"This announcement of an obstacle, considered insurmountable at first, made a terrible impression on him; but he recovered quickly, and refused positively to admit the possibility of a retreat. Nothing in the world should reduce him to such an extremity. He thought that, if one of the loftiest mountains of the globe had failed to arrest his progress, a secondary rock could not be capable of vanquishing his courage and his genius. The fort, said he to himself, might be taken by bold courage; if it could not be taken, it still could be turned. Besides, if the infantry and cavalry could pass it, with but a few four-pounders, they could then proceed to Ivrea at the mouth of the gorge, and wait until their heavy guns could follow them. And if the heavy guns could not pass the obstacle which had arisen, and if, in order to get any, those of the enemy had to be taken, the French infantry were brave and numerous enough to assail the Austrians and take their cannon.
"Moreover, he studied his maps again and again, questioned a number of Italian officers, and learning from them that many other roads led from Aosta to the neighboring valleys, he wrote letter after letter to Berthier, forbidding him to stop the progress of the army, and pointing out to him with wonderful precision what reconnoissances should be made around the fort of Bard."
Having sent these instructions to Berthier and having seen the last division well on its way, the First Consul hurried across the Alps towards Fort Bard. Meanwhile a foot-path, leading along the mountain side around the fort, was discovered by Lannes. By a few repairs the path was soon rendered passable for the men and horses, but not for the artillery. How to get the cannon past the fort was the question. Finally, the following method was adopted. During a dark night the road in front of the fort was strewn with manure and straw, and, to deaden the sound of the artillery wheels, they were wrapped with tow and straw; then the soldiers themselves quietly hauled the guns past the fort. The stratagem succeeded; all the artillery was thus transported. In this way the Army of Reserve surmounted this obstacle, which for a time gave Bonaparte greater anxiety than the passage of the Great St. Bernard itself.
At this time the lower valley of the Aosta was guarded by three thousand Austrians under General Haddick. On the 20th of May Lannes arrived at Ivrea, which was occupied by the enemy. He attacked the Austrian garrison there, defeated it, and captured the place. Thence, continuing his march towards Chivasso, he again attacked the Austrians on the Chiusella, defeated them, drove them from position to position, and finally, having forced them back towards Turin, captured Chivasso. Meanwhile Bonaparte, having left Chabran's corps to blockade Fort Bard, followed Lannes with the remainder of the army.
During these operations, General Thurreau descended the Mont Cenis Pass and attacked General Kaim, who, with five thousand men, was at Susa guarding the Mont Cenis route into Italy. Before the spirited attacks of Thurreau, Kaim was obliged to abandon Susa and fall back to Busseleno on the road to Turin.
On the 27th of May Bonaparte with the greater part of the Army of Reserve was near Chivasso, Thurreau was at Susa, a French detachment, under Bethencourt, was descending the Simplon Pass, and Moncey's corps was struggling heroically towards Milan over the St. Gothard. Thus far the plans of the First Consul had been successful. He had crossed the Alps, forced his way past Fort Bard, and driven the enemy out of the valley of the Aosta. Now, the thunder of his cannon could be heard on the plains of Piedmont. But what of the Austrians! Where were they? Where was Melas?
Still incredulous as to the existence of an army of reserve, Melas was bending every energy to capture Genoa and to force the crossings of the Var. In the engagements and battles with Masséna and Suchet, the army of Melas, which originally numbered one hundred and twenty thousand, had been reduced to one hundred thousand men. These troops were greatly scattered. On the 13th of May they were thus stationed: thirty thousand under General Ott were besieging Genoa; twenty-five thousand under General Elsnitz were fighting Suchet along the Var; ten thousand under General Vukassovich were watching the Italian entrances of the St. Gothard and Simplon passes; three thousand, commanded by General Haddick, were in the lower valley of the Aosta, watching the St. Bernard passes; five thousand, commanded by General Kaim, were occupying Susa at the foot of the Mont Cenis Pass; and two thousand were scattered along the Maritime Alps near the Tenda Pass. In addition, six thousand were on their way from Tuscany to re-enforce Melas; three thousand remained in Tuscany, and sixteen thousand more occupied Alessandria, the fortresses of Tortona and Mantua, and various other garrisons of northern Italy.
Such was the situation of the Austrians when, on the 21st of May, Melas received information of the passage of French troops over the Great St. Bernard. Immediately he collected ten thousand soldiers from the Austrian forces in front of Suchet and in the vicinity of the Tenda Pass, and marched on Turin. At first, he believed that the French troops appearing in Italy were merely a detachment sent thither to harass his rear; but at Coni, where he arrived on the 22d of May, he learned to a certainty that Bonaparte himself was in Italy; that the French soldiers were already issuing into the plains of Piedmont; and that the First Consul had with him both cannon and cavalry. Melas was surprised. He knew not what to do. Having been repeatedly informed by his own spies, and even by the Aulic Council, that the Army of Reserve was a mere fiction, he could now hardly bring himself to believe that it was a reality. It might, after all, be but a large detachment; for how could Bonaparte cross the Alps with an army? How could he pass Fort Bard with cannon and cavalry? It must be remembered, too, that at this time Melas had not learned that Moncey was marching on Milan. As yet, therefore, he was not completely undeceived. He knew that a French force was at the foot of the Mont Cenis Pass, and that French troops were issuing from the valley of the Aosta into the plains of Piedmont; but he did not know the number of the French forces nor did he know the intentions of Bonaparte. Consequently he delayed issuing the orders for the concentration of his scattered troops.
Having reached Turin with ten thousand men, Melas was joined by General Haddick's command, which had been driven from the valley of the Aosta by Lannes, and by General Kaim's division, which had been driven from Susa by Thurreau. But this junction gave Melas only sixteen or seventeen thousand Austrians to oppose the thirty-five thousand French near Chivasso under Bonaparte.
At this time Melas expected the French to cross the Po and attack him near Turin; but such was not the intention of Bonaparte. In order to deceive Melas, the First Consul ordered Lannes to make preparations as if the French intended to cross the Po at Chivasso, then to march rapidly down the river, through Crescentino and Candia, on Pavia. At the same time Bonaparte himself, with the corps of Victor, Duhesme, and Murat, set out for Milan by way of Vercelli and Novara. On the 31st of May Bonaparte arrived at the Ticino River. To oppose the passage of the French, Vukassovich had collected a considerable force on the east bank. Bonaparte crossed the river, attacked and defeated the Austrians, thence, continuing his march eastward, entered Milan on the 2d of June. Vukassovich, having left a garrison in the castle of Milan, fell back behind the Adda. At Milan Bonaparte delayed several days to await the arrival of Moncey's corps, the advance guard of which was just beginning to appear in Italy. During the delay Bonaparte directed a part of his forces on Brescia, Lodi, and Cremona. As a result of these movements, Vukassovich retired behind the Mincio and sought safety under the guns of Mantua. Bonaparte also directed Murat on Placentia in order to seize the crossings of the Po there.