Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire.
In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels.
After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
Ulm Campaign
The Ulm Campaign consisted of a series of French and Bavarian military maneuvers and battles to outflank and capture an Austrian army in 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. It took place in the vicinity of and inside the Swabian city of Ulm, the campaign is generally regarded as a strategic masterpiece and was influential in the development of the Schlieffen Plan in the late 19th century. The victory at Ulm did not end the war, since a large Russian army under Kutuzov was still near Vienna, the Russians withdrew to the northeast to await reinforcements and to link up with surviving Austrian units. The French followed and captured Vienna on 12 November, on 2 December the decisive French victory at Austerlitz removed Austria from the war. Europe had been by embroiled in the French Revolutionary Wars since 1792, after five years of war, the French Republic subdued the First Coalition in 1797. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798 but this too was defeated by 1801, Britain remained the only opponent for the new French Consulate.
In March 1802, France and Britain agreed to end hostilities under the Treaty of Amiens, for the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace. There were many problems between the two sides and implementing the agreements they had reached at Amiens seemed to be a growing challenge, Britain resented having to turn over all colonial conquests since 1793 and France was angry that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta. The tense situation only worsened when Napoleon sent a force to crush the Haitian Revolution. In May 1803, Britain declared war on France, in December 1804, an Anglo-Swedish agreement led to the creation of the Third Coalition. British Prime Minister William Pitt spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of activity to form a new coalition against France. Mutual suspicion between the British and the Russians eased in the face of several French political mistakes and by April 1805 the two had signed a treaty of alliance. Having been defeated twice in recent memory by France and keen on revenge, prior to the formation of the Third Coalition, Napoleon had assembled the Army of England, an invasion force meant to strike at the British Isles, around six camps at Boulogne in Northern France.
Although they never set foot on British soil, Napoleons troops received careful, although boredom quickly set in among the troops, Napoleon paid many visits to conduct lavish parades to maintain their morale. The men at Boulogne formed the core for what Napoleon would call La Grande Armée, by 1805, La Grande Armée had grown to a force of 350,000, was equipped and trained. It possessed a competent officer class where almost all from sergeants to marshals had experience in the recent Revolutionary Wars. Charles was Austrias best field commander, but he was unpopular with the court and lost much influence when, against his advice. The sudden change came with no corresponding officer training, new units were led by commanders who had not been given sufficient tactical training in using their units
Battle of Verona (1805)
The Battle of Verona was fought on 18 October 1805 between the French Army of Italy under the command of André Masséna and an Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. By the end of the day, Massena seized a bridgehead on the east bank of the Adige River, the action took place near the city of Verona in northern Italy during the War of the Third Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. In the fall of 1805, Emperor Napoleon I of France planned for his powerful Grande Armée to fall upon, the French emperor hoped to win the war in the Danube valley. To help accomplish this purpose, Napoleon wanted Masséna to hold Archduke Charles large army in Italy for as long as possible, in order for Masséna to grapple with his enemies, it was necessary to establish a bridgehead on the east bank of the Adige. During the battle, the French attacked across the river, cleared two suburbs, and seized some high ground on the opposite bank, the Austrians suffered considerably more casualties than the French in the encounter.
This clash set the stage for the subsequent Battle of Caldiero on 29 to 31 October, on 5 September 1805, Feldmarschall Archduke Charles, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Friedrich von Lindenau, and General-Major Anton Mayer von Heldensfeld drew up the final Austrian strategic plan. This strategy largely conformed to a plan worked out by Charles, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Mack von Leiberich. However, Mayer convinced Charles and Lindenau to transfer troops from Italy to Germany, the original plan put 120,000 troops in Italy,70,000 in Germany,25,000 in the Tyrol, and 20,000 for internal security. Mayers revision reduced the force in Italy to 90,000, Archduke Charles disagreed with Macks aggressive strategy. When Emperor Francis I asked his opinion, Charles wrote him that Mack was making a blunder by invading Bavaria. Nevertheless, the emperor allowed Mack to pursue his course of action, fearing the worst in Bavaria, Charles took up a defensive posture, even though he knew he outnumbered Masséna. The archduke posted Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hillers 22,000 troops in the Italian Tyrol, the archduke lined the east bank of the Adige from Verona to Legnago with 40,000 soldiers and he held a 30, 000-man central reserve at Caldiero.
Feldmarschall-Leutnant Eugène-Guillaume Argenteaus six divisions manned the line at Caldiero, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Paul Davidovich with two divisions defended the Adige near Legnago. At the beginning of August 1805, Napoleon gave up his plan for invading Great Britain across the English Channel, instead, he decided to move his army from the channel coast to south Germany to smash the Austrian army. He hoped to be at the Austrian capital of Vienna in November, with corps numbering I through VII, a cavalry corps, the Imperial Guard, and Bavarian allies, Napoleon committed 194,000 troops to the campaign in Germany. In training, personnel and organization, the Grande Armée was the finest body of troops that Napoleon would ever command, on 26 August, he gave the order to march and a month his troops were crossing the Rhine. Thanks to a spy network, Napoleon was aware that the Austrians deployed their largest army in Italy. The emperor desired that Archduke Charles army not be allowed to influence events in southern Germany, Masséna, whose army only counted 48,000 troops, first looked to his defenses
Battle of Castelfranco Veneto
In the Battle of Castelfranco Veneto, two divisions of the French Army of Italy confronted an Austrian brigade led by Prince Louis Victor de Rohan-Guéméné. The Austrians had made a march from deep in the Alps to the plains of northern Italy. But, caught between the divisions of Jean Reynier and Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Rohan surrendered his command after failing to fight his way out, the event occurred during the War of the Third Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Castelfranco Veneto is located 40 kilometres northwest of Venice, the Ulm Campaign of October 1805 resulted in an Austrian disaster when the Grande Armée of Napoleon enveloped and destroyed most of its units. Afterward, only Michael von Kienmayers fleeing corps and a newly arriving Russian army under Mikhail Kutuzov stood between Napoleon and the Austrian capital of Vienna. After hearing the news of Ulm, the army of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen began withdrawing from northern Italy. In the confusion, Rohans brigade became separated from Johns army, Rohan attempted to join part of Charles army.
Failing, he had his men south to link up with the Austrian garrison of Venice. After an epic march Rohans brigade was cornered short of Venice, the issue of the war would be determined at the Battle of Austerlitz in early December. One Austrian brigade led by General-major Prince Louis Victor de Rohan-Guéméné became separated from Archduke Johns army, hoping to join Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hillers wing of Archduke Charles army in Italy, Rohan looked to the south. Starting from Landeck in the County of Tyrol on 10 November, missing both Hiller and Charles, he determined to cut his way to Venice. Seizing Bolzano on 18 November, he marched his brigade south to Trento. From there, he turned east into the Val Sugana before swinging south into the Brenta River valley, where the Brenta leaves the mountains, the Austrians surprised and ejected the French garrison of Bassano on 22 November. Marching hard, the Austrians reached Castelfranco Veneto the next evening, on 24 November, Rohans epic march came to an end when his troops were trapped between the divisions of Generals of Division Jean Reynier and Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr.
After a struggle, the Austrian soldiers surrendered, reyniers division numbered 8,000 men in 11 battalions with 12 guns. His command consisted of the 1st Swiss Infantry Regiment and the 10th, 53rd, 56th, the strength and composition of Gouvion Saint-Cyrs division was not given. Rohans cavalry included eight squadrons of the Archduke Ferdinand Cuirassier Regiment Nr,4, and one squadron of the Hohenzollern Chevau-leger Regiment Nr.2 and a combined squadron. His infantry comprised four battalions of the Duka Infantry Regiment Nr,38, the 2nd and 4th Battalions of the Beaulieu Infantry Regiment Nr
Battle of Mileto
The Battle of Mileto was a battle of the War of the Third Coalition. It occurred on 28 May 1807 in Calabria during an attempt by the Bourbon Kingdom of Sicily to re-conquer its possessions in continental Italy, the battle ended in a victory for French forces under general Jean Reynier. From their Sicilian base, the Bourbons and the British attempted to foment a revolt against the new French-ruled Kingdom of Naples. These stirrings of revolt made life difficult for the French rulers and triggered a vicious crackdown, mainly led by captain Charles Antoine Manhès and it was Maria who chose Louis of Hesse-Philippsthal as commander of the Bourbon army. In 1806 Louis defended Gaeta against the French and in May 1807 landed in Calabria, intending to defeat the French once and he had around 3,500 men under his command, augmented by irregular troops from among the massisti, whilst his officers included colonel Vito Nunziante. For a year the French followed a policy of withdrawal in the face of the Bourbon advance.
Philippsthal and his army moved from Rosarno to Mileto on 26 May 1807.30 on 28 May on the hills of Nao and Pizzinni, which overlooked the town of Mileto. From here the battle shifted to the outskirts of the town of Mileto, the encounter was bloody and the Bourbon army was routed and pursued to Rosarno, Gioia Tauro and finally to the gates of Reggio Calabria. The two combatants totalled around 10,000, of whom a high percentage were killed. The sources state that the turned on a moment when the Bourbon cavalry charged but was repulsed by the French infantry. As they escaped, the irregulars looted their own Bourbon allies, the original Bourbon plan of reconquering Naples had not been implemented at the time of the battle. Varied political reasons meant that the plan did not become a reality, despite being a Bourbon defeat, it left behind so many mainland foci for anti-French resistance that Napoleon decided to abandon his plan to capture Sicily. Francesco Pititto, La battaglia di Mileto,28 maggio 1807, p.121, a.
Signoretta, Mileto,1917 The Battle of Mileto on www. prolocomileto. it
First French Empire
The First French Empire, Note 1 was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. Its name was a misnomer, as France already had colonies overseas and was short lived compared to the Colonial Empire, a series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. The plot included Bonapartes brother Lucien, serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred, Roger Ducos, another Director, on 9 November 1799 and the following day, troops led by Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump legislature to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the Consulate, he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of the Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X, the Battle of Marengo inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleons Moscow campaign.
Napoleon planned only to keep the Duchy of Milan for France, setting aside Austria, the Peace of Amiens, which cost him control of Egypt, was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the Piedmont and by acquiring Genoa, Parma and Naples, he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the Concordat of 1801 to control the material claims of the pope. Napoleon would have ruling elites from a fusion of the new bourgeoisie, on 12 May 1802, the French Tribunat voted unanimously, with exception of Carnot, in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France. This action was confirmed by the Corps Législatif, a general plebiscite followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay. On 2 August 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Consul for life, pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the Recess of 1803, which brought Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden to Frances side. The memories of imperial Rome were for a time, after Julius Caesar and Charlemagne.
The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, did little other than create a more unified Germany to threaten France. On the other hand, Napoleons creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the occupation of Ancona, to create satellite states, Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The Bonapartes began to marry into old European monarchies, gaining sovereignty over many nations, in addition to the vassal titles, Napoleons closest relatives were granted the title of French Prince and formed the Imperial House of France. Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power, Prussia had been offered the territory of Hanover to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal and this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. In this War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon destroyed the armies of Frederick William at Jena-Auerstedt, the Eylau and the Friedland against the Russians finally ruined Frederick the Greats formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at Tilsit.
The Treaties of Tilsit ended the war between Russia and the French Empire and began an alliance between the two empires that held power of much of the rest of Europe, the two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in Swabia, Germany. It was a Free Imperial City for over 500 years and it is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is a district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria with a population of 286,000 citizens, after Neuss and Trier, Augsburg is Germanys third oldest city, being founded by the Romans as Augusta Vindelicorum, named after the Roman emperor Augustus. Augsburg is the only German city with its own legal holiday and this gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany. Augsburg was the home of two families that rose to great prominence internationally, replacing the Medicis as Europes leading bankers, the Fugger. Augsburg lies at the convergence of the Alpine rivers Lech and Wertach, in the south extends the Lechfeld, an Outwash plain of the post ice age between the rivers Lech and Wertach, where rare primeval landscapes were preserved.
The Augsburg city forest and the Lech valley heaths today rank among the most species-rich middle European habitats, on Augsburg borders the nature park Augsburg Western Woods - a large forestland. The city itself is heavily greened, as a result, in 1997 Augsburg was the first German city to win the Europe-wide contest Entente Florale for Europes greenest and most livable city. Augsburg is surrounded by the counties Landkreis Augsburg in the west, the neighboring towns and cities are Friedberg, Königsbrunn, Neusäß, Rehling, Kissing, Merching, Gessertshausen und Diedorf. Augsburg has a continental climate. The city was founded in 15 BC by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, the name means Augusta of the Vindelici. This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia, Augsburg was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages. Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia, Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th century, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, but arose each time to greater prosperity.
Augsburg was granted the status of a Free Imperial City on March 9,1276 and from until 1803, it was independent of its former overlord, the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. Frictions between the city-state and the prince-bishops were to remain frequent however, particularly after Augsburg became Protestant and curtailed the rights, with a strategic location as intersection of trade routes to Italy, the Free Imperial City became a major trading center. Augsburg produced large quantities of goods and textiles. Augsburg became the base of two banking families that rose to prominence, the Fuggers and the Welsers
Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)
The fragile Peace of Amiens of 1802 had come to an end when Napoleon formally annexed the Italian state of Piedmont and on 18 May 1803 Britain was once again at war with France. Napoleon planned to end the British blockade by invading and conquering Britain, by 1805 his Armée dAngleterre was 150,000 strong and encamped at Boulogne. If this army could cross the English Channel, victory over the poorly trained and equipped militias was very likely. The plan was that the French navy would escape from the British blockades of Toulon and Brest and threaten to attack the West Indies, Villeneuve sailed from Toulon on 29 March 1805 with eleven ships of the line, six frigates and two brigs. He evaded Admiral Nelsons blockading fleet and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 8 April, at Cádiz he drove off the British blockading squadron and was joined by six Spanish ships of the line. The combined fleet sailed for the West Indies, reaching Martinique on 12 May, Nelson was kept in the Mediterranean by westerly winds and did not pass the Strait until 7 May 1805.
The British fleet of ten ships reached Antigua on 4 June, Villeneuve waited at Martinique for Admiral Ganteaumes Brest fleet to join him, but it remained blockaded in port and did not appear. Pleas from French army officers for Villeneuve to attack British colonies went unheeded — except for the recapture of the fort of Diamond Rock — until 4 June when he set out from Martinique. While in the Antilles, the Franco-Spanish fleet ran into a British convoy worth 5 million francs escorted by the frigate Barbadoes,28 guns, Villeneuve hoisted general chase and two French frigates with the Spanish ship Argonauta,80 guns, captured all the ships but one escort. On 30 June the combined squadron captured and burned an English 14-gun privateer, the privateer was burned and the merchant was taken in tow by the French frigate Sirène. The fleet sailed back to Europe, and on 9 July the French ship Indomptable lost its main spar in a gale that damaged some other vessels slightly, the Atlantic crossings had been very difficult according to Spanish Admiral Gravina who had crossed the Atlantic eleven times.
So with some ships in bad condition, tired crews and scarce victuals, news of the returning French fleet reached Vice Admiral Robert Calder on 19 July. He was ordered to lift his blockade of the ports of Rochefort and Ferrol, the fleets sighted each other at about 11,00 on 22 July. After several hours of manoeuvring to the south-west, the action began at about 17,15 as the British fleet, with Hero in the vanguard, in poor visibility, the battle became a confused melee. After a fierce engagement in which Malta suffered five killed and forty wounded the British ship battled it out, at about 20,00 Buller forced the Spanish 80-gun San Rafael to strike, and afterwards sent the Maltas boats to take possession of the Spanish 74-gun Firme. Calder signalled to break-off the action at 20,25, aiming to continue the battle the next day, in the failing light and general confusion some ships continued to fire for another hour. Daybreak on 23 July found the fleets 27 kilometres apart, accordingly, he declined to attack and headed northeast with his prizes.
Villeneuves report claims that at first he intended to attack, but in the very light breezes it took all day to come up to the British and he decided not to risk combat late in the day
Lieutenant field marshal
This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia. Lieutenant field marshal, frequently historically field marshal lieutenant, was an army rank in certain European armies of the 17th to 20th centuries. It emerged as the rank of field marshal came to be used for the highest army commander in the 17th century, in German-speaking countries the commander-in-chief usually appointed an under marshal or lieutenant field marshal to support and represent the field marshal. Amongst his functions as the deputy to the field marshal, were the supervision of supply depots and routes. The rank was used by the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire from the 17th century until 1806, on the re-introduction of the rank of field marshal, it fell back to third place in terms of seniority. u. k. Army was equivalent to the Generalleutnant of the Prussian Army, the normal assignment of a lieutenant field marshal was command of a division-sized formation. He was addressed by the title of excellency.
In Austria the rank continued to be used after 1918 by the commander-in-chief of the so-called Volkswehr until 1919, the Bundesheer of the First Republic adopted the designation and sequence of the German ranks in 1920. In 1933, following tradition, Austrian ranks and uniforms were reintroduced. These ranks remained in use until the Anschluss in 1938, the equivalent of lieutenant field marshal in the Hungarian Army was the rank of altábornagy. Today it is still in use as NATO OF-8, three-star rank corresponding to lieutenant general in English-speaking armed forces, georg von Alten, Handbuch für Heer und Flotte. Vol. III, Berlin,1911 Constantin von Wurzbach, Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Österreich,60 vols, Vienna, 1856-1891 Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie,56 vols. Munich-Leipzig, 1875-1912 Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, hitherto 12 volumes, neue Österreichische Biographie, hitherto 21 volumes, Vienna, 1935-1982 Felix Czeike, Historisches Lexikon Wien,5 vols. Vienna, 1992-1997 Antonio Schmidt-Brentano, Kaiserliche und k.
k, generale 1618-1815, Austrian State Archives Antonio Schmidt-Brentano, Die k. k. bzw. k. u. k. Generalität 1816-1918, Austrian State Archives Adjustierungsvorschrift für die k. u. k, die verbundenen Einrichtungen und das Corps der Militär-Beamten. Complete works Vienna/Bozen,1912 Ranks in the Austro-Hungarian Navy Rank insignias of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces
Battle of Mariazell
The Battle of Mariazell or Battle of Grossraming saw the advance guard of the French III Corps attack a retreating Austrian force led by Maximilian, Count of Merveldt. The advance guard, led by Étienne Heudelet de Bierre overwhelmed their demoralized enemies, marshal Louis Davout commanded the III Corps. The action occurred during the War of the Third Coalition, which is part of the Napoleonic Wars, Mariazell is located in the Austrian province of Styria, about 50 kilometres south of St. Pölten. The 1805 war began with the Ulm Campaign which was disastrous for Austria, with only the corps of Michael von Kienmayer and Franz Jellacic escaping envelopment by the Grande Armée of Napoleon. As Kienmayers columns fled to the east, they joined with elements of the Russian Empires army in a rear guard action at the Battle of Amstetten on 5 November, a few days later, Davouts III Corps caught up with Merveldts division at Mariazell. The Austrian soldiers, their morale shaken by continuous retreating, were routed after a brief struggle, on 12 November, Austrias capital Vienna fell to the French without a fight.
The outcome of the war would be decided by the Battle of Austerlitz in early December, new York, NY, William Morrow & Co
Battle of Caldiero (1805)
The Battle of Caldiero took place on October 30,1805, pitting the French Armée dItalie under Marshal André Masséna against an Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. The fighting took place at Caldiero,15 kilometres east of Verona, in the War of the Third Coalition, on 18 October, Masséna won a bridgehead on the east bank of the Adige River in the Battle of Verona. At dawn, the French launched their attack from Verona against Josef Philipp Vukassovichs division, after heavy fighting, the divisions of Guillaume Philibert Duhesme and Gaspard Amédée Gardanne cleared the town of San Giorgio and part of the heights of Veronetta. The French lost 77 dead and 246 wounded, while the Austrians suffered 246 killed and 906 wounded, Archduke Charles was so unhappy with Vukassovichs performance that he replaced him with Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg. The fighting on 29 October is considered by one historian to be part of the Battle of Caldiero, on that day, the divisions of Duhesme and Gardanne advanced on the left against Rosenberg, while Molitors and Louis Partouneauxs divisions moved forward against the town of Veronetta.
Seeing a mass of French troops approaching, the Austrians abandoned Veronetta, the French mauled Rosenbergs division and forced Johann Maria Philipp Frimont out of San Michele after street fighting. By the end of the day, Massénas troops closed up to the defense line of Archduke Charles. The French counted losses of 527 killed and wounded, plus 157 captured, Austrian casualties were heavier, numbering 1,926 killed and wounded, with 1,114 prisoners. Upon reconnoitering the Austrian position, Masséna drew up his plan, to the left Molitors division would deploy close to Ca dellAra and would set out to take the heights of Colognola. To the right, Duhesme would march on Gombione in order to fall upon Caldiero, Masséna was planning to wait for Verdiers flanking maneuver before committing to a frontal attack, but Archduke Charles took the initiative, attacking on both flanks of the French army. Taking with him the cavalry he had available, Simbschen made the first move against Molitor, descending the slope of the Colognola heights, on the other side of the battlefield, Nordmann moved forward too, following the river line of the Adige.
Molitor moved forward himself and his forces clashed with Simbschens, forcing the back up the slopes of the Colognola Alta. A second French assault would fail and the fighting would continue much of the day. In the centre, general Gardanne belatedly formed his men and painstakingly fought his way up towards Caldiero against a determined Bellegarde, Gardannes first attempt failed and he was forced to fall back on Rotta, where he was immediately reinforced by Partounneaux and dEspagne. With his force thus augmented, Gardanne moved forward again and this time the French managed to take the position of Caldiero. A furious Austrian counterattack regained the position only to see Gardanne receive further reinforcements, one of Duhesmes brigades, Bellegarde reformed his men for another counterattack, which he led in cooperation with Reuss-Plauens forces, which had just come up as reinforcements. The Austrians finally evacuated the position and the exhausted French drove them out, on the French right, general Duhesme moved early against the forces of prince Reuss-Plauen and moved his first brigade under François Goullus against the Austrians at Gombione.
However, Duhesme saw the situation on his rapidly deteriorating and was thus forced to send Mathieu Herbins brigade in support of Gardannes assault of Caldiero
First French Empire
Holy Roman Empire