. The life of Napoleon I, including new materials from the British official records . ve, the battle of Marengo had begun : and forthe greater part of that eventful day, June the 14th, theFrench had only 18,000 men wherewith to oppose theonset of 31,000 Austrians.^ As will be seen by the accompanying map, the villageof Marengo lies in the plain that stretches eastwards fromthe banks of the River Bormida towards the hilly countryof Stradella. The village lies on the high-road leadingeastwards from the fortress of Alessandria, the chiefstronghold of north-western Italy. The plain is cut upby num
. The life of Napoleon I, including new materials from the British official records . ve, the battle of Marengo had begun : and forthe greater part of that eventful day, June the 14th, theFrench had only 18,000 men wherewith to oppose theonset of 31,000 Austrians.^ As will be seen by the accompanying map, the villageof Marengo lies in the plain that stretches eastwards fromthe banks of the River Bormida towards the hilly countryof Stradella. The village lies on the high-road leadingeastwards from the fortress of Alessandria, the chiefstronghold of north-western Italy. The plain is cut upby numerous obstacles. Through Marengo runs a streamcalled the Fontanone. The deep curves of the Bormida,the steep banks of the Fontanone, along with the villages, 1 The inaccuracy of Marbots M^moires is nowhere more glaringthan in his statement that Marengo must have gone against the Frenchif Otts 25,000 Austrians from Genoa had joined their comrades. As amatter of fact, Ott, with 16,000 men, had already fought with Lannes atMontebello, and played a great part in the battle of 236 THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON I chap. farmsteads, and vineyards scattered over the plain, allhelped to render an advance exceedingly difficult in faceof a determined enemy; and these natural features hadno small share in deciding the fortunes of the day. Shortly after dawn Melas began to pour his troopsacross the Bormida, and drove in the French outposts onMarengo: but there they met with a tough resistancefrom the soldiers of Victors division, while Kellermann,the son of the hero of Valmy, performed his first greatexploit by hurling back some venturesome Austrian horse-men into the deep bed of the Fontanone. This gave timeto Lannes to bring up his division, 5,000 strong, into linebetween Marengo and Castel Ceriolo. But when the fullforce of the Austrian attack was developed about 10 ,the Imperialists not only gained ]\Iarengo, but threw aheavy column, led by General Ott, against Lannes, whowas constr
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnapoleo, bookyear1901
