The camp was yielded on the same day before the terrific charge of General Dubois and his hussars. The latter, though mortally wounded, cheered his men on with his dying words, and as he fell pressing the hand of the general-in-chief, said: "Let me hear the shout of victory for the Republic before I die." These words fired his troops with deep ardor, and they drove the Austrians through the town and carried the frowning heights of the castle at the point of the bayonet, as they had carried the batteries of Lodi. The French pursued the fleeing Austrians throughout the night and Wurmser was cut off from the Tyrol.
Scarcely had the Austrian commander recovered from his surprise at hearing of the overthrow of his lieutenant at Roveredo before Napoleon, by a march of sixty miles in two days, descended in front of his vanguard at Primolano and cut it to pieces, taking four thousand prisoners. The same night Napoleon's army advanced on Bassano where on Sept. 8 Wurmser made his last stand with the main body of his army.
While Augereau penetrated the town on his left, Massena entered it on his right, seizing the cannon that defended the bridge on the Bretna and overthrowing the old grenadiers who attempted to cover the retreat of their general. Five thousand prisoners, five standards, thirty-five pieces of cannon with their caissons fell into the hands of the French, and Wurmser himself narrowly escaped being taken. Lannes seized one of the standards with his own hands; and, in consequence, Bonaparte demanded for him the rank of general of brigade. "He was," he said, "the first who put the enemy to rout at Dego, who passed the Po at Plaisance, the Adda at Lodi, and the first to enter Bassano."
The number of the dead near the latter place was considerable. Curious to ascertain the loss of the enemy, Bonaparte in the evening rode over the field with his staff, when his notice was attracted by the howlings of a dog that seemed to increase as they approached the spot whence the yells proceeded. "Amidst the deep silence of a beautiful moon-light night," said Napoleon some years later, "a dog, leaping suddenly from beneath the clothes of his dead master, rushed upon us, and then immediately returned to his hiding-place, howling piteously. He alternately licked his master's hand, and ran toward us, as if at once soliciting aid and seeking revenge. Whether, owing to my own particular turn of mind at the moment, the time, the place, or the action itself, I know not, but, certainly, no incident, on any field of battle, ever produced so deep an impression on me. I involuntarily stopped to contemplate the scene. This man, thought I, has friends in the camp, or in his company, and here he lies forsaken by all except his dog. What a lesson Nature presents here, through the medium of an animal. What a strange being is man! And how mysterious are his impressions! I had, without emotion, ordered battles which were to decide the fate of the army; I beheld, with tearless eyes, the execution of those operations by which numbers of my countrymen were sacrificed; and here my feelings were roused by the howlings of a dog! Certainly, at that moment, I should have been easily moved by a suppliant enemy. I could very well imagine Achilles surrendering up the body of Hector at the sight of Priam's tears."
In these terrible marches Napoleon endured the same privations as his men;—baggage and staff appointments were unable to keep up with such rapid movements. He shared his bread with one of his privates who lived to remind him of this night when the Republican general had become the Emperor of France. It was during Napoleon's progress through Belgium in 1804, while reviewing a division of the army that he was visited in one of the towns by a soldier of the fourth regiment of infantry who stepped forward and thus addressed him: "General, in the year Five of the French Revolution, being in the valley of Bassano, I shared with you my ration of bread when you were very hungry. You cannot have forgotten the circumstance. I request, in return, that you provide bread for my father who is worn with age and infirmity. I have received five wounds in the service and was made corporal and sergeant on the field of battle. I hope to be made a lieutenant on the first vacancy." Napoleon recollected the soldier and immediately acknowledged the reasonableness of both his demands, which were speedily complied with.
After the most heroic resistance Wurmser again fled. Six thousand Austrians laid down their arms, and the commander with his fleeing forces took refuge about the middle of September in Mantua, whither they were pursued by Napoleon's cavalry.
Wurmser was now strictly blockaded within the citadel of Mantua with sixteen thousand men. These, with ten thousand dispersed in the Tyrol, were all that remained of his army of 60,000 men with which he was to reconquer Italy. He had also lost seventy-five pieces of cannon, thirty generals and twenty-two stands of colors. Marmont, one of Napoleon's aids-de-camp, was sent with these latter trophies to the Directory at Paris. Perceiving that Wurmser now intended to avoid a general action Napoleon returned to Milan, leaving General Kilmaine to conduct the blockade.
While at Milan, Napoleon had just mounted his horse one morning, when a dragoon, bearing important dispatches, presented himself.
The commander gave a verbal answer, and ordered the courier to take it back with all speed.