
Display the Map of the First campaign in Italy (1796-97)