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Siege of Mantua (1799)

 

 
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Siege of Mantua (1799)
 
 
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The Siege of Mantua (1799) was a four-month effort by the Austrian
Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austria branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918....
 army to regain a presence in northern Italy
Northern Italy

Northern Italy comprises two areas belonging to Italian NUTS level 1 regions:*North-West : Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria;*North-East : Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/S?dtirol, Emilia-Romagna....
 after being excluded from that region by Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century....
 through the successful French
French First Republic

The French First Republic was founded on 22 September, 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon....
 Siege of Mantua
Siege of Mantua (1796-1797)

In the Siege of Mantua, which lasted from 4 July 1796 to 2 February 1797 with a short break, French forces under the overall command of Napoleon Bonaparte besieged and blockaded a large Austrian garrison under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser until it surrendered....
 in 1797. In April 1799, the Austrians placed a military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 blockade
Blockade

A blockade is an effort to cut off the communications of a particular area, by force. It is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually directed at an entire country or region, not a fortress or city....
 around Mantua
Mantua

Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the Province of Mantua of the same name.Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes created during the 12th century....
 as part of the War of the Second Coalition
War of the Second Coalition

The "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by other European power s to contain or eliminate French Revolution French First Republic. While Napoleon Bonaparte was leading an expedition to Egypt, a number of France's enemies formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back his previous conquests....
 with the intent of conquering the French by attrition
Attrition warfare

Attrition warfare is a military tactic in which a belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down its Enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and mat?riel....
. As their own attrition and diminishing food supplies weakened the Austrian army, they received reinforcements and attacked
Frontal assault

The military tactic of frontal assault is a direct, hostile movement of forces toward the front of an enemy force . By targeting the enemy's front, the attackers are subjecting themselves to the maximum defensive power of the enemy....
 on July 4 1799.






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The Siege of Mantua (1799) was a four-month effort by the Austrian
Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austria branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918....
 army to regain a presence in northern Italy
Northern Italy

Northern Italy comprises two areas belonging to Italian NUTS level 1 regions:*North-West : Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria;*North-East : Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/S?dtirol, Emilia-Romagna....
 after being excluded from that region by Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century....
 through the successful French
French First Republic

The French First Republic was founded on 22 September, 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon....
 Siege of Mantua
Siege of Mantua (1796-1797)

In the Siege of Mantua, which lasted from 4 July 1796 to 2 February 1797 with a short break, French forces under the overall command of Napoleon Bonaparte besieged and blockaded a large Austrian garrison under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser until it surrendered....
 in 1797. In April 1799, the Austrians placed a military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 blockade
Blockade

A blockade is an effort to cut off the communications of a particular area, by force. It is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually directed at an entire country or region, not a fortress or city....
 around Mantua
Mantua

Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the Province of Mantua of the same name.Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes created during the 12th century....
 as part of the War of the Second Coalition
War of the Second Coalition

The "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by other European power s to contain or eliminate French Revolution French First Republic. While Napoleon Bonaparte was leading an expedition to Egypt, a number of France's enemies formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back his previous conquests....
 with the intent of conquering the French by attrition
Attrition warfare

Attrition warfare is a military tactic in which a belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down its Enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and mat?riel....
. As their own attrition and diminishing food supplies weakened the Austrian army, they received reinforcements and attacked
Frontal assault

The military tactic of frontal assault is a direct, hostile movement of forces toward the front of an enemy force . By targeting the enemy's front, the attackers are subjecting themselves to the maximum defensive power of the enemy....
 on July 4 1799. By the end of the month, the French agreed to surrender
Capitulation (surrender)

Capitulation , an agreement in time of war for the surrender to a hostile armed force of a particular body of troops, a town or a territory.It is an ordinary incident of war, and therefore no previous instructions from the captors' government are required before finally settling the conditions of capitulation....
.

Prelude


By 1799, the fortress of Mantua
Mantua

Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the Province of Mantua of the same name.Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes created during the 12th century....
 on the river Mincio
Mincio

Mincio is a river in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.Called the Sarca before entering Lake Garda, it flows from there about 65 km past Mantua into the Po River....
 in northern Italy was in poor shape. It was commanded by viscount lieutenant general François-Philippe de Foissac-Latour (1750-1804) and garrisoned by a diverse force of 10,000, including French, Polish (Polish Legionnaires under general Józef Wielhorski
Józef Wielhorski

J?zef Wielhorski was a Polish general.As an officer he fought in the Polish-Russian War of 1792 and later, as a colonel, in the Kosciuszko Uprising....
), Italian (Republic of Alba
Republic of Alba

The Republic of Alba was a French client republic proclaimed on 25 April 1796, in Alba , northern Italy. It covered the area of Piedmont. It ceased to exist on 19 April 1801, when it was annexed by France....
 and Cisalpine Republic
Cisalpine Republic

The Cisalpine Republic was a French client republic in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802.After the Battle of Lodi, in May 1796, the French general Napoleon I of France proceeded to organize two states ? one on the south of the Po River, the Cispadane Republic, and one on the north, the Transpadane Republic....
), Swiss and German units. From the beginning of his assignment, Foissac-Latour, an engineer, was convinced that the fortress would be indefensible in any serious siege
Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by Battle of attrition and/or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit." A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a coup de main and refuses to surrender ....
.

Siege


In April, Austrian forces approached Mantua and started their siege. At first, the Austrians were content to simply blockade the fortress, but with the artillery duels and occasional skirmishes, attrition began taking its toll on the defenders. The defenders were also weakened by diminishing food supplies, and their morale was undermined by lack of payment.

On June 18, the French suffered a defeat at the Battle of Trebbia, and consequently the Austrians were able to move more decisively against Mantua. On July 4 the siege entered a new stage, with Austrian reinforcements arriving, and the besieging force growing from 8,000 to 40,000. The Austrians were commanded by Hungarian general Baron Pal von Kray, an artillery expert. Artillery bombardment was constant. On 24-25 July the assault begun; and the Austrians slowly advanced over the next few days. On July 27 Foissac-Latour began negotiating surrender terms.

Capitulation


The Austrians agreed to release most of the French garrison, keeping the officers for three months, and with soldiers pledging not to take arms until the prisoners were exchanged by the fighting sides. In a secret protocol, however, the Austrians demanded full sovereignty over "deserters from the Austrian army". After protests from the Polish officers - who were afraid that due to recent partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth....
 in which Austria gained control over parts of Poland that the Austrians may want to take custody of the Polish legionnaires - the Austrian negotiator clarified officially that they meant any deserters from the current Austrian army or former Austrian soldiers serving in the Cisalpine Republic
Cisalpine Republic

The Cisalpine Republic was a French client republic in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802.After the Battle of Lodi, in May 1796, the French general Napoleon I of France proceeded to organize two states ? one on the south of the Po River, the Cispadane Republic, and one on the north, the Transpadane Republic....
 Army. On July 30 the French and allied troops left the fortress. The garrison troops were split into French and non-French units (of whom Poles still constituted 1,800); the Austrian soldiers observing the marching non-French garrison troops were given permission to physically assault those "recognized" as deserters and most of them were eventually arrested. Polish officers - particularly those from the Austrian partition
Austrian partition

The Austrian partition refers to the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired by the Austrian Empire during the partitions of Poland in late 18th century....
 - were forced to enlist in the Austrian army or deported to partitioned Poland, and a similar fate befell Polish NCOs and regular soldiers, many of whom were also forced to suffer physical punishment by being beaten with rods. This marked the end of the Second Legion of the Polish Legions. Foissac-Latour was later criticized by the Poles for what they considered "betrayal", but also by the French: for his surrender, Napoleon himself ordered Foissac-Latour stricken from the list of generals and forbade him to wear a military uniform.

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