The French give way

Towards 12:30 the Austrians throw a small bridge over the Fontanone, and Lattermann’s grenadiers attack the village of Marengo. O’Reilly takes La Stortiglione by 14:00, and Ott sends Schellenberg’s column south against Lannes’s flank. Victor, short of ammunition, falls back south-east to the main belt of vines, Lannes falls back with him, and at about 14:30 Melas leads two squadrons into the Marengo farm.

The Battle of Marengo, painting by Louis-François Lejeune, 1801Wikimedia Commons, Louis-François, Baron Lejeune, Public domain (Lejeune - Bataille de Marengo.jpg)

Monnier’s division and the infantry of the Consular Guard extend the French right, but Ott and Frimont drive Monnier back. At about 16:00 the Guard, sent against the head of Schellenberg’s column, is caught by Frimont’s cavalry and cut to pieces after a short firefight. The French fall back about 3 km towards San Giuliano.

Melas, aged 71 and slightly wounded, hands over command to his chief of staff Anton von Zach and to Kaim, convinced that the battle is won. Zach forms the Austrian centre into a column around Spinetta and follows the French down the main road. O’Reilly turns south-east after a French detachment, and Ott hesitates in the north, so the Austrian army advances in a thin crescent.

Sources

David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (1966).
David Hollins, The Battle of Marengo 1800 (2000).
Gregory Fremont-Barnes, The French Revolutionary Wars (2001).

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