Battle of Rovereto

Battle of Rovereto
Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the First Coalition
Battle of Rovereto
Date 4 September 1796 Location Rovereto, present-day Italy 45°53′00″N 11°03′00″E / 45.8833°N 11.0500°E / 45.8833; 11.0500 Result French victory
Belligerents
First French Republic	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon Bonaparte André Masséna Claude-Victor Perrin	Paul Davidovich
Strength
20,000[1]	20,000[1]
Casualties and losses
750[1]	6,000 killed or wounded, 4,000 prisoners, 25 guns, 7 colours[1]
class=notpageimage| Location within Northern Italy Show map of Northern Italy Battle of Rovereto (Europe) Show map of Europe

War of the First Coalition:
Italian Campaign

100km
62miles

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

Lodi

4

3

2

1

  

  current battle

  Napoleon as subordinate

  Napoleon in command

In the Battle of Rovereto (also Battle of Roveredo) on 4 September 1796 a French army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Austrian corps led by Paul Davidovich during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought near the town of Rovereto, in the upper Adige River valley in northern Italy.

The action was fought during the second relief of the siege of Mantua. The Austrians left Davidovich's corps in the upper Adige valley while transferring two divisions to Bassano del Grappa by marching east, then south down the Brenta River valley. The Austrian army commander Dagobert von Würmser planned to march south-west from Bassano to Mantua, completing the clockwise manoeuvre. Meanwhile, Davidovich would threaten a descent from the north to distract the French.

Bonaparte's next move did not conform to the Austrians' expectations. The French commander advanced north with three divisions, a force that greatly outnumbered Davidovich. The French steadily pressed back the Austrian defenders all day and routed them in the afternoon. Davidovich retreated well to the north. This success allowed Bonaparte to follow Würmser down the Brenta valley to Bassano and, ultimately, trap him inside the walls of Mantua.