15 to 16 January 1797
La Favorita
Leaving Joubert, Rey and Victor to finish off Alvinczi, Bonaparte orders Masséna south on 15 January, and his division marches from Rivoli to Mantua. Meanwhile Augereau captures the 2,000 men Provera left to guard his bridge at Angiari and follows him west.
Provera’s advance guard fails to break through Sérurier’s blockade, and at dawn on 16 January a sortie by Wurmser from the fortress is driven back. Surrounded by Masséna, Augereau and Sérurier at the La Favorita palace outside Mantua, Provera surrenders with 6,000 men that day. The Austrian field army in northern Italy has ceased to exist.
The battle of La Favorita outside Mantua, engraving after Carle Vernet, early 19th centuryWikimedia Commons, Carle Vernet, Public domain (Bataille de la Favorite (Vernet engraving).jpg)
Sources
- Phillip R. Cuccia, Napoleon in Italy: The Sieges of Mantua, 1796–1799 (2014).
- David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (1966).
Prev: Lusignan's columnNext: Leoben and Campo Formio