Battle of Tarvis (1797)

This article is about the battle in 1797. For the battle in 1809, see Battle of Tarvis (1809).
Battle of Tarvis (1797)
Part of the War of the First Coalition

The photo shows the terrain near Tarvisio.
Date21–23 March 1797
Location
Tarvisio, Italy (at time Austria)
46°30′18″N 13°34′42″E / 46.50500°N 13.57833°E / 46.50500; 13.57833
Result French victory
Belligerents
France France Holy Roman Empire Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
France Napoleon Bonaparte
France Guillaume Brune
France André Masséna
France Jean Joseph Guieu		 Holy Roman Empire Archduke Charles
Holy Roman Empire Adam Bajalics
Holy Roman Empire Joseph Ocskay
Units involved
France Army of Italy Holy Roman Empire Austrian Army
Strength
11,000 8,000
Casualties and losses
1,200 4,500, 25 guns
400–500 wagons
War of the First Coalition:
Italian Campaign
Map
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100km
62miles
15
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  current battle
  Napoleon as subordinate
  Napoleon in command

The Battle of Tarvis was fought during 21–23 March 1797 near present-day Tarvisio in far northeast Italy, about 12 kilometres (7 mi) west-by-southwest of the three-border conjunction with Austria and Slovenia, and was the final battle before the end of the War of the First Coalition. In the battle, three divisions of a First French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte attacked several columns of the retreating Habsburg Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. In three days of confused fighting, French divisions directed by André Masséna, Jean Joseph Guieu, and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier succeeded in blocking the Tarvis Pass and capturing 3,500 Austrians led by Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza. The engagement occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars.

After Bonaparte's capture of the fortress of Mantua in early February 1797, he cleared his south flank by crushing the army of the Papal States. Reinforced with forces from the Rhine front, Bonaparte was determined to drive the Austrian army from northeast Italy. His offensive began in March and consisted of a secondary drive through the County of Tyrol by Barthélemy Catherine Joubert's left wing and an eastward thrust by Bonaparte's main army.

The main French army soon drove the archduke's forces into headlong retreat while Joubert battled with Wilhelm Lothar Maria von Kerpen in the Tyrol. Charles tried to hold the Tarvis Pass against the French by sending three columns of reinforcements, but they found the pass held by Masséna's French forces. While many Austrian troops fought their way out, the last column was trapped between three converging French divisions and compelled to surrender. A subsequent advance brought the French within 75 miles (121 km) of the Austrian capital of Vienna. In mid-April, Bonaparte proposed and the Austrians agreed to the Preliminaries of Leoben. Most of the terms were ratified by the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797, ending the long war.