Siege of Genoa | |||||||
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Part of the War of the Second Coalition | |||||||
Bombardment of the city of Genoa by the English on the night of 20 May 1800 by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti, 1806-1807 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
French Republic Ligurian Republic |
Habsburg Monarchy Great Britain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
André Masséna Jean-de-Dieu Soult | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000 fit, 16,000 sick |
24,000 1 British naval squadron | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Siege: 4,000–8,000 dead Campaign: 14,000 |
Siege: 6,000–6,500 Campaign: 20,000 | ||||||
The Siege of Genoa (19 April – 4 June 1800)[1] saw a Habsburg Austrian army led by General der Kavallerie Michael von Melas attack the port of Genoa defended by a Republican French army under General of Division (GD) André Massena. The action occurred in the Marengo campaign during the War of the Second Coalition. The Austrian army isolated Massena and half of the French army in Genoa, while driving off the other half of the army. Once Genoa was laid under siege, Massena conducted a very active defense with frequent sorties. Besieged on the land side by 24,000 Austrians led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant (FML) Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz and on the seaside by a Royal Navy squadron, famine reduced the defenders to starvation. By the time Massena surrendered the city on 4 June, many thousands of Genoa's residents died of starvation. While the Austrian army was focused on the siege, Napoleon Bonaparte's army invaded Italy from the northwest, ultimately winning the Battle of Marengo.