Marengo

by T E Crowdy

  As Zach and de Best endured one another’s company, Neipperg presented the convention to Melas for signature. The terms were harsh in terms of territory and fortresses lost, but at the same time they guaranteed the Austrians could maintain their arms and baggage. While the convention was sent to Austria for final ratification, hostilities would cease, and the imperial army would evacuate Piedmont and Liguria. The exact terms were as follows:

  Convention between the commanders-in-chief of the French and Imperial armies in Italy

  ART. 1. There will be an armistice and suspension of hostilities between the army of His Imperial Majesty and that of the French Republic in Italy until the reply from Vienna.

  ART. 2. His Imperial Majesty’s army shall occupy all the lands between the Mincio, the Fossa-Maestra, and the Po, that is to say, Peschiera, Mantua, Borgo-Forte, and from there the left bank of the Po and on the right bank, the city and the citadel of Ferrara.

  ART. 3. His Imperial Majesty’s army will also occupy Tuscany and Ancona.

  ART. 4. The French army will occupy the lands between Chiese, Oglio and the Po.

  ART. 5. The land between the Chiese and the Mincio shall not be occupied by either of the two armies. The army of His Imperial Majesty will be able to draw provisions from the parts of this country which were part of the Duchy of Mantua. The French army will draw food from the countries which were part of the province of Brescia.

  ART. 6. The castles of Tortona, Alessandria, Milan, Turin, Pizzighettone, Arona, and Piacenza, will be handed over to the French army, from 16 to 20 June.

  ART. 7. The fortress of Coni, the castles of Ceva, Savona, the city of Genoa, will be handed over to the French army from 16 to 24 June.

  ART. 8. Fort Urbain will be handed over on 26 June.

  ART. 9. The fortress artillery will be classified as follows:

  1. All the artillery of the Austrian foundries and calibres shall belong to the Austrian army.

  2. Those of the Italian and Piedmontese and French foundries and calibres shall be handed over to the French army.

  3. The supplies of food will be divided: half will be at the disposal of the commissariat officer of the Austrian army, half that of the disbursing officer of the French army.

  ART. 10. The garrisons will leave with military honours, and will proceed with arms and baggage to Mantua by the shortest route.

  ART. 11. The Austrian army shall proceed to Mantua by Piacenza in three columns: the first, from 16 to 20 June; the second, from 20 to 24 June; the third, from 24 to 26 June.

  ART. 12. Messrs. General Saint-Julien; de Swrtnick of the artillery; du Brons of the engineers; Felsegi, commissioner of food; the citizens: General Dejean, Inspector Daru, Adjutant General Léopold Stabenrath; the chief of brigade of the artillery Mossel, are appointed commissioners for the purpose of filling in the details of the execution of the present convention either for the formation of inventories, or for the provision of subsistence and transport, or for any other purpose.

  ART. 13. No person shall be ill-treated on account of services rendered to the Austrian army or political opinion. The general-in-chief of the Austrian army will release those who have been arrested in the Cisalpine Republic for political opinions, and who are still in the fortresses under his command.

  ART. 14. Whatever may be the reply of the court of Vienna, neither of the two armies can attack the other except by warning them ten days in advance.

  ART. 15. During the suspension of arms, no army shall send detachments to Germany.

  Made at Alessandria, on 15 June 1800.

  Alex. Berthier. Melas, General of the Cavalry.

  With the ink barely dry on the convention document, the First Consul returned to Milan to announce his victory. Marengo did not bring an end to the war or the much-coveted peace, but the gain of so many fortresses and the removal of Melas’ army from the frontiers of France was a significant victory – one worthy of laudation. It would take Moreau’s victory at Hohenlinden (3 December) before Austria signed the Treaty of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The war with England would continue for another year after that.

  Berthier initially remained with his army and sent copies of the treaty to Suchet, who was now at Acqui, and to Massena, who was still at Finale. One of Suchet’s men reported that he heard the battle from the village of Rocchetta, about 25km west of Marengo. At the time they were not sure if the rolling artillery fire was from the plain of Alessandria or from a naval engagement at sea.19 Once the outcome of the battle was confirmed, the Army of Italy moved forward to reoccupy the places previously lost to the Austrians. Berthier also moved his headquarters to Tortona because of the ‘infection’ caused by all the bodies on the battlefield. Torre Garofoli was no place for the fit and healthy. Most of the campaign had been fought in overcast and wet weather, but now the sun broiled the men in the bivouacs and field hospitals around the place. There was hardly any food to be had, and there was only one well for 1,400 men at Garofoli, Maurice Dupin complained.

  The clean-up after the battle was a grim task that no one really wanted. The dead were scattered far and wide, and not all were recovered in the immediate aftermath of the battle. For weeks after the battle, as the civilians returned to their properties, more corpses were discovered all the time. Lists survive showing the Marchese of Cassine found forty bodies on her land. Citizeness Fontanile of Spinetta had three in her property. The fathers of San Marco found two bodies, and so it went on. Then there were those wounded who died in the hospitals of Alessandria. Everywhere were bodies. As late as 1846, bones were still being ploughed up by farmers, so much so that the chemist Antonio Delavo built an ossuary at Marengo to collect the human remains.20

  While awaiting further instructions, many took the opportunity to write home. Some of the letters were fairly simple in nature. Simon-Joseph Lepersonne was a 22-year-old soldier who reported to his mother on the cost of victory. His letter must have been fairly typical:

  ‘I cannot tell you how many men were lost on both sides. Some say at least twenty thousand men were out of action, either killed or wounded. My dear mother, you cannot believe how much we suffered but I thank God for preserving my life and sparing me from being wounded. Of my detachment, the son of Franquinais of Doneux was killed as well as the son of Inglaibert of Justanville. All the others are well. Lebout and Janson and Collettre Pouhaut and the son of Chavois send their regards to their parents. We all hope to come back with the triumphant laurels of victory. My dear mother, this is all I can tell you now.’21

  Perhaps the most accurate description of the experience of battle was penned by Berthier’s ADC, Dupin, writing to his uncle:

  ‘Piff, paff, pouf, pow! Forwards! Sound the charge! Retreat! Into battery! We’re lost! Victory! Every man for himself! To the right, to the left, to the middle! Come back, stay, leave, hurry up! Station the howitzer! At the gallop! Heads down, here comes a ricochet ball … The dead, the wounded, legless, arms taken off, prisoners, baggage, horses, mules, cries of rage, shouts of victory, cries of pain, a devilish dust, hot as hell, effing and blinding, shit, a clatter, a confusion, a magnificent brawl: and there you have, my dear, kind uncle, in a few words, a clear and concise view of the battle of Marengo, from which your nephew has returned safe and sound after having been bowled over, together with his mount, by a passing cannonball, and after having been treated by the Austrians, for fifteen hours, to the fire of thirty pieces of artillery, twenty howitzers, and thirty thousand muskets.’22

  Adopting a more formal tone, the Norweigan officer on Marmont’s staff, Lieutenant Rustad, wrote to Crown Prince Fredrik from Tortona on 18 June:

  ‘Gracious Lord!

  ‘The first act of the solemn play “The conquest of peace” is happily ended. Perhaps it will only consist of one act; perhaps a definite peace will be its result. The better for the world, for suffering mankind. Your Royal Highness will already be informed about the battle of Marengo (at [the] banks of the Bormida, opposite Alessandria) on the 13th and 1
4th this month and its important results, that must be the wonder of the world. I could not aspire to compete with the rumour and to praise this news.’23

  His letter went on to describe the fighting on 13 June, of bodies being dragged through the mud by the artillery; of the French infantry covered in dirt from the poor roads, and of the battle itself, the ferocious French bayonet charge in the evening, and the casualties inflicted by the Horse Guards thundering into the retreating Austrian army.

  The French prisoners in Alessandria were released on 16 June. Coignet said there were about 1,200, and there was something of a fete on their return. Not all were welcomed with open arms. The officer who surrendered in Marengo with 500 of Rivaud’s men was sentenced to a court martial. It was said he could have held on longer, an order of the day declared, but this seems harsh considering the intensity of the fighting. In another move, General Duvignau was dismissed from the army for missing the battle. He protested about being injured the night before, but was ordered back to Paris to receive instructions from the Minister of War.

  As the Austrians prepared to evacuate Alessandria, Berthier announced a series of inspections for 19 June. He instructed the troops to wear ‘greenery’ in their hats as a sign of victory – aping the tradition of victors wearing oakleaf garlands. The two armies then set off marching for the line of the Minico. Again, Coignet was a witness. He said they were stupefied at the masses of infantry, cavalry and artillery which marched out of Alessandria. He was glad an armistice had been signed. The two adversaries marched along the same roads together; the officers sharing tables in the cafés along the route. It was during this time that Stutterheim spoke with the officers of the Consular Guard. Had one of them taken a little too much wine? How surreal it must have been; quarrels must have broken out. Galy-Montaglas had his money stolen by a group of chasseurs from the ‘incomparable’ 9th Light Infantry – plundered by one’s own side! A manor house was looted on the way. A sutleress was found with her apron filled with stolen goods. She had her head shaved and was paraded naked on the back of a donkey for everyone to see. Reaching Cremona, Coignet boiled his clothes to kill the lice he was infested with. The clothes disintegrated in the boiling water and he was left naked, forced to write to his family, begging them to send money. Even Eugène Beauharnais spoke of the marked contrast between the troops of the Consular Guard, ‘thin, exhausted and covered in dust’, compared to their comrades back at the depot.24

  As for the First Consul, he remained in Milan while the conditions of the convention were enacted. When he first arrived in the Lombard capital on 2 June, there was an element of warmth in the way he was greeted, but people were so surprised by the French army’s appearance (and wary the Austrians might come back) that there was a certain reserve. This time round, the reception was much stronger. On his visit to Milan before the Battle of Marengo, Bonaparte requested an audience with the famous castrato singer Luigi Marchesi. The artiste had to be begged to grant Bonaparte an audience. Unusually star-struck, Bonaparte politely asked Marchesi if he would do him the honour of singing him an air. Marchesi replied in the most impertinent manner possible: ‘Signor General, if it is a good air which you desire, you will find an excellent one in making a little tour of the garden!’25

  The singer was quickly bundled out of Bonaparte’s presence, but an angry First Consul had him imprisoned. After Marengo, the singer was given a second chance. This time he was much more polite. A concert was held. One of the other performers was Giuseppina Grassini. Berthier arrived to meet Bonpare the morning after the concert, and found Grassini at breakfast with Bonaparte having spent the night with him. In the words of Bonaparte’s valet, she had become ‘another conquest’ of the great general. On top of his official duties, Berthier was instructed to deliver Grassini to Paris (she would one day become mistress to Wellington).

  The First Consul was also generous to Melas. Before leaving Milan, he sent the Austrian commander-in-chief a Mameluke sword with the following note:

  ‘I am sorry that circumstances did not allow me to make your acquaintance. I beg you, General, to permit me to offer you a sabre which I conquered from the barbarians in Egypt, and to receive it as a proof of the special consideration which the courage of your army inspired in me on the fields of Marengo.’26

  Melas was flattered. He said he would go to Paris to visit Bonaparte, or perhaps even Egypt. In fact, Melas returned to Bohemia after being replaced as commander of the army by Heinrich von Bellegarde, brother of the general wounded in the battle. Given his advanced years and the onset of illness remarked on by several observers, Bellegarde’s arrival must have come as a great relief. After all, command of the army in Italy was not an appointment he craved. Radetzky was sent to join the army in Germany. Somewhat ironically, he would go on to command an army in Italy while in his eighties during the First Italian War of Independence (1848‑1849).

  Zach was required to arrive in Milan on 19 June before 5.00 pm. He was thenceforth sent to Paris, where he remained a short time. If hostilities were to recommence, Bonaparte wanted the Austrian chief of staff as far away from Italy as possible. During his capture, he was in contact with the unfortunate Foissac-Latour and confirmed he had read his mail during the siege of Mantua. He also visited the armament works at Versailles and was impressed. Bonaparte made a gift to him of a fine pair of pistols, and then pointed out the difference in his treatment compared to the way the British had treated Desaix. Despite Radetzky’s anger at Zach, his career continued, and he found himself reprising his role of chief of staff in Italy in 1805.

  There was also the matter of payment for the spy from Alba, Carlo Gioelli. After the battle, he went to see Bonaparte, as is recounted by Bourrienne:

  ‘The information given by this man proved so accurate and useful that on his return from Marengo Bonaparte ordered me to pay him the 1,000 Louis. The spy afterwards informed him Melas was delighted with the way in which he had served him in this affair, and had rewarded him handsomely. He assured us that he had bidden farewell to his odious profession. The First Consul regarded this little event as one of the favours of fortune.’27

  What are we to make of the spy? From the Austrian point of view, he was clearly of critical importance, as much for delivering the deception before Marengo, as his earlier work at Mantua and Cuneo in particular. Desaix was diverted away from the battlefield on13 June with a very strong division, the reappearance of which was to prove decisive to the eventual French victory. What if Desaix had crossed the Scrivia on 13 June, and had marched further than Rivalta? What if he had been two hours further from the field? Fortune perhaps smiled on Bonaparte with this intervention of nature in the guise of heavy rainfall. The surprise expressed by Bonaparte to Zach perhaps also indicated that Gioelli had not betrayed the Austrians. So what benefits came Bonaparte’s way with the spy, and why was he paid so handsomely? Firstly, the spy had been able to describe Melas’ concentration at Alessandria. When negotiating with Skal after the battle, Bonaparte was able to tell the Austrian he knew the real condition of the Austrian army in the city, with its sick, and the baggage train. More than anything, Gioelli had been a channel through which Bonaparte could communicate false intelligence to the Austrians; magnifying his strength, playing to the Austrian fears of being surrounded and outnumbered. So what became of Gioelli? With Zach now in French hands, it appears Gioelli did make good his intention to retire – at least for the short term anyway. There is much to learn about this spy, who must become a rival to the double agent of 1805, Charles Schulmeister. The hunt goes on for the mysterious l’art d’espionnage pamphlet reported by Gachot. We know Gioelli lived beyond the campaign and there are tantalising clues that he played his duplicitous game once again.

  Command of the army was given to Massena, who joined Bonaparte in Milan and was praised for his heroic defence of Genoa. The First Consul then quit Milan on 24 June and travelled to Paris via Mont Cenis, passing through Lyon, arriving in the capital on 2 July at night. One can imagin
e the scenes of celebration the following day. He had been absent from the capital for just eight weeks, in which time his armies had traversed the Alps, conquered Italy, restored honour to the army and confirmed himself as the greatest soldier of the age. The war was far from ended, but the primary objective had been achieved: France united behind the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. Kellermann was right: Marengo did place the crown of France upon Napoleon’s head; and despite the great victories to come, Marengo always remained the cornerstone of his legitimacy. Marengo was the battle which ended the French Revolution and gave birth to the Napoleonic era.

  Endnotes

  Prologue: On the battlefield of Marengo

  1. Napoléon I, Mémoires de Napoléon Bonaparte, p.36.

  2. Plon, Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, Vol.10, p.266.

  3. Plon, Correspondance, Vol.10, p.332.

  Chapter 1: 1799: A Secret History

  1. Feldzeugmeister (ordnance-master) was a senior general of the artillery branch of an army, with the French equivalent of lieutenant-general.

  2. MacDonald, Souvenirs, Vol.1, p.269.

  3. MacDonald, Souvenirs, Vol.1, p.277.

  4. Radetzky, Erinnerungen, Vo1.1, p.47.

  5. Melas to Tige, letter of 7 December 1799, Hüffer, Vol.1, p.510. See Vaccarino, Giacobini Piemontesi, p.917. The name Gioelli is pronounced in English something like Joy-elly.

  6. Foissac-Latour, précis, p.475.

  7. Foissac-Latour, précis, p.471.

  8. The spy’s late arrival is also mentioned in Maubert’s Relation du blocus et du siége de Mantoue, et exposé des causes qui ont contributé a sa reddition (Paris: 1800), p.15.