Battle of Castiglione

5 August 1796, approximately 10 hours. Battle of Castiglione. Under the command of Napoleon, Marmont brings artillery onto Mount Medolano while Augereau's division begins the attack in the central plain.

Date	5 August 1796
Location	Castiglione delle Stiviere, present-day Italy
Result	French victory

Belligerents

France

Austria

Commanders and leaders

Napoleon Bonaparte
Pierre Augereau
André Masséna

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser

Strength

Battle: 30,000

Battle: 25,000

Casualties and losses

Battle: 1,300

Battle: 3,000, 20 guns

The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of Habsburg Austria led by Feldmarschall Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated and driven back along a line of hills to the river crossing at Borghetto, where they retired beyond the Mincio River. The town of Castiglione delle Stiviere is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Lake Garda in northern Italy. This battle was one of four famous victories won by Bonaparte during the War of the First Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. The others were Bassano, Arcole, and Rivoli.

Castiglione was the first attempt by the Austrian army to break the French Siege of Mantua, which was the primary Austrian fortress in northern Italy. To achieve this goal, Wurmser planned to lead four converging columns against the French. It succeeded insofar as Bonaparte lifted the siege in order to have the manpower sufficient to meet the threat. But his skill and the speed of his troops' march allowed the French army commander to keep the Austrian columns separated and defeat each in detail over a period of about one week. Although the final flank attack was prematurely delivered, it nevertheless resulted in a victory.

See Castiglione 1796 Campaign Order of Battle for French and Austrian units and organizations.

After being defeated at the battles of Fombio, Lodi, and Borghetto by Bonaparte, the Austrian army under Feldzeugmeister Johann Peter Beaulieu left almost 14,000 soldiers in the fortress of Mantua and retreated north toward Trento. Mantua was one of four famous fortresses known as the Quadrilateral. The French army occupied the other three, Legnago, Verona and Peschiera.

...
Wikipedia