Battle of Loano

The battles of Loano is a battle of the wars of the French revolution, and a victory of the French forces of Masséna over the Austrians of Wallis and Argenteau.

Countryside preceding the battle

The Armée with Italy ordered by Schérer prepared to finish the countryside of 1795 by fighting a decisive battle. The center of this army, with the orders of Masséna, was formed by two divisions of the old army of Italy; the third division of the same army formed the left wing that the general Sérurier ordered; the line, under Augereau, was composed of divisions recently arrived of the the Pyrenees with Schérer.

Another division, remained with the Col of Tightens, covered Saorgio. All this army hardly rose with 40 000 men lacking bread, clothing and ammunition, its communications with Genoa being stopped by the English fleet. The army austro-Sardinian was strong of 53 000 men with the orders of Wallis and Argenteau. It was pressed on the left on the sea with Loano and leant on the right with the Piedmont on the places of Ceva, Coni and Mondovi.

This position was composed of stations impregnable, related the ones to the others by cuttings off, and defended per hundred pieces of artillery. Schérer arriving in a country which was unknown, was enough modest for him to defy itself and liberally offered to worthiest of its generals the direction of the plans of attack. The Masséna, proclaimed most skilful by his/her colleagues, was charged with it and occupied itself some at once.

The November 17th, the general Charlet attacked the Austro-Sardinians with Campo di Pietri, collapsed them, destroyed their cuttings off and took three parts of gun and 500 prisoners, but a thick fog having forced Masséna to give up the attack which it projected on the line, it solved to operate on the center, to seize his positions, to exceed them and to take of them others behind of his line. Masséna was given the responsability to carry out itself this bold plan.

Course of the battle

The French intended to form three attacks, false and two serious. Augereau, with the right wing, was to seek to overflow the left of the enemy; Sérurier, with the left wing, was charged to hold in failure the enemy whom it had in presence; Masséna left the November 22nd at the night falling with two divisions to tackle the center. At the point of the day, it made short a harangue with its troops them to tell that the victory was in their bayonets, then the attack started at once.

Masséna seized with the step race all the positions until Bardineto. There, the Autrichien S opposed sharp and long resistance. Masséna, being indignant at this waste of time, made approach its reserve and the combat started again with fury. The Charlet general, precipitating the first in the cuttings off, fell struck there from a mortal blow. Its death excited the rage of the soldiers, who, the tight rows and the bayonet ahead, ruèrent themselves in compact mass on the enemies and reflect them in a complete rout.

During this time, Augereau successfully attacked the left wing since Loano until the heights occupied by Argenteau. All the positions were successively carried. The nipple, known as the Large Castellaro, defended by the general Milan board Roccavina with 1200 men, opposed more resistance.

Augereau summoned Roccavina to low put the weapons. This one agree to leave fears it with weapons and luggage. Augereau rejected this offer with scorn and gave him ten minutes to go to discretion. “Ten minutes, the Milanese answered, one will not have any to me so much to pass by there” and it showed the Victor brigade deployed in front of him. It was believed initially that it was a bravado; but Roccavina, given to succumb with glory, left its fears, fell into furious on the 117 {{E}} and 118 {{E}} half-brigades, collapsed them, and in spite of the fire of the remainder of the brigade, managed to carry out its retirement, with the great republican astonishment of the S which its resolution penetrated of admiration.

However, the Austro-Sardinians had joined on the Mont Carmelo to tear off the victory with an enemy whom they believed exhausted by ten hours of combat. Schérer, guessing their project, advanced against them with its line, but dubious from what had occurred in the center with Masséna, fears all to compromise; he hesitated. A message of Masséna reassured it; it continued its movement; but suddenly, a wet fog, accompanied by hail and eddies of snow hid light of day and put an end to the continuation. Whole rows were reversed by the gusts of the storm, and one counted on the battle field of dead and the casualties that the hand of the men had not struck. The Austrians benefitted from darkness to flee, giving up tents, artillery and boxes. Augereau continued them with its light troops; Masséna, which had gone in spite of the storm, had made occupy by Joubert the processions of Saint-Jacob; it remained with the Austrians only the paths of the mountains and the Vallée of Bormida.

It was then the turn of the general Sérurier who, during the days of the 23 and the 24, had restricted himself to contain the right wing austro-Sardinian. It consequently carried out on the Piedmontese army an impetuous attack, beat it completely, removed all its artillery to him and the constrained one to meet in the fortified camp from Ceva to the remains of Argenteau.

Such was this battle, whose entire success was due to the provisions and the audacity of Masséna. The victory of Loano delivered to the French immense provisioning and opened the doors of the Italic Peninsula to them.

Random links: