the various exploits they had performed in the two foregoing years, the patience with which they had borne not only the hardships of the field, but the preffures of want, and the privation of every convenience and comfort, and the invincible fortitude with which they had perfifted, amidft all these difficulties, to difcharge the duties of brave foldiers. It exhorted them to perfevere as they had done: fresh toils and victories were expected from them by their country, before its enemies would confent to reasonable terms of peace. It held out the most flattering hopes of fuccefs; and that they were at the eve of terminating their patriotic labours, the iffue of which would procure fafety to their country, and glory to themfelves; who then would return to its bofom, to enjoy the love and gratitude fo juftly due to them from their fellowcitizens, and fo nobly earned by their fervices.

This addrefs was fent to all the military bodies of the republic, and read to them with great folemnity. It was received with much refpect and fatisfaction. The officers and foldiers formally renewed their af furances of fidelity to the republic, and their readiness to lay down their lives in its defence.

The object which the directory had now chiefly in contemplation was to carry the war into Italy. The Auftrians were prepared to pals the Rhine in great force; the attachment of the Belgians to their French conquerors might waver; the fate of another campaign was uncertain; much was to be loft, nothing gained, in the Netherlands, by an appeal to arms, on a question, which, if the authority of the republic fhould be confirmed by the

lapfe of even a few years, they might confider as already decided. In this fituation of affairs they determined to divert the energy and attention of the emperor from his Belgian territories, where his authority had been fo often difputed, to his Italian dominions, where his will was a law, and from whence he drew still greater fupplies. While they cut off the emperors refources in Italy, they would add to their own. They did not doubt of reaping immense. benefit from the poffeffion of that country, the inhabitants of which were known generally to have little affection for their prefent fovereigns. The people of the duchies of Milan, Parma, and Modena, were peculiarly difaffected, and, the nobility and clergy excepted, feemed rather to defire, than to dread, a change of mafters. The commonalty, in the republics of Venice and Genoa, profeffed no attachment to their rulers. In Tufcany, and the papal dominions, there were numbers of difcontented; and in the kingdom of Naples the number was ftill greater.

Among these multitudes there were fome individuals refolute enough to declare their diffatisfaction at their respective governments, notwithstanding the perfonal dangers to which they expofed themfelves by fo daring a conduct. But what was more, fome had the courage to entertain a private correfpondence with France, and explicitly to folicit fome of the principal perfons in the republic to invade Italy, where, they aflured them, they would find more friends than foes among the natives, and meet with no oppofition but from the Auftrians, and their few adherents, among the poffeffors of

places

places and employments in their fervice.

Induced by these various motives, the directory refolved to begin military operations abroad, with the attack of a country, where the princes, one excepted, the king of Sardinia, could place little reliance on the loyalty of their fubjects; and where this prince had already loft fuch a portion of his territories, as greatly endangered the remainder.

ance.

Nevertheless, obftacles of a ferious nature prefented themselves. The undertaking was, indeed, arduous. Italy, proverbially the grave of the French, was viewed by the generality of people as unconquerable on the fide of France. Environed by mountains, the paffes of which were fortified with the utmost art, and guarded with numerous well-difciplined troops, it feemed calculated for an invincible refiftThe French, after reducing many forts and fortresses in the heart of the Alps, had not been able to make an effectual impreffion on Piedmont, without which an entrance into Italy appeared impracticable. The powers interested in the prefervation of Italy, aware of the hoftile intentions of France, had made ample preparations for defence. The emperor's forces amounted to eighty thoufand well-difciplined men, commanded by excellent officers and generals, and provided with every fpecies of warlike neceffaries. The king of Sardinia's army was fixty thousand strong, exclufive of militia. The pope and the king of Naples were occupied in embodying as many troops as their circumftances would permit; and the latter had difpatched two or three

thoufand horfe to ferve in the Imperial army.

Though the ftrength with which the French propofed to attack their enemies in Italy was much inferior in number to theirs, and far from being fo well fupplied, it was compofed of hardy and refolute foldiers, filled with enthufiafm, and impatient to enter into action, and to indemnify themselves for the fufferings they had undergone upon the rocky and barren coaft, to which they had long been confined, through want of reinforcements to enable them to move forward against the enemy.

The fupplies of men and ammunition did not arrive till the beginning of April, when the French determined immediately to commence their operations. They were cantoned along the coaft of that sea, called the river of Genoa, within three leagues of that city; and the Auftrians and Piedmontele were posted on the mountains oppofite to' them.

The French were commanded by general Buonaparte, already noticed in the action between the conventional troops and the sections of Paris,* in October, 1795, a native of Corfica, born, as it were, a commander, and uniting the intrepidity of an ancient Roman, with the fubtlety and contrivance of a modern Italian; and both thefe fortified and improved by a liberal, as well as military, education. Hardly thirty years of age, he had fignalized his military abilities, not only on that but fome other very decifive occafions, and acquired a reputation that had raised him to the highest degree of efteem in his profeffion.

[G4]

The

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 task 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 poft and forced it on the the tenth he advanced upon them, and carried all their entrenchments but one. Here he was arrefted 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 in vincible firmness, that the Auftrians were conftantly repulfed. In the morning of the eleventh, Buonaparte, 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 thousand taken. This battle was fought at a place called Montenotta.

Eager to improve this victory, Buonaparte purfued the Auftrians, who had retreated to a strong pofition at a place called Millafimo: but general Angereau forcing the paffages leading to it, the Auftrians retired to the ruins of an old caftle, which general Provara, who commanded them, haftened to furround with an intrenchment, where he flood feveral attacks, and defended himself refolutely 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 thefe stood 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 diftinguished itself by the defence of the caftle. This great victory was obtained on the fourteenth of April. Among the killed were fome officers of high diftinction; 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 ftandards, and an immenfe quantity of ftores and field-equipage. Two French generals, Banal and Quanin, fell in this battle, which coft the victors a number of their bravest men.

Though twice defeated in fo decifive a manner, general Beaulieu was by no means difpirited: collecting as many of his fcattered troops, as formed a body of seven 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 repofe themselves after the fatigues of the preceeding 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 thefe fruitless attempts, when Buonaparte, 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, posted 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 alfo fell, and among these general Caufa, one of their beft officers.

Thus, in the space 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 courfe of thefe engagements, been feparated 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 oppofe 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

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with great courage, the Piedmontefe withdrew in the night of the fixteenth, abandoning Cava, which furrendered to the French. After fome retrograde motions, wherein they were closely 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 aflaults: 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 lost also one of their generals, and a confiderable number of men.

The Piedmontese army, after its defeat, crofled the river Stura, and took a ftrong position between Coni and Cherafco. Here it was attacked, on the 25th, by the French, who compelled general Colli to retire. from the poft he occupied at Fellano. 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