Нови шайқасы: 1799 жылғы Коалиция соғысы

1799 Battle during the War of the Second Coalition
8,000
8,250
8,750
9,000

Novi was a strong defensive position situated on steep heights. An old fortress wall from the 15th century surrounded the city. This medieval wall served as a good defense for the French chasseurs. It was damaged in many places, there were breaks, but the French had barricaded all these breaches. In 1799, Russian and Austrian forces swept across the Po River valley, recapturing lands taken by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796. The French troops in Italy were badly defeated at the major battles of Magnano, Cassano and the Trebbia. Subsequently, French and Cisalpine Italian troops retreated into Genoa and the Ligurian Republic. A new French government placed Joubert in command of the reformed Army of Italy and ordered him to take the offensive. Accordingly, the French army moved north across the mountain crests and assembled on high ground at Novi Ligure on 14 August. To Joubert's dismay, it was clear that large Coalition forces were nearby. The next morning Paul Kray's Austrian corps assaulted the French left flank and the battle was on. After a delay, Suvorov committed a Russian corps to attack the center and Michael von Melas' Austrian corps to attack the French right flank. Kray's troops suffered heavy losses but by evening the French army was badly beaten and the French hold on the Italian Riviera was gravely weakened. Cavalry proved ineffective in such terrain and was hardly used by either the Allied or French sides. The Russo Austrians deployed it en masse only to pursue. However, the Coalition planners proceeded to throw away their advantage by sending Suvorov's Russians to Switzerland, a change of strategy that ended badly.

The 1799 campaign in Italy began with the Battle of Verona, a series of costly but indecisive clashes around Verona on 26 March. At the Battle of Magnano on 5 April, the Habsburg Austrian army of Paul Kray triumphed over the Republican French army of Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer. While suffering losses of 4,000 killed and wounded and 2,000 captured, Kray's Austrians inflicted casualties of 3,500 killed and wounded and captured 4,500 men, 18 artillery pieces and seven colors from the French. Two days later, a distraught Schérer begged to be relieved of command, but before that happens, he would be defeated again in the small battle with Alexander Suvorov at Lecco on 26 April. Michael von Melas arrived to take command of the Austrian army from Kray on 9 April. Hearing that 12,000 Austrians were approaching from the Tyrol to the north, Schérer abandoned the line of the Mincio River on 12 April. Leaving 12,000 troops in the fortress of Mantua and 1,600 more in Peschiera del Garda, the demoralized French commander ordered his crippled army to withdraw. As the soldiers fell back, the skies opened up and turned the retreat into a sodden nightmare. On 15 April 1799, the veteran Russian field marshal Alexander Suvorov formally took command of the combined Austro Russian army in Italy. On 27 April Suvorov defeated the French, now under Jean Victor Marie Moreau, at the Battle of Cassano, and then in the First Battle of Marengo (Battle of San Giuliano) on 16 May. At Cassano, the Allies suffered 2,000 casualties while the French sustained losses of 2,500 killed and wounded plus 5,000 soldiers, 27 guns and three colors captured; the next day a 3,000 man French division was trapped and surrendered at Verderio Superiore, however, the Russians subsequently lost the Battle of Bassignana on 12 May. After the battle of Cassano, the next major action was the Battle of the Trebbia from 17 to 20 June where Suvorov's 37,000 strong Austro Russian army (only up to 32,656 troops involved) mauled Jacques MacDonald's 33,000 man French army, which had earlier broken through Austrian positions in the Battle of Modena on 12 June. The Allies suffered 5,500 casualties at the Trebbia, while inflicting 16,500 on the French including the taking of 7,000 prisoners. On 20 June, just as the battle of the Trebbia ended, the Second Battle of Marengo (Battle of Cascina Grossa) took place, where the Austrians suffered a setback. Nevertheless, Coalition forces successfully besieged a number of key fortresses in the meantime. Peschiera fell on 6 May, Milan was captured on 24 May and Turin fell on 20 June after a nine day siege. Suvorov and his Austrian allies had evicted the French from almost all of Italy, while Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen beat André Masséna's French army at the First Battle of Zurich on 4–6 June. A day after defeating MacDonald along the Trebbia River, the Allies captured the 17th Light Demi Brigade, 1,099 men, six guns and three colors. On 22 June Suvorov halted pursuit by his army, exhausted by continuous marching and fighting. At first a division was allowed to follow the French, but this was soon reduced to an Austrian advanced guard under Johann von Klenau which went on to clear the Grand Duchy of Tuscany of enemy forces. On 20 June, Moreau and 14,000 French troops left the security of the mountains to defeat Count Heinrich von Bellegarde and 11,000 Austrians in the Second Battle of Marengo. Bellegarde withdrew to the west after suffering 2,260 casualties but Moreau soon scampered back to the safety of the Apennines after hearing news of the Trebbia. French casualties numbered 1,000 killed and wounded in this encounter. By 27 June, Suvorov moved his main army west to cover the sieges of Alessandria and Tortona while Kray was still reducing Mantua. Repeated military defeats shook the public's faith in the French Directory. The Coup of 30 Prairial VII occurred on 18 June which pushed Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Paul Barras into leading roles and elevated Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to the post of Minister of War. The Allies successfully wrapped up the siege of Alessandria on 21 July and the Siege of Mantua on 30 July. These important events released 30,000 Coalition troops for field operations. Suvorov placed Konrad Valentin von Kaim with 14,000 Austrians to guard the west of Piedmont and Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak with 11,000 more to observe the alpine passes into Switzerland to the north. Klenau with 5,000 troops at Sarzana was watching the southeast side of Genoa. Kray was ordered to join the main army as quickly as possible. The rest of Suvorov's army was deployed in the area of Alessandria and Tortona. In the meantime, Chasteler was seriously wounded by a canister shot on 17 July during the siege of Alessandria and replaced by another Austrian, Anton von Zach. Saint Cyr's wing moved north through the Bocchetta Pass and Gavi. At Serravalle Scrivia they besieged a castle held by four companies of Austrians. This position had been captured by Pyotr Bagration's 2,100 man Russian advance guard as recently as 9 August. Pérignon's wing had farther to march. This French column pushed some of Bellegarde's troops out of Terzo then swung east through Acqui Terme, Rivalta Bormida and Capriata d'Orba. Saint Cyr arrived alone at Novi Ligure on 13 August, but Suvorov declined to attack, hoping to lure the French into the plains where his superior cavalry and artillery might prove decisive. That same day contact was established with Pérignon's approaching troops. Kray's troops reached Alessandria on 12 June and Suvorov planned to launch them into an attack on Pérignon's wing early on the 14th. This proved to be impossible, but Kray managed to join Bellegarde's force and he promised to attack on 15 August. Meanwhile, the division of François Watrin moved down from the hills in the direction of Tortona, giving every indication that the French offensive was still in full swing. Joubert had hoped that he was facing only 8,000 enemies. But he was stunned to see that he was facing at least 36,000 enemies including Kray's corps in the plains below. Both Pérignon and Saint Cyr counseled retreat, but Joubert put off a final decision until the next day. Meanwhile, Suvorov assumed that the French army would soon descend into the plains. When the French came forward, Kray and 27,000 soldiers would cut into their left flank while Bagration's 5,700 man Russian advance guard would turn their right flank. With luck the two forces would link hands behind the French. Once the turning movements were well developed, Wilhelm Derfelden's 9,850 Russians and Melas' 8,800 Austrians would join the battle. Farther north, Johann Baptist Alcaini's 5,260 strong force besieged Tortona, covered by Andrei Grigorevich Rosenberg's 8,270 Russians.

Kray's corps was divided into two Austrian divisions under Bellegarde and Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz. The brigade commanders were Friedrich Joseph Anton von Bellegarde, Friedrich Heinrich von Gottesheim, Ferdinand Minckwitz and Alexander Friedrich von Seckendorff. Except for the last named, it is not clear in which division the brigadiers served. Ott's left division included three battalions each of the Deutschmeister Nr. 4, Terzy Nr. 16 and Mittrowsky Nr. 40 Infantry Regiments, two battalions of the Vukassovich Nr. 48 Infantry Regiment, one battalion of the Szluiner Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 4, and six squadrons of the Archduke John Dragoon Regiment Nr. 3. Ott commanded 9,979 infantry and 906 cavalry for a total of 10,885. Bellegarde's division consisted of three battalions each of the Sztáray Nr. 33 and Nádasdy Nr. 39 Infantry Regiments, two battalions each of the Huff Nr. 8, Kheul Nr. 10, Gyulai Nr. 32 and Lattermann Nr. 45 Infantry Regiments, six squadrons of the Kaiser Dragoon Regiment Nr. 1 and eight squadrons of the Archduke Joseph Hussar Regiment Nr. 2. This force numbered 11,796 foot and 1,724 horse or a strength of 13,520 troops. To Bellegarde's right was a screening force under Seckendorff which was made up of two battalions of the Oranien Nr. 15 Infantry Regiment, one battalion of the Szluiner Grenz and three squadrons of the Hussar Regiment Nr. 5. The screening force counted 2,491 infantry and 524 cavalry or a total of 3,015 soldiers. Kray wielded a total of 27,420 troops in his large corps. Derfelden's 15,552 man Russian corps was divided into a division under Derfelden himself, a second division led by Mikhail Miloradovich and an Advance Guard led by Bagration. The Advance Guard consisted of two battalions each of the Bagration and Miller Jäger Regiments, 1,189 foot, the Dendrygin, Lomonosov, Sanaev and Kalemin Combined Grenadier Battalions, 1,728 foot, the Denisov, Sychov, Grekov and Semernikov Cossack Regiments, 1,948 horse, and six squadrons of the Austrian Karaczay Dragoon Regiment Nr. 4, 840 horse. Altogether, the 5,705 man Advance Guard counted 2,917 infantry and 2,788 cavalry. Derfelden's 6,127 strong infantry division included two battalions each of the Schveikovsky, Förster, Tyrtov and Baranovsky Musketeer Regiments and two battalions of the Rosenberg Grenadier Regiment. Miloradovich's 3,720 man infantry division had two battalions each of the Jung Baden, Dalheim and Miloradovich Musketeer Regiments. The strength of Suvorov's Austro Russian army was 44,347 foot and 7,200 horse, a total of 51,547 soldiers, not counting gunners and sappers. Pérignon's wing consisted of the infantry divisions of Grouchy and Louis Lemoine plus a two brigade infantry reserve and Antoine Richepanse's cavalry reserve. All demi brigades had two battalions each except where otherwise noted. Grouchy's 5,620 man division had a first brigade under Charles Louis Dieudonné Grandjean made up of the 39th and 92nd Line Infantry Demi Brigades and one battalion of the 26th Light Infantry Demi Brigade. The second brigade of Henri François Marie Charpentier consisted of the 93rd and 99th Line Demi Brigades. Lemoine's 6,410 strong division included a first brigade under Louis Garreau with the 26th Line and 80th Line and one battalion of the 5th Light and a second brigade under Jean Mathieu Seras counting the 20th Light and 34th Line. The three squadron strong 1st Hussar Regiment was attached to Lemoine. The 4,875 man reserve included Bertrand Clausel's brigade with the 29th Light and 74th Line and Louis Partouneaux's brigade with the 105th Line and one battalion of the 26th Light. Richepanse commanded 1,002 sabers in the 2nd Chasseurs à Cheval, 12th Dragoon, and the 1st, 3rd and 18th Cavalry Regiments. Each regiment counted two squadrons. Saint Cyr's wing comprised the infantry divisions of Pierre Garnier de Laboissière, François Watrin and Jean Henri Dombrowski, a strong independent brigade under Louis Léonard Colli Ricci, plus infantry and cavalry reserves. Laboissière's division numbered between 3,645 and 3,976 men in six battalions and had the three squadron strong 6th Hussar Regiment attached. François Jean Baptiste Quesnel's brigade included the 17th Light and 63rd Line Demi Brigades while Gaspard Amédée Gardanne's brigade counted the 18th Light and 21st Line Demi Brigades. Watrin's division had between 4,535 and 6,040 soldiers in 10 battalions including the attached 25th Chasseurs à Cheval of two squadron strength. André Calvin's advanced guard counted the 8th, 15th and 27th Light and 2nd Line, Antoine Arnaud's brigade consisted of the 12th and 30th Light and vertical align=sup brigade had the 62nd and 78th Line. Dombrowski's division counted between 2,130 and 2,340 troops in seven battalions. Dombrowski's units were the 17th and 55th Line, the Polish Legion including a cavalry squadron and two battalions of the 1st (Italian) Cisalpine. Colli commanded from 3,878 to 4,260 men consisting of two battalions each of the 14th, 24th and 68th Line plus a battalion of Poles. The infantry reserve had 2,420 soldiers in four battalions of the 3rd and 106th Line. vertical align=sup cavalry reserve numbered 425 sabers in five squadrons of the 16th and 19th Dragoons and 19th Chasseurs à Cheval. Next in line was Watrin's division which was still deployed in the low ground to the east of Novi. Gardanne's brigade held Novi while the rest of Laboissière's division lined the heights behind the town. Farther to the left was Lemoine's division and then Grouchy's division on the far left. The left was braced by the reserves of Clausel, Partouneaux and Richepanse. In this phase of the battle Joubert was fatally hit while leading a counterattack by the 26th Light Demi Brigade. Despite mounting losses, the Austrian infantry bravely and repeatedly struggled forward in columns. As they reached the top of the slope and tried to redeploy into line, they were struck by French counterattacks and forced back. At last, Ott's columns were overthrown by the 26th Light and 105th Line and Kray's entire wing fell back to the bottom of the heights to reform. By 9:00 am Kray and his officers managed to reorganize their troops when an order arrived from Suvorov to renew the attack. Once more the Austrians attacked the heights and once more they were defeated with loss. While Clausel and Richepanse helped repulse Bellegarde's division, Partouneaux counterattacked Ott. Encouraged by his success, Partouneaux unwisely charged down into the plain where his troops were scattered by four squadrons of the Archduke Joseph Hussars and Kaiser Dragoons. Partouneaux was among those captured. After the repulse of his second attack, Kray massed a 40 gun battery with which he bombarded any French troops who dared to line the crest. But the Austrian general refused to launch more attacks until the rest of the army joined the fight. Suvorov had planned to encircle a French army in motion. The unexpected circumstances threw the Allied plan out of gear.

In due course, Derfelden's division arrived at the front and was hurled into a new attack near Novi. Kray's wing attacked once more and his attack stalled. Around 11:30 am Suvorov directed the Allied left wing under Melas to advance. However, Melas, shortly after Derfelden left, declined to attack Novi as ordered by Suvorov's sent adjutant Colonel Lavrov. Instead of a full fledged frontal attack on the right of the Novi position, he carefully reconnoitered the ground and also decided to head out east of this strong position—on the distant right flank. The Austrian sent Nobili's two battalions and two squadrons south along the east bank of the Scrivia River toward the Serravalle Castle to prevent any French threat from that direction. Nobili was aided by Lieutenant Colonel Dworschak and the garrison of Serravalle Castle, which made a sortie into the town. The remainder of the left wing, the main force, moved down the west bank of the river with Mittrowsky's brigade on the left and the grenadier battalions on the right, to help the Russians against Watrin as directed; Melas would instruct Lusignan's brigade to attack to the east of Novi in conjunction with Derfelden, while Loudon's brigade made a wider sweep eastwards toward the heights with Mittrowsky. Loudon and Mittrowsky headed that way due to pressure from the Austro Russian commander in chief, who directed them to be moved from the east bank, thus only Nobili's brigade remained there, going to Serravalle. At the same time Melas himself with Lusignan's brigade and Liechtenstein's cavalry joined the Russian left flank. As the French left started to pull back, the Allies closed in for the kill, unleashing their cavalry. Earlier, Bellegarde had posted a battalion and four squadrons near Pasturana on the far right. Now, as the French retreated they had to negotiate the streets of Pasturana, the Braghena Gorge immediately to the south and Bellegarde's small force. The entire French left wing had to squeeze through the blockage. The Russians took no prisoners, killing every Frenchman that they caught. If a French soldier survived as a prisoner, it was because he was taken by Kray's Austrians. In the melee Grouchy tried to rally his men but was cut down and captured. Pérignon was also taken prisoner after suffering three wounds including a deep saber cut above his left eye. Colli and at least 2,000 other French soldiers and 21 artillery pieces were captured, mostly in the bottleneck at Pasturana. As night fell, the French army streamed away and the exhausted Allies stopped. Near midnight, some of Gardanne's men were discovered hiding out in Novi and the Russians went through the town again. Having accomplished their purpose, they began looting and Suvorov ordered his drummers to beat assembly to stop the pillage. "What can you say of a general so resolute to a superhuman degree, and who would perish himself and let his army perish to the last man rather than retreat a single pace." Historian Digby Smith called Novi, "one of the bloodiest battles of the era" and the casualties bear this out. Smith claimed that the Allies sustained about 900 killed, 4,200 wounded and 1,400 captured or missing (6,500 totally), plus three guns. Russian generals Aleksey Gorchakov, Tyrtov and Chubarov were wounded. The French lost 1,500 killed, 5,500 wounded and 4,500 prisoners — 11,500 totally. The Allies also captured 37 guns, 40 munition wagons and eight colors. Statistician Gaston Bodart noticed 11,000 Frenchmen out of 35,000 and 9,000 allies out of 50,000. Gunther E. Rothenberg asserted that both sides lost 7,000 killed and wounded, while the Allies had 2,000 missing or prisoners and the French had 4,000 prisoners or missing plus 37 guns. According to Spencer C. Tucker, 11,000 were killed on the French side, and 9,000 on the Allied side. Micheal Clodfelter estimated Allied losses at 8,750, of which 6,050 Austrians were lost including captured, and the Russians lost 2,700 men. The French losses Clodfelter assessed at 9,663, of which 6,663 men were KIA and WIA, and about 3,000 were taken captive. 37 guns were lost. According to David Eggenberger, the Coalition lost 8,000 men in the attack, while the French lost 11,000. According to vertical align=sup, Coalition losses amounted to 8,000 men, and French casualties, including those soldiers who fled after the battle, totaled 16,000 and all the wagons. According to another version, — Orlov's, — together with the dispersed, the losses amounted to only 15,100, but it is based on the assumptions of some, as stated by the author; by the same estimate 6,500 were killed or wounded and 4,600 captured (11,100 totally). According to vertical align=sup, general irretrievable and sanitary losses of the French reached 20,000 soldiers and officers (also including the retreat that followed; i. e. those who deserted, stragglers, died under various circumstances, taken prisoner, battle wounded and sick who were hospitalized, etc.). Bagration was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky while Derfelden earned the Order of St. Andrew. On 25 August, Suvorov's hopes to conquer Liguria were dashed forever when fresh instructions from Emperor Francis reached him. A new strategy put forward by the British and approved by Czar Paul and the Austrians directed Suvorov to take command of a new Russian army assembling in Switzerland. This army would be formed by joining the Russian troops in Italy to another Russian army in Germany under Alexander Korsakov. The army was to invade France through the Jura Mountains. When Korsakov arrived in Switzerland, Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen immediately moved north into Germany with the main Austrian army. The strategy's timing failed. Charles left Switzerland too early and Suvorov reached Switzerland too late. André Masséna wrecked the Allied plan when he defeated Korsakov at the Second Battle of Zurich on 26 September 1799.