The Campaign of Marengo, With Comments

by Herbert H. Sargent

For several days Melas hesitated whether he should cross the Bormida and attack the French. Owing, however, to the fact that he did not decide until the 13th of June to attack Bonaparte, he neglected to occupy Marengo. This neglect permitted Victor to occupy the village, and aided him materially in resisting the attacks of the Austrians on the next day. Yet, on the whole, this blunder of Melas proved to be more advantageous to the Austrians than to the French; for it led Bonaparte to believe that Melas had no intention of crossing the Bormida and of attacking the French in the plain of Marengo.

In sending two thousand five hundred cavalry to Acqui to watch Suchet, Melas committed an error that probably lost him the battle. There was little or no excuse for this error; for Suchet was so far away that he could not possibly arrive at Marengo in time to take part in the battle. Had Melas kept this cavalry force on the battle-field, and thrown it vigorously against the French as they fell back towards San Giuliano, he would undoubtedly have won the battle. It was the failure of the Austrians to pursue the French promptly that enabled Bonaparte to rally the scattered remnants of his defeated forces near San Giuliano. Says Colonel Hart:—

"When a great battle is imminent, it is unwise for a commander to detach any part of the force available, unless he is very confident of victory. There are many examples in history of misfortune, or misfortune narrowly escaped, in consequence of doing so. Melas would, in all probability, have made perfectly certain of the victory at Marengo, if he had not unnecessarily detached 2500 cavalry to arrest the march of Suchet, who was at too great a distance to be taken into consideration. Napoleon himself at Marengo, although ultimately victorious, was as nearly as possible defeated because he detached Desaix to reconnoitre towards Rivalta; indeed, he was at first defeated, but the return of Desaix restored the battle."

It is here worthy of notice that while Melas was sending away this detachment of two thousand five hundred men, Bonaparte was making every effort to hasten the return of the six thousand men under Desaix.

At the sound of the first cannon-shot at Marengo, Desaix faced about his command and hurried forward to aid Bonaparte. It was fortunate that the First Consul had Desaix for a lieutenant at Marengo. Had Grouchy marched to the sound of the cannon at Waterloo, and supported his chief as loyally as did Desaix at Marengo, Napoleon might never have fallen.

If Suchet, who was at Acqui with the remnants of the Army of Italy, numbering about twenty thousand men, had pushed on vigorously towards Marengo, and had arrived there on the morning of the 14th of June, the battle would have been decided in favor of the French early in the day. Such a movement would have given Bonaparte an overwhelming superiority in numbers, and would probably have resulted in the destruction or capture of the whole army of Melas.

That Suchet did not take this course was due to several causes. The soldiers of the Army of Italy had just finished a great fight. They had already performed heroically their part in the great struggle. Many of them, too, having starved and suffered at Genoa, had become so emaciated that they could hardly bear the weight of their equipments. Moreover, Suchet, who was still acting under the orders of Masséna, had been cautioned not to peril his army by advancing too far. Inasmuch as Bonaparte had been more than twenty days in Italy, and had not yet destroyed Melas, Masséna was somewhat doubtful of the outcome. Consequently he wished to hold the Army of Italy well in hand, so that, in case Bonaparte should be defeated, it could fall back to the Var, and, being there re-enforced from the departments of southern France, make another effort to save France from invasion.

On the morning of the 14th of June the forces of Melas concentrated at Alessandria numbered thirty-two thousand men. He held the two bridges spanning the Bormida, and the bridge-head on the right bank. On the opposite side of the river the French forces available for battle numbered twenty-two thousand men. In addition, Desaix's division, if it could be recalled in time, would increase the French forces to twenty-eight thousand. Early in the day Melas had despatched two thousand five hundred men of his reserve cavalry on Acqui. It will thus be seen that the opposing forces at Marengo were about equal in strength: the Austrians numbered twenty-nine thousand five hundred men; the French, twenty-eight thousand. But at the outset the advantages were greatly in favor of Melas. He outnumbered Bonaparte in both cavalry and artillery, and the plain of Marengo was especially favorable to these arms. His forces were united; the French were scattered. Desaix's division was marching on Novi; and the remainder of Bonaparte's forces extended over a distance of ten miles from Marengo to and even beyond the Scrivia. Moreover, Bonaparte was not expecting a battle. Thus it happened that when the Austrians crossed the Bormida, the French were surprised and outnumbered. At first Victor bore the brunt of the fight; then he and Lannes were attacked by nearly the whole Austrian army. By the time Bonaparte arrived on the field with the Consular Guard, the reserve cavalry, and Monnier's division, Victor was crushed and Lannes badly shattered. It was then too late for the re-enforcement under Bonaparte to turn the tide of battle. That too was soon overwhelmed. In short, Melas defeated the French forces in detail. During that morning he was always stronger than his adversary at the decisive points.

In the afternoon all was changed. The Austrians were scattered; they stretched from Marengo to San Giuliano. Moreover, they were marching carelessly and had no expectation that Bonaparte would attack them. Meanwhile, Desaix had returned, and Bonaparte's forces had rallied behind the hillocks near San Giuliano. In a short time Bonaparte overthrew the advance under Zach, then proceeding westward, gathering momentum and strength as a result of his first success, he outnumbered and crushed in succession the several Austrian organizations. Thus the Austrians were defeated in detail in the afternoon as the French had been defeated in the morning. Here again is seen the necessity of outnumbering an enemy at the vital point of the battle-field. Courage and heroism on the field of battle are of little avail, unless a commander concentrates his forces and outnumbers his adversary at the decisive point. The brain of the commanding general is the birthplace of victory.

In this battle the genius of Bonaparte is seen, not in the knowledge he displayed of his adversary's doings, for Bonaparte was completely surprised at Marengo; not in the arrangement of his forces, for that could hardly have been worse; not in any deeds of surpassing courage, for no one could excel the heroism of Lannes on that battle-field; but in his complete mastery of the situation,—in the fact that, amidst turmoil, ruin, and death, he saw just when and where and how the blow should be struck to change disaster into victory. This was the merit of Bonaparte at Marengo. On that field he was a great tactical captain. While the storm of battle was at its height, and the dying and the dead were around him, he was cool, clear-headed, and vigilant. While disaster was staring him in the face, he saw the vulnerable spot in the formation of his adversary's forces, and by massing troops there, crushed and overwhelmed them.