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Yogi the Great -> New from HPS (7/8/2020 11:25:52 AM)
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Marching Eagles: Marengo
'This battle is lost, but there is time to win another!'
-General Louis Desaix to Napoleon (attributed)
At the end of March 1796, Bonaparte took command of the Army of Italy. Bonaparte's army lacked sufficient cavalry and artillery and was chronically under paid, short of food, clothing, weapons and equipment. Internally, France was bankrupt and the only way the French Directory (Government) saw to address these problems was to attack the enemy territory, plunder the land and win a military victory. Bonaparte moved the army forward in early April and so began the 'First Italian Campaign'.
The battle of Castiglione (Aug 1796) demonstrated Bonaparte's tactical brilliance and an early attempt to out-maneuver his opponent. The battle of Caldiero (Nov 1796) was Napoleon's first defeat and a battle under severe winter conditions. The battle of Marengo (Jun 1800), a narrow victory, brought the War of the Second Coalition to an end and solidified Napoleon's hold on power. Together, these actions gave the world a good first look at the relentless combination of luck and skill that they would face in Napoleon for the next 15 years
But it also displayed the arrogance and overconfidence that would ultimately bring him, and France, crashing to the ground.
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