Enrico Acerbi

The 1799 campaign in Italy - Vol. 2 Enrico Acerbi

In 1799 Suvorov was given command of the Austro-Russian army and sent to drive France's forces out of Italy. Suvorov and Napoleon never met in battle because Napoleon was campaigning in Egypt at the time. However, Suvorov erased practically all of the gains Napoleon had made for France during 1796 and 1797, defeating some of the republic's top generals: Moreau at Cassano d'Adda, MacDonald at Trebbia, and Joubert at Novi. He went on to capture Milan and became a hero to those opposed to the French Revolution. French troops were driven from Italy, save for a handful in the Maritime Alps and around Genoa. Suvorov himself gained the rank of "Prince of the House of Savoy" from the King of Sardinia. After the victorious Italian theater, Suvorov planned to march on Paris, but instead was ordered to Switzerland to join up with the Russian forces already there and drive the French out. The Russian army under General Korsakov was defeated by Masséna at Zürich before Suvorov could reach and unite with them. Surrounded by Masséna's 80,000 French troops, Suvorov with a force of 18,000 Russian regulars and 5,000 Cossacks, exhausted and short of provisions, led a strategic withdrawal from the Alps while fighting off the French...