Ferrara. But always his eye was on the Brenner pass, waiting for the
Austrian offensive that was bound to come now that Moreau had failed so
dismally in Germany.
In November the Austrians began their campaign. Two armies
descended on Italy: one, 28,ooo strong, was commanded by Joseph
Alvinzi and advanced over the Venetian plain through Vicenza towards
Verona; the other, under Davidovitch, contained 18,ooo troops and
debouched in the Adige valley. The strategy was for Alvinzi's army to
feint towards Mantua while Davidovitch took Trent. Napoleon's
response was to attack Alvinzi while General Vaubois dealt with
Davidovitch. Unfortunately Vaubois was badly beaten outside Trent,
and was forced to retreat in confusion. Napoleon himself was forced out
of Verona and was now in great peril. His forces were dispersed, 14,000
men were on the sick list and he had only 10,000 effectives to meet
Alvinzi. If the Alvinzi and Davidovitch armies now combined, and
Wurmser sortied from Mantua to link with them, the French position
would be hopeless.
This was Napoleon's darkest hour in the entire Italian campaign. His
pleas to the Directory for reinforcements had produced just twelve
battalions. The War Ministry preferred to waste its resources on the
incompetent Moreau in Germany, whose failure had unleashed Alvinzi in
the first place. Morale was low in the Army of Italy, with a prevailing
feeling that, whatever efforts the men made and however many victories
they won, they would still be let down by the Army of the North, so that
more and more Austrian reinforcements poured in. It was in this
condition, outnumbered and demoralised, that Napoleon and his army
sustained a definite defeat at Alvinzi's hands on 12 November, at
Caldiero, outside Verona. Next day he wrote despondently to the
Directory:
Perhaps we are on the verge of losing Italy. None of the expected help
has arrived. I despair of being able to avoid raising the siege of Mantua,
which would have been ours within a week ... In a few days we will
make a last effort. If fortune smiles, Mantua will be taken and with it
Italy.Napoleon decided to concentrate on Alvinzi, before the Austrian finally
realized the obvious and coordinated effectively with Wurmser and
Davidovitch. He opted for a daring flank march to cross the Adige south
of Verona and strike Alvinzi in the rear. Unfortunately, he ran into a
strong Croat detachment defending the village and bridge of Arcole. The