The troops under his command were little more than fifty thoufand men: but he poffeffed their entire confidence, and was reputed equal to the arduous tafk he had ventured to undertake. The Auftrians were under general Beaulieu, an officer of great experience and talents, though he had been unfortunate in feveral actions with the French in the Netherlands. On the ninth of April heattacked a French post and forced it: on the the tenth he advanced upon them, and carried all their entrenchments but one. Here he was arrested by the obftinate bravery of the officer who commanded it. Rampon, chief of brigade, who conceived that the fate of the day depended on the prefervation of this poft, made his officers and foldiers fwear never to abandon it. They defended it accordingly during the whole night with fuch invincible firmness, that the Auftrians were conftantly repulfed. In the morning of the eleventh, Euonaparte, by a circuitous movement, fell upon the rear and flank of the enemy, who were completely routed, with the lofs of fifteen hundred killed, and more than two thoufand taken. This battle was fought at a place called Montenotta. Eager to improve this victory, Buonaparte purfued the Auftrians, who had retreated to a ftrong pofition at a place called Millafimo: bat general Augereau forcing the pallages leading to it, the Auftrians retired to the rains of an old caftle, which gen, ra Piovara, who commanded the o, haftened to furround with an intrenchment, where he for feveral attacks, and defended hin feilutely for five days. This afforded time to the Auftrians to rally from the diforder into which they had been thrown. They advanced in confiderable force, and charged the French with great vigour. The difpute was long and bloody the Auftrians and Piedmontefe made repeated efforts to liberate the troops in the caftle, and directed their attacks on the centre of the French: but these flood their ground immoveably, while their two wings turned the right and left of the adverfe army, the rear of which was affailed at the fame time by another divifion. Surrounded in this unexpected manner, they fuftained a dreadful defeat; two thoufand were flain in the action, and upwards of eight thousand made prifoners, including the corps under general Provara, which had fo much diftinguifhed itfelf by the defence of the caftle. This great victory was obtained on the fourteenth of April. Among the killed were fome officers of high distinction; and of the taken one was a general, and near thirty colonels, befide inferior officers. Between twenty and thirty cannon fell into the hands of the French, with fifteen standards, and an immenfe quantity of flores and field-equipage. Two French generals, Banal and Quanin, fell in this battle, which coft the victors a number of their braveft men. Though twice defeated in so de cifive a manner, general Beaulieu was by no means difpirited: collecting as many of his fcattered troops, as formed a body of feven thousand men he again attacked the French with great impetuofity, the next morning, and drove them from their incampment at a village called Dego, where they had expected to repole themselves after the fatigues of the prececding day. This unexpected attack, fo far difcompofed them, that they were thrown into diforder, and compelled to abandon their poft, after having thrice endeavoured to retake it. More than half of the day had been spent in these fruitless attempts, when Buoraparte, anxious to recover a poft, without which, the advantages gained by his two victories, would have been fruftrated, immediately gave orders for a large body to form in front of the enemy, and occupy their attention, while another charged them on their left, pofted at Dego. The intrepidity with which the French generals and officers headed their men, decided. the fate of the day. After a vigorous defence, the Auftrians were in their turn obliged to give ground, and leave the field to the French, with the lofs of near two thousand men, of whom, about fifteen hundred were made prifoners: on the fide of the French, numbers alio fell, and among thefe general Cauffa, one of their beft officers Thus, in the fpace of five days, no lefs than three battles were fought, in every one of which the French were victorious. The Auftrian and Piedmontefe armies had, in the course of thefe engagements, been separated from each other: which enabled Buonaparte to effect a junction with a confiderable body of his army, before which the Piedmontefe divifion had retired, not daring to oppose it in combination with the corps under general Augereau who had joined it. After diflodging the Piedmontefe from their redoubts, at Montezimo, this officer followed them to their camp before the town of Cava. It was ftrongly fortified, but Augereau attacked it with fuch vigour, that, after defending it the whole day 10 with great courage, the Piedmontefe w thdrew in the night of the fixteenth, abandoning Cava, which furrendered to the French. After fome retrograde motions, wherein they were clofely preffed by the French, who met however with fome checks, a general engagement took place near Mondovi on the twenty-fecond. General Colli, who commanded the Piedmontefe, had drawn up his army to great advantage; his centre being covered by a ftrong redoubt, which was refolutely defended for a long time against all the efforts of the French, who loft numbers in its attack. It was carried at length after repeated affaults: upon which general' Colli thought it prudent to retreat. His lofs amounted to about twelve hundred men, of whom a thousand were taken. Of these, three were generals, and four colonels. One general was flain, and eleven ftandards fell into the hands of the French, who loft alfo one of their generals, and a confiderable number of men. The Piedmontefe army, after its defeat, crofled the river Stura, and took a ftrong pofition between Coni and Cherafeo. Here it was attacked, on the 25th, by the French, who compelled general Colli to retire from the poft he occupied at Follano. They made themfelves mafters of Cherafco, where they took a quantity of cannon and large magazines, and the Piedmontefe withdrew to Carignano, in order to be nearer to Turin, for its protection against the French army, which was now advanced to within nine leagues of that city. The defeat of his army, at Mondovi, had already determined the king of Sardinia to make overtures of peace to Buonaparte. General Colli Colli was directed to apply to him for that purpofe, and propofed a fufpenfion of arms, while the peace was negociating. But he refufed to fufpend his operations, unless the king delivered two ftrong towns into his hands, as pledges of the fincerity of his intentions, and immediately dispatched commiflioners to Paris. The king's fituation was fo critical, that he was obliged to comply with this requifition, and the French were put in poffeffion of Cava, Coni, and Tortona. The Auftrians, thus deprived of their ally, were obliged to fall back on the Milanefe. In their march they attempted to fieze the town of Aleflandria, belonging to the king of Sardinia,, but the commandant prevented the execution of this defign, and Beaulieu haftened to cross the Po, in order to cover himself and the country to the north of that river. In the mean time, negociations for peace were carried on at Paris, between the king of Sardinia and the French republic, which impofed fevere conditions on this unfortunate prince. He was conftrained to yield up Savoy, the patrimony of his ancestors for many ages, together with the city and territory of Nice, and a tract of land, which the conquerors entitled the Department of the Maritime Alps. A new arrangement was made of the frontiers on each fide, highly advantageous to France. He confented to flop and put an end to all profecus tions against any of his fubjects for their political opinions, to withdraw himfelf from the coalition, and to apologife for his conduct towards the republic. Such were the principal terms of the treaty. In this manier was the prince completely humbled, who had long been confidered as the moft fecure of any, by his pofition, against the inroads of the French: his predeceflors, though frequently hard preffed by them, had never been reduced to fuch extremities, and never experienced fuch difgrace. By this treaty he was defpoiled of all power and confequence; and though he retained the title of the king, he remained no more than the nominal fovereign of his dominions. The reduction of the king of Sardinia was an event that changed at once the whole face of Italy. That prince was no longer master of the barriers that nature has fixed between that country and France, and from which he derived his principal importance. They were now in the hands of the French, and the Italian powers, deprived of this rampart of their dominions, faw themfelves at the mercy of a people, who had, for many centuries, endeavoured to obtain a footing among them, with the manifest defign of fubjecting them to their influence. Thefe aftonithing fucceiles could not fail to inspire the French armies, that had obtained them, with the highest degree of exultation: nor did their commander forget to improve the fentiments of felf applaute and confidence, manifefied by them, into that difpofition of mind which would lead them on to those farther exploits he had in contemplation. He iued an address to them on the twenty-fixth of April, three days after the application for peace from the Sardinian monarch, wherein he recapitulated, in a truly claffical and energetic flyle, the glory they had acquired, and reprefented that which lay ftill before them. You have precipitated your felves, like a torrent, from the heights of the Appennines. You have routed and difperfed all who have oppofed your progrefs, Piedmont, delivered from Auftrian tyranny, difplays its natural fentiments of peace and friendhip for France. Milan is ours, and the republican flag flies over all Lombardy. The dukes of Parma and Modena owe their political exiftence to your generosity. The army, which with fo much pride threatened you, has no barrier of protection against your Courage; the Po, the Teffin, and the Adda, have been unable to flop you a fingle day; thofe beafted bulwarks of Italy have been in ufficient to delay your progrefs; you have furmounted them as ra- our fhips at Toulon: the hour of vengeance and retribution is now at hand. But let the people remain tranquil; we are friends to all the people, and more particularly the defcendants of Brutus, of Scipio, and the great men whom we have taken for our models. Re-establish the capitol, and place there with honor the ftatues of the heroes that rendered it celebrated; awaken the Roman people, debased by many centuries of flavery. Such will be the fruit of your victories; they will form an epoch for pofterity; you will have the immortal glory of changing the face of the first country in Europe. The free French people, refpected by the whole world, will give to Europe a glorious peace, which will indemnity them for the facrifices they have made during fix years; you will then return to your homes, and your fellow citizens will fay, fhewing you, this man was of the army of Italy." Such were the ideas which the French general exerted himfelf to imprefs upon the public, as well as on his own people. His private converfations were of the falle tendency, and he omitted no opportunity of reprefenting the expedi tion of the French into Italy, as intended to lay the foundation of a total deliverance of the inhabitants from the government of firangers, and the tyranny of domeftic rulers. Sentiments of this defeription were not unacceptable to multitudes in every part of Italy. The majority of the natives could not but perceive the humiliation of being fubject to princes born and bied in foreign countries: they could not, from that circumftance alone, feel that attachment for them which they they might have done for native princes. To the praifes beftowed by Buonaparte on his army, the directory added its acknowledgments to him, and thofe of his officers who had fignalized themselves in the late actions. It wrote to them feparately, fpecifying, in the moft gracious and fatisfactory manner, the particular motives for which the thanks of the public were due to them. This homage paid to their merit, in the name of the nation, by thofe who were invefted with its fupreme authority, was received, by the French officers, as the highest honour that could be conferred upon them, to be confidered as deferving of it was now become the fummit of their wishes; fo effectually had the republican notions of patriotifm taken poffeflion of their minds. The moment after the fufpenfion of arms between the French and the king of Sardinia had been figned, Buonaparte loft no time in availing himfell of it to the utmofit. He inftantly put his army in motion from all quarters, in order to crofs the Po, and to render it doubtful to the enemy, by his various movements, at what place he would attempt the paflage over that river. The Auftrian general did not doubt but the French would endeavour to pafs it at the town of Valenza, which they had ftipulated with the Sardinian miniftry, fhould be ceded to them for that purpose. For this reafon, he made every difpofition neceffary to obftruct their pallage at this place: but Buonaparte deceived him; and, by rapid marches, reached the banks of the Po, oppofite to the city of Placenza. A body of horfe prepared to oppofe him; but a chofen corps of French infantry, having feized a number of boats, rowed to the other fide, protected by fo heavy a difcharge of mutketry, that the enemy was obliged to retire, and leave them to land, which they did in the compacteft order. This was effected on the feventh of May. As foon as Beaulieu was apprifed of it, equally aftonifhed at an event he had fo little expected, and anxious to repair the miftake he had committed, he felected the best of his troops, with whom he advanced on the French, in hope of coming upon them before a fufficient numher could have croffed to fecure the paffage of the ref: but they were not only on his fide of the river, but marching towards him. On receiving this intelligence, he intrenched himfelf at Fombio, a village advantageoufly fituated, expecting the arrival of reinforcements: but he was immediately attacked on every fide by the French, who forced him to break up his camp in the utmoft diforder, and with the lofs of a large quantity of horses and baggage, as well as of men. Another body of Auftrians was, in the mean time, haftening to his aid, and came up with the French early the next morning but general Laharpe, an officer of great merit and intrepidity, charged them with fuch vigour, that they were inftantly defeated, and put to flight. The lofs of this officer, who fell on this occafion, was more than a counterpoife to the fuccefs of the French. He was a Swifs by birth; and, being driven from his country, on account of his republican principles, he took refuge in France, and entered into the fervice of the republic, where his military talents raifed him to the rank of a general. He |