Napoleon Wins Marengo: France Reclaims Italy

Napoleon Bonaparte came within hours of losing everything at Marengo. On June 14, 1800, Austrian General Michael von Melas attacked the French Army of the Reserve near the village of Marengo in northern Italy and drove it into a disorganized retreat by mid-afternoon. Napoleon had divided his forces and was badly outnumbered when the fighting began. By three o'clock, Melas believed the battle was won, handed field command to a subordinate, and retired to tend a minor wound. The reversal came from General Louis Desaix, who had been dispatched with a division to block Austrian escape routes south. Hearing the cannon fire, Desaix marched his men back toward the battle and arrived in late afternoon with roughly 5,000 fresh troops. His counterattack, supported by a cavalry charge led by General Francois Kellermann the younger, struck the advancing Austrian column and shattered it. Desaix was killed in the opening moments of his charge, reportedly telling an aide: "Go tell the First Consul I die regretting I have not done enough to be remembered by posterity." The Austrian army, which had been on the verge of a complete victory, collapsed into retreat. Melas, stunned by the reversal, signed an armistice the following day that surrendered most of northern Italy to France. The Convention of Alessandria gave Napoleon control of territory up to the Mincio River and forced Austria to withdraw its forces east. Marengo secured Napoleon's position as First Consul and proved that his military reputation from the Italian and Egyptian campaigns was no fluke. He later described it as the battle he loved most. Napoleon mythologized the victory extensively, commissioning paintings that depicted him calmly directing events rather than presiding over a near-catastrophe saved by a dead subordinate's initiative.