In short, Bonaparte's design was so to make use of the works of nature and of art as to prolong the conflict and increase the effectiveness of Masséna's small army. Thus it was that Bonaparte expected thirty thousand French to defeat sixty thousand Austrians. Thus it was that he expected the Army of Italy to hold out against overwhelming odds till he himself could strike the decisive blow.
Though from a strategical point of view the plan set forth in Bonaparte's instructions to Masséna possessed many advantages, yet it had one great defect. With the main bulk of Masséna's forces concentrated at Genoa, and with small detachments holding the line of the Apennines and Maritime Alps, it is evident that Melas could force his way across the mountains between Genoa and the Tenda Pass, and thus cut the communications of Masséna and enclose him in Genoa. It is evident, too, that Melas could surround Masséna and eventually force him to capitulate. The French might fight desperately and hold out for months; yet, in time, they would be compelled to yield. The histories of wars and of sieges show that, when a commander allows himself to be enclosed in a fortification, he is doomed to defeat in the end. "Great armies," says Von der Goltz, "which are shut up in a fortress after lost battles, are, as the history of investments from Alesia down to Metz proves, almost always lost." Again he says: "Among all the relations between fortress and field army, the latter must make it a supreme rule never to allow itself to be thrown into a fortress. Even to pass through it is dangerous, because the army may be kept prisoner there against its will. Fortresses protect the troops they contain, but, at the same time, anchor them to the spot. An army can easily be got behind fortifications, but only with difficulty back again into the open field, unless it be that strong help from without lends it a hand." When the commander of an army is hard pressed, and there is near at hand a strongly fortified place with outlying works of great strength, and provisions and water within, the temptation is great to seek security there. Second rate generals accept such opportunities, but in doing so they make fatal mistakes. The great masters of the art of war manœuvre for position, and become themselves the besiegers, or decide upon the open battle-field the fate of their fortresses and their armies.
During all Napoleon's military operations he never allowed himself to be besieged in any place. How, then, are we to reconcile this fact with the instructions that he sent to Masséna? Why should he order Masséna to take up a position which would allow his army to be besieged, and finally to be captured or destroyed? To answer satisfactorily these questions, it is necessary to consider the operations of Masséna in connection with the projected operations of Bonaparte. The Army of Italy was essentially a containing force. Its duty was to hold Melas in check for a time. How Masséna could best prolong the conflict was the problem that Bonaparte was solving. That the Army of Italy should finally be defeated was of small consequence; that it should not be defeated before Bonaparte had time to effect the destruction of Melas was of great consequence. If it could hold out till then, the victory of Bonaparte over Melas would render nugatory the triumph of Melas over Masséna. If it could hold out till then, the success of Melas at Genoa would avail him nothing; for it would be swallowed up by a greater success, which was destined to produce far greater results.
Bonaparte believed that Masséna was strong enough to hold Melas in check; and since every spare man was needed to strengthen Moreau's army and the Army of Reserve, he would not send any re-enforcements to the Army of Italy. Doubtless an ordinary general would have marched the entire Army of Reserve to the support of Masséna. What would have been the result? With only eighty thousand Frenchmen to oppose one hundred and twenty thousand Austrians, there would have been a long struggle in Italy. Guided by the genius of Bonaparte the French might have repeated the successes of 1796-97; but even had they done so, months of hard fighting would have been necessary in order to drive the Austrians out of northern Italy. In the Marengo campaign Bonaparte expected to accomplish as great results in less time. The struggle for the mastery was to take place, not along the Apennines, but in the valley of the Po. Thus it was that no re-enforcements were sent to Masséna, and that little or nothing was done to improve the condition of the Army of Italy. "It must be admitted," says Thiers, "that the army of Liguria[6] was treated a little as a sacrificed army. Not a man was sent to it. Materials of war only were supplied to it; and even under that head such only as were absolutely needful. It was in a different direction that the great efforts of the government were exerted, because it was in a different direction that the great blows were to be dealt. The army of Liguria was exposed to destruction in order to gain the time which should render the others victorious. Such is the hard necessity of war, which passes over the heads of these to strike the heads of those; obliging those to die that these may live and conquer."
It seems hard that Masséna's soldiers should have starved and died, and no help have been sent them. It seems hard that they should have struggled on, performing heroic deeds, with little or no hope of victory. But such is war; some must fail in order that others may triumph. In beleaguered Genoa, at the bridge of Arcole, amid the snows of Russia, men must die. But do they die in vain? Perhaps so: and yet, who shall say?
Victory was Bonaparte's object; and to obtain it, he would, if necessary, sacrifice the Army of Italy. He had an eye for great results. His glance penetrated the most complicated military problems. It was his merit that he knew how, with the forces at hand, to do great things. He did not fritter away his strength by sending useless detachments here and there. The four thousand men under Thurreau were a necessity in the Mont Cenis Pass; the Army of Italy, with Masséna at its head, was large enough, but not too large, to do the work expected of it; and the Army of Reserve, re-enforced by a corps of Moreau's army, was of sufficient strength to produce the desired effect at the vital point. Even Genoa, the Alps, and the Apennines were made to serve Bonaparte. Nature was his re-enforcement. Like a mighty tide he moved on, neither deterred by the sufferings of the Army of Italy, nor stopped by the great chain of the Alps.
He who would censure Bonaparte for not marching to the relief of Masséna must remember that such a course would have prolonged the struggle and ultimately would have led to a greater destruction of life. Yet humane considerations probably did not influence his decisions one iota. Let us not, then, attribute to him the virtues of a Lincoln; but let us set forth with fairness what he did and why he did it. We may not admire the man who can thus sacrifice an army to attain his ends; but we must admire the soldier who penetrates the future, who sees what to do and how to do it, who bends every energy to the accomplishment of the task, and with relentless purpose, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, marches on to victory.
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