The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1799 with the French fighting the forces of the Second Coalition. Napoleon Bonaparte had returned from Egypt and taken control of the French government. He prepared a new campaign, sending Moreau to the Rhine frontier and personally going to take command in the Alps, where French forces had been driven almost out of Italy in 1799.

Italy

Napoleon organized a new army and marched through Switzerland into northern Italy, entering Milan in May. Meanwhile, though, Genoa surrendered to the Austrians on June 4. Austrian general Melas had advanced past Nice toward Provence, but, finding Napoleon in between his headquarters in Turin and his supply lines to Austria, he moved rapidly to meet Napoleon, taking him by surprise at Marengo on June 14. Napoleon was nearly defeated in a tough battle in the morning and early afternoon, but Melas, thinking he had already won, allowed his army to grow overextended, and Napoleon called in reinforcements to rout Melas in the evening.

Napoleon returned to Paris after the victory, leaving Brune to consolidate in Italy and begin a march toward Austria.

Germany

In May and June, Moreau invaded across the Rhine, converging on Bavaria. A long armistice followed, but when the armistice ended, Moreau defeated the Austrians overwhelmingly in the Battle of Hohenlinden on December 3. Moreau began a march on Vienna, and the Austrians soon sued for peace, ending the war on the continent.

Egypt

Meanwhile, Kléber remained trapped in Egypt by the British fleet. He negotiated the Convention of El-Arish with Britain and Turkey to allow him to evacuate by sea, but Britain later repudiated the agreement. Kléber won a battle against the Turks at Heliopolis in March, but was assassinated later in June.

Sources

• History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814, by François Mignet (1824), as made available by Project Gutenberg (out-of-copyright)
• Dupuy, Trevor N. and Dupuy, R. Ernest, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History, HarperCollins, ISBN 0062700561
• Various Wikipedia articles

See also:

• French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1799
• French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1801

External links

• Gaspar Cugnac, Campaign of the Army of the Reserve in 1800
• Alex. Berthier, Relation of the Battle of Marengo