by Zachary Grant, 15 January 2025
The Battle of Rivoli was fought on January 14, 1797. The French Army of Italy, commanded by General Bonaparte, (then only 27 years old!) and the Austrian Army, commanded by General Alvinczi, fought one of the final battles of the War of the First Coalition on this day.
click images to enlarge
The Austrian controlled fortress of Mantua along the Mincio river was under siege by the French, and had been for a considerable amount of time. The Austrians attempted, and failed multiple times, to break the siege in order to rescue the Austrian forces defending the fort. In early January of 1797, General Alvinczi tried one last time to relieve the Austrian forces at Mantua and was met by a lone French division at Rivoli intent on stopping them.
Austrian General Alvintzi, commanding seven brigades and 35 guns, totaling approximately 28,000 soldiers, (Chandler 1993; Nafziger 1996;) attacked early on January 14. General Bonaparte’s initial defending force was General Joubert Division at approximately 10,000 soldiers (Nafziger 1996); however, reinforcements began to arrive to aid Joubert’s Division. At 5:00 am General Massena division arrived on the scene, bringing the total forces at Bonaparte’s disposal to 17,000 (Chandler 1993; Nafziger 1996), and later at 2 pm, General Rey’s division joined the battle, bringing the French total forces to about 24,000 soldiers and about 24 guns by the end of the battle (Chandler 1993; Nafziger 1996).
Although the Austrian attack started out well along the Trombalore Heights, the French were able to withstand the initial assault and repelled it. Bonaparte is credited with excellent situational awareness during the battle. Seeing an attack from the east by an Austrian column led by Quasdanovitch, General Bonaparte maneuvered French forces to attack the Austrians. In the ensuing battle, a lucky French artillery shot hit Austrian gunpowder wagons, causing them to explode, which resulted in chaos in the Austrian attack column. Taking advantage of the situation, Leclerc and Lasalle led a charge of 500 French soldiers against Quasdanovitch’s Austrian column and drove it away. With the eastern flank secure, Bonaparte was able to reinforce the French defenders along the Trombalore Heights and defeat the Austrians (Chandler 1993).
Here are some other sources to learn more about the battle.
- Good map of the overall campaign from the West Point Digital History Center
- YouTube video: Napoleon in Italy: Battle of Rivoli (5/5)
- If you read French, there is Rivoli 14-15 Janvier 1797 from the Quatre Batailles
- Napoleon in Italy 1976-1797 by Elijah Adlow
- Chandler, D. (1979). Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan.
- Nafziger, G. (1996). Order of battle
Interested in gaming the battle? Try one of these games –
- Bonaparte in the Quadrilateral, Operational Studies Group, (2022)
From the premier Napoleonic game designer Kevin Zucker, this game contains multiple battles including Rivoli. - Rivoli 1797, SIMTAC, (1997)
From a Spanish game publisher that is no longer active. - Rivoli 1797, Vae Victis (1998)
From the French wargames magazine Vae Victis. - Wargame Design Studio has the Battle of Rivoli included in their Campaign Marengo game.
Sources
Chandler, D. (1979). Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan.
Nafziger, G. (1996). Order of Battle
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