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In the Battle of Caldiero on 12 November 1796, a Habsburg Austrian army led by Jozsef Alvinczi fought a First French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte. The French assaulted the Austrian positions, which were initially held by the army advance guard under Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The defenders held firm until reinforcements arrived in the afternoon to push back the French. This marked a rare tactical setback for Bonaparte, whose forces withdrew into Verona that evening after having suffered greater losses than their adversaries. The action occurred during the War of the First Coalition, which was part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Caldiero is a town located about east of Verona. The battle was part of the third Austrian effort to relieve the Siege of Mantua. Two Austrian forces converged toward Mantua, the main army from the east and an independent corps from the north. Both forces enjoyed early successes, driving back the outnumbered French forces in front of them. When the main army reached a position threatening Verona, Bonaparte ordered the divisions of André Masséna and Pierre Augereau to attack. Sturdy Austrian resistance and bad weather contributed to the French defeat. Bonaparte soon embarked upon a new strategy which concluded with an Austrian defeat at the Battle of Arcole a few days later. ==Background== On 2 November 1796, ''Feldzeugmeister'' Jozsef Alvinczi launched the third attempt to raise the Siege of Mantua by crossing the Piave River with an army of 28,000 men and advancing west. At the same time, a second Austrian column under ''Feldmarschall-Leutnant'' Paul Davidovich moved south against Trento with 18,000 men.〔Chandler (1966), p. 101.〕 Alvinczi hoped to break through to the relief of ''Feldmarschall'' Dagobert Sigismund von Würmser, who was trapped in Mantua with a 23,708-man garrison. Of these, only 12,420 were well enough to fight.〔Boycott-Brown (2001), p. 448.〕 To face the twin threats, Bonaparte deployed a 10,500-man division led by General of Division Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois against Davidovich in the north and General of Division André Masséna's 9,500-man division at Bassano on the Brenta River. In reserve lay General of Division Pierre Augereau's 8,300-man division at Verona and 4,300 in other units. General of Division Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine with 8,800 men blockaded Würmser's garrison in Mantua.〔 On 6 November, Bonaparte with 19,500 men, including Massena, Augereau, and a reserve brigade, attacked Alvinczi at Bassano and Fontaniva. In the hard-fought Second Battle of Bassano, Alvinczi and his two division commanders, ''Feldmarschall-Leutnants'' Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich and Giovanni Marchese di Provera, repelled their outnumbered opponents. French losses were 3,000 killed, wounded, and captured, while Alvinczi's army suffered about 2,800 casualties.〔Smith (1998), p. 126.〕 Davidovich routed Vaubois in the Battle of Calliano on 7 November, inflicting 4,400 casualties on the French for an Austrian loss of 3,500.〔Smith (1998), pp. 126–127.〕 Bonaparte focused on the threat from the north as he pulled back his eastern force to Verona. Davidovich remained inactive because he was under the mistaken impression that Masséna's division had reinforced Vaubois. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Caldiero (1796)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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