Battle of Cassano (1799)

Battle of the Adda River (1799)
Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the Second Coalition

Feldmarshal Suvorov at the battle of the Adda River on April 27, 1799 (engraving by Luigi Schiavonetti)
Date26 April:
Combat of Lecco[1]
27–28 April:
Battle of Cassano[a]
Location45°32′00″N 9°31′00″E / 45.5333°N 9.5167°E / 45.5333; 9.5167
Result Austro-Russian victory[3]
Territorial
changes
Suvorov's Austro-Russian forces occupy the Cisalpine Republic
Belligerents
Russian Empire Russian Empire
Habsburg monarchy Habsburg monarchy
French First Republic French Republic
Commanders and leaders
Russian Empire Alexander Suvorov
Russian Empire Pyotr Bagration (WIA)
Russian Empire Adrian Denisov
Russian Empire Andrey Rosenberg
Russian Empire Mikhail Miloradovich
Russian Empire Yakov Povalo-Shveikovsky
Holy Roman Empire Michael von Melas
Holy Roman Empire Johann Chasteler
Holy Roman Empire Michael von Fröhlich
Holy Roman Empire Konrad von Kaim
Holy Roman Empire Peter Ott
Holy Roman Empire Philipp Vukassovich
Holy Roman Empire Friedrich Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Holy Roman Empire Friedrich von Seckendorff
Holy Roman Empire Johann Zopf
Holy Roman Empire Franz Reisky
French First Republic Jean Moreau[b]
French First Republic Barthélemy Schérer[c]
French First Republic Paul Grenier
French First Republic Claude Victor-Perrin
French First Republic Jean Sérurier (POW)
French First Republic François Quesnel
French First Republic Nicolas Beker
French First Republic Louis Soyez [fr]
French First Republic Georges Kister [fr]
French First Republic François Argod [fr] 
French First Republic Jean Roussel
Units involved

Allied Field Army:

Army of Italy:

  • Sérurier's Division;
  • Grenier's Division;
  • Victor's Division;
  • Laboissière's Detachment.
Strength
48,000–49,000[i]

Numbers engaged:
27,000–28,000[q]

Numbers engaged:
Casualties and losses

2,000–2,500 killed and wounded[v]

Other estimates:
4,886–6,200[w]

6,900–7,500 killed, wounded and captured[x]

Other estimates:
10,500–11,000[y]

27 guns and 3 standards[34]
Battle of Cassano (1799) is located in Europe
Battle of Cassano (1799)
Location within Europe
Map
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Maps: terms of use
50km
30miles
Marengo
12
Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800
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Battle of Montebello (1800) on 9 June 1800
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Siege of Genoa (1800) from 6 April to 4 June 1800
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Battle of Genola on 4 November 1799
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Battle of Novi (1799) on 15 August 1799 Second Battle of Novi (1799) on 24 October 1799
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Siege of Mantua (1799) from April–July 1799
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Battle of Trebbia (1799) from 17 to 20 June 1799
5
Battle of Modena (1799) on 12 June 1799
4
Battle of Bassignana (1799) on 12 May 1799
3
2
Battle of Magnano on 5 April 1799
Verona
1
Battle of Verona (1799) on 26 March 1799
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Cassano (French: Bataille de Cassano, German: Schlacht bei Cassano) was fought in 1799 from 27 to 28 April[z] (O.S.: 16 to 17 April) near Cassano d'Adda, which about 28 km (17 mi) ENE of Milan. The clash is part of the battle of the Adda River[15][29] (Russian: Сражение на реке Адда, German: Schlacht an der Adda) or the so-called forcing of the Adda,[33] which on the first day of 26 April (O.S.: 15 April) resulted in a minor victory for the Russians under the Count Suvorov over Barthélemy Schérer's French forces at Lecco. Then, on the second day, Suvorov's Austrians and Cossacks prevailed over Jean Moreau's army, who replaced Schérer as supreme commander, and trapped his isolated division on the third. The action took place during the War of the Second Coalition, as part of the larger conflict known as the French Revolutionary Wars.[3]

The battle of the Adda River was four separate combats. Lecco was a victorious combat for Suvorov's Russians, but it contributed little to resolve the entire battle along the Adda. The key engagement on 27 April was the combat at Vaprio d'Adda[aa] (at the end there were about 11,000 Austrians and Cossacks and 7,000 French[24]), which is north of Cassano; and on the same day, at Cassano itself, the Austrian Reisky regiment (1,911 men[29]) successfully stormed the bridge-head fortifications—Moreau was thrown back everywhere. The French detachment cut off by the combat of Vaprio was afterwards surrounded at Verderio by Josef Philipp Vukassovich, who overcame the weakest French defenses in Brivio.[15]

  1. ^ a b Duffy 1999, p. 61.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bodart 1908, p. 332.
  3. ^ a b c d Eggenberger 1985, p. 80.
  4. ^ a b Dupuy & Dupuy 1993, p. 755.
  5. ^ a b c d e Clodfelter 2017, p. 109.
  6. ^ a b c d Duffy 1999, p. 40.
  7. ^ Duffy 1999, p. 48.
  8. ^ a b c Duffy 1999, p. 59.
  9. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 67.
  10. ^ a b Duffy 1999, pp. 50–51.
  11. ^ a b c Petrushevsky, Alexander (1884). Generalissimo Prince Suvorov (in Russian). Vol. 3 (1st ed.). Типография М. М. Стасюлевича. pp. 50–51.
  12. ^ a b c d e Acerbi 2007a.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Orlov 1892, p. 74.
  14. ^ a b Petrushevsky 1885, p. 165.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Novitsky et al. 1911, pp. 134–137.
  16. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 81.
  17. ^ a b Duffy 1999, p. 62.
  18. ^ "Бой у города Лекко" [Combat near the town of Lecco]. Runivers. Военные конфликты, кампании и боевые действия русских войск 860–1914 гг. (in Russian). Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Acerbi 2007b.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Orlov 1892, p. 84.
  21. ^ Milyutin 1852, p. 301.
  22. ^ Orlov 1892, pp. 92–93, 96.
  23. ^ a b Duffy 1999, p. 50.
  24. ^ a b c Orlov 1892, pp. 92–93.
  25. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 89.
  26. ^ Duffy 1999, p. 65.
  27. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 87.
  28. ^ a b Orlov 1892, p. 88.
  29. ^ a b c Acerbi 2007c.
  30. ^ Milyutin 1852, p. 297 (back of the page).
  31. ^ a b c See battle maps
  32. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 44.
  33. ^ a b c Duffy 1999, p. 60.
  34. ^ a b c Smith 1998, pp. 152, 153.
  35. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 80.
  36. ^ Duffy 1999, p. 66.
  37. ^ Smith 1998, p. 159.
  38. ^ Orlov 1892, p. 93.
  39. ^ a b Orlov 1892, p. 90.
  40. ^ a b "АДДА • Great Russian Encyclopedia – Electronic version". old.bigenc.ru. 2016. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  41. ^ a b Duffy 1999, p. 68.
  42. ^ a b Clausewitz 2020, p. 193.
  43. ^ a b Milyutin 1852, p. 591.
  44. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 152, 153, 159.


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