"Soldiers,
You have descended like a torrent from the summit of the Apennines; you have overthrown, dispersed, scattered everything that opposed your progress.
Piedmont, delivered from Austrian tyranny, has yielded to its natural inclination for peace and friendship with France.
Milan is yours, and the republican flag waves over the whole of Lombardy.
The Dukes of Parma and Modena owe their political existance to your generosity.
The army which menaced you with so much pride, no longer finds a barrier to protect itself against your courage.
The Po, the Tincio, the Adda have not checked your progress a single day; these boasted bulwarks of Italy have been inadequate, you have crossed them as rapidly as the Apennines.
So much sucess has brought joy to the heart of your country; a fête in honour of your victories has been ordered by your representatives in all the communes of the REpublic. There, your fathers your mothers, your wives, your sisters, your sweethearts rejoice at your success and take pride in their relationship to you.
Yes, soldiers, you have done much; but is there not still much for you to do? Shall it be said thatwe knew how to conquer, but not how to profit from victory? Shall posterity reproach us with having found a Capua in Lombardy? But already I see you run to arms: for you, days of repose are days lost to glory. Let us go! We still have forced marches to make, enemies to conquer, laurels to gather, injuries to avenge.
Those who have sharpened their daggers of civil war in France, who have basely assassinated our ministers, burned our ships at Toulon -- let them tremble: the hour of vengeance has struck.
But the [Italian] people ma rest in peace; we are friends of all people and especially of the descendants of Brutus, Scipio and the great men we have taken as models. To restore the Capitol, to place there with honour the statues of heroes who made themselves famous, to arouse the Roman people, numbed by many centuries of slavery -- such will be the fruit of your victories. They will form an epoch for posterity. You will have the immortal glory of changing the face of the most beautiful part of Europe.
The French people, free and respected by the whole world, will give a glorious peace to Europe which will repay her for all the sacrifices of the past six years. Then you will go back to your hearths, and your fellow-citizens will point to you and say: "He was of the Army of Italy!""
Bonaparte
(Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, I 368-369 (No. 461))
In the operations that followed, Bonaparte's Austrian opponent had taken up a superficially strong defensive position on a 25-mile front, behind the river Mincio, with his right and left flanks securely anchored to Lake Garda and the Po, respectively. However, Beaulieu had only 28,000 men to face Bonaparte's reinforced army of 35,000. Beaulieu realizing that he could not hold the line of the Mincio in strength, concentrated his troops behind the river, relying on cavalry to give him early warning of the French intentions. On the right flank, the main Austrian line of communications through the Tyrol lay in the Adige Valley, east of Lake Garda.
Bonaparte's plan of attack was thorough and imaginative. By directing his army along an easterly axis, from Milan towards Brescia, he could threaten the Austrian communications, drawing Beaulieu's forces to that sector. Then, at the appropriate moment, the Army of Italy would incline to the right, with superir speed, and secure a bridgehead at Borghetto, a few miles south of Lake Garda.
The plan succeeded. After a preliminary thrust at Beaulieu's northern flank, Bonaparte on 30 May dispatched his main force against Borghetto in overwhelming strength. Murat's cavalry dispersed the Austrian covering force and the grenadiers followed closely behind. With a bold stroke Bonaparte smashed Beaulieu's main defence. The Austrians were driven back to the safety of the Tyrol, and the French were masters of the important area between the Mincio and the Adige.
Bonaparte still desired to exploit his victories in Italy by effecting a junction, north of the Tyrol, with the Army of the Rhine. If this could be done, the war would at once be transferred to the enemy's own territory, threatening Vienna. However, the Directory was adamant on the necessity of turning Bonaparte's forces south, to deal with the Papacy, spread the revolutionary spirit, seize Leghorn (then an important British base) and, of course, to replenish the French coffers. Bonaparte's relatively simple task remained to contain Bealieu at Verona and Brescia, while beseiging the fortress of Mantua, still held by the Austrians.
Next Phase: Wurmser Attacks
