Napoleon set off in search of Melas, but the Austrians proved elusive.
Lannes and Victor engaged and defeated the Austrian vanguard at
Montebello on 9 June, but immediately afterwards Melas vanished once
more. Napoleon was desperate to intercept Melas before he returned to
the fortified safety of Genoa, but in order to find him he took the nearly
fatal decision to split up his force and send out separate detachments.
The only favourable development was the arrival of his strong right arm
Desaix on II June.
It was now that Napoleon made the final mistake in a blunder-strewn
campaign. Convinced that Melas would never stand and fight but would
retreat all the way back to Genoa, he sent out two strong divisions under
Desaix and Lapoype to find the elusive Austrians. But Melas meanwhile,
convinced that there was no future if he allowed himself to be bottled up
in Genoa, decided to turn and attack his pursuer. On 14 June, after
concentrating his army on the Bormida he found Napoleon's main force,
now heavily outnumbered, and launched an attack notable for its
aggression. Around the farmhouse at Marengo - one of the many farms at
which Napoleon was destined to fight - Napoleon with 24,000 men faced
an Austrian army greatly superior in numbers and overwhelmingly
superior in cannon. At first Napoleon suspected a feint, but when the
truth of the situation dawned, and he saw himself in imminent danger of
defeat, he sent out frantic messages to recall Desaix and Lapoype. It was
fortunate indeed that Desaix had been held up by a swollen river, for the
courier found him at I p.m.; Lapoype, however, had already ranged
farther afield, was not contacted until 6 p.m. and therefore took no part in
the battle.
Despite heroic efforts as the battle swirled around Marengo, especially
by the eight hundred Consular Guardsmen, by early afternoon the
French were in full retreat. By 3 p.m. Napoleon's was a parlous position:
he had committed every single man to the struggle but had still been
forced back to the village of San Guiliano. The fighting withdrawal,
carried out while the Austrians reformed for pursuit, was a classic of the
trading-space-for-time variety. At 3 p.m. Desaix galloped up to announce
that his division was close at hand. Napoleon counterattacked an hour
later. He sent in a cavalry charge scheduled to coincide with an exploding
ammunition wagon, which was a masterpiece of timing and succeeded
perfectly. The Austrian right was routed, and the French surged forward
to victory. At the very moment of victory, at 9 p.m. after twelve hours
continuous fighting, Desaix, the hero of the hour, was mortally wounded
in the chest. The usually cynical Napoleon mourned his friend deeply.
He wrote to his fellow consuls: 'I cannot tell you more about it: I am
marcin
(Marcin)
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