War and other events
166. War and other events
1799.
Southern Italy.
The royal court fled to Palermo and soon afterwards cardinal Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo was chosen to head a royalist movement in Calabria, where his family, though impoverished by debt, exercised large feudal powers. On 8 February 1799 he landed at La Cortona with a small following, and began to raise the so-called "army of the faith" in association with Michele Pezza, "Fra Diavolo", and other brigand leaders. His feuds of Scilla and Bagnara were the first places to be used for a massive enlistment of 25.000 farmers skilled to arms. They formed the Christian and Real Army, also known as Esercito della Santa Fede in Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, and conquered Crotone moving to the Basilicata and Apulia regions (Altamura and Modugno), and finally in the Principato Ultra.
Taking into an account importance of the Sicilian ports as the Russian naval and trade bases, Admiral Ushakov, who just completed his Corfu operation, got a permission, if he finds it feasible, and not involving serious risks for the Russian squadron, to provide a naval support to Ruffo’s operations.
With a backing of the Russian-Ottoman squadron Ruffo, at the head of his army, marched on Naples and took it on 15 June 1799: possibly exceeding his authority, he promised the Neapolitan republicans immunity from reprisals and obtained their surrender (they had to be shipped to France) [4]. Queen, who had much more zeal than brains, was very unhappy but Nelson was not there to implement her orders and neither Russian nor British naval commanders on the scene had any intention to obey her whims. Anyway, the Southern Italy was back in the hands of the Bourbons. Ruffo lost favor of the King, resigned his vicar-generalship to the prince of Cassero and lived quietly in Naples.
Northern Italy. The Austrians started campaign with 55,000 under command of general Melas.
On the opposite side there was French Army of Italy, 58,000 strong under command of Scherer who was mostly remarkable by a visible lack of any talent, military or administrative [5]. He won an initial clash at Pastrengo on March 26 but was defeated by Austrian General Pál Kray at the Battle of Magnano on April 5. "Schérer went into this battle without forming a reserve and was thus unable to react to crisis or opportunities effectively." Forced to retire behind the river Mincio, he gave up command to Jean Moreau.
From this point on situation stabilized with the French and Austrian armies maneuvering between the Guarda Lake and the Po River with neither side achieving any noticeable advantage for a while. While Moreau was more talented, his operations had been severely handicapped by a sorry state of his troops: a dysfunctional Ministry of War failed to supply troops with pretty much everything and, unlike Bonaparte, Moreau was trying to prevent his troops from unrestricted looting (and, anyway, it would not provide an army with gunpowder, cannonballs, etc.
Central Italy. General Macdonald had his 38,000 spread from the Rome to the Adriatic coast to prevent the further advances of Neapolitan army and also had to guard the right bank of the Po River to prevent possible Austrian attempt to advance South. Obviously, the force in his disposal was inadequate for the assigned task and suffered from the same supply problems.
Germany. Jourdan, appointed commander of the Army of Observation, assessed the quality and disposition of the forces and identified needed supplies and manpower. He found the army woefully inadequate for its assignment. The Army, and its flanking armies, the Army of Helvetia(Switzerland) and the Army of Mayence, were equally short of manpower, supplies, ammunition, and training. Jourdan documented assiduously these shortages, pointing out in lengthy correspondence to the Directory the consequences of an under-manned and under-supplied army; his petitions seemed to have little effect on the Directory, which sent neither significant additional manpower nor supplies. However, all these armies got orders to act offensively. On March 1, 1799, the Army of Observation, in an order of battle of approximately 30,000 men in four divisions, crossed the Rhine at Kehl and Basel as units crossed, they took the name Army of the Danube.
Jourdan was a good administrator and capable legislator (he was the framer of the famous conscription law of 1798, which came to be known as the Jourdan law) but his record in a field was sketchy and now he was confronted by the best Austrian general, Archduke Charles. On the top of this his army was outnumbered by the Austrians more than 2:1.
In March 1799, the Army of the Danube engaged in two major battles, both in the southwestern German theater, and was defeated in both. Jourdan instructed his generals to take up positions in the Black Forest, and he himself established a base at Hornberg. From there, General Jourdan relegated command of the army to his chief of staff, Jean Augustin Ernouf, and traveled to Paris to ask for more and better troops and, ultimately, when these were not forthcoming, to request a medical leave. The Army was reorganized, and a portion placed under the command of André Masséna and merged with the Army of Helvetia.
Egypt or s—t happens. In February 1799 commander of cavalry of the Army of Egypt and one of the most colorful figures [6] of the French Army, general Thomas Alexandre Dumas, asked and received permission to leave Army of Egypt due to the bad health.
While it is unclear if he really did have the health problem, it was not a secret that by that time he completely fall out with Bonaparte over conduct of campaign [7].
On 7 March 1799, Dumas boarded a small ship called the Belle Maltaise in the company of his fellow General Jean-Baptiste Manscourt du Rozoy, the geologist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, forty wounded French soldiers, and a number of Maltese and Genoan civilians. Dumas had sold the furnishings of his quarters in Cairo, and purchased 4,000 pounds of moka coffee; eleven Arabian horses (two stallions and nine mares) to establish breeding stock in France; and hired the ship. The ship managed to avoid the Brits patrolling Mediterranean, the weather was good and 41 day later it reached Marseilles safely. After selling his merchandise general Dumas went to Paris to report to the Ministry of War and wait for the next assignment.
On August 23 general Bonaparte accompanied by the generals Berthier, Murat, Lannes and Marmont boarded 44 guns frigate “Murion” and, accompanied by 3 other ships, left Egypt without bothering to say “Good Bye” to anybody. His deputy, general Kleber, got a letter appointing him a new army commander when Bonaparte was already sailing to France. The voyage started well but then storm dispersed the squadron and severely damaged “Murion” began to sink and forced by storms to land at Taranto, in the Kingdom of Naples. Bonaparte and his companions expected to get a friendly reception, having heard that the Kingdom had been overthrown by the Parthenopean Republic. But that short-lived republic had succumbed to an internal uprising by a local force known as the Holy Faith Army, led by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, in alliance with King Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples, who was at war with France. They were imprisoned and most of their belongings were confiscated. Ruffo, who was not a cruel person, tried to arrange for the exchange but the Directory did not show any interest and he gave up. The imprisonment conditions were rather harsh and soon enough heath of general Berthier noticeably deterriorated: he was partially paralyzed, almost blind in one eye, had been deaf in one ear. [8]
The salvation came from a rather unexpected corner. In March 1, 1801 (Edit: changed from “1800”) the prisoners had been visited by no lesser figures than Admiral Ushakov and Russian Ambassador at the court of Naples, Count Golovkin [9]. The visitors informed them that from now on they are personal guests of Emperor Paul and are going to be sent to Moscow with all comforts fitting their high rank and glorious reputation. Upon arrival, they will be presented with a various options to chose from but in a meantime there are personal letters to general Bonaparte from his family and friends and, most important, the Emperor’s personal letter with the invitation. Those of the personal belongings which had been recovered, will. be returned to them immediately but as of right now let’s proceed to the admiral’s ship where the dinner will be served. Well, of course, unless you prefer to stay in prison…
___________
[1] “What a trouble, that there is no bread and no kvass, Bullet will find soldier's meat.” Prutkov ‘Military aphorisms’
[2] “Don't look at the hole in the backpack - March forward and shout: hurrah!” Prutkov ‘Military aphorisms’.
[3] “The commander in war should not bind himself with anything, but act according to the circumstances and always quickly. “ Suvorov
[4] In OTL Nelson in his capacity of the Queen’s (or Lady’s Hamilton) lapdog cancelled cardinal’s decision and ordered execution of 124 republicans. Taking into an account that he did not play any role in taking Naples, this was really lousy (one of the reasons why he is killed ahead of a schedule: he was a brilliant naval tactician but other than that a rather unsavory type).
[5] He served as French Minister of War from July 22, 1797, to February 21, 1799 leaving it in a complete mess.
[6] No pun intended.
[7] In OTL much later Napoleon, who tended not to forget and forgive, first refused to exchange him and upon return refused to give him the money owned according to the law and he struggled to support his family.
[8] I dislike him even more than Nelson but, this aside, I have to put him out of the circulation.
[9] In OTL he did serve in this capacity but much earlier.
«Что за беда, что ни хлеба, ни кваса, Пуля найдет солдатское мясо.»
Прутков ‘Военные афоризмы’ [1]
«Не смотри, что в ранце дыра — Иди вперед и кричи: ура!»
Прутков ‘Военные афоризмы’ [2]
«Начальник на войне не должен себя ничем связывать, а поступать соответственно обстоятельствам и всегда быстро».
Суворов [3]
Прутков ‘Военные афоризмы’ [1]
«Не смотри, что в ранце дыра — Иди вперед и кричи: ура!»
Прутков ‘Военные афоризмы’ [2]
«Начальник на войне не должен себя ничем связывать, а поступать соответственно обстоятельствам и всегда быстро».
Суворов [3]
1799.
Southern Italy.
The royal court fled to Palermo and soon afterwards cardinal Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo was chosen to head a royalist movement in Calabria, where his family, though impoverished by debt, exercised large feudal powers. On 8 February 1799 he landed at La Cortona with a small following, and began to raise the so-called "army of the faith" in association with Michele Pezza, "Fra Diavolo", and other brigand leaders. His feuds of Scilla and Bagnara were the first places to be used for a massive enlistment of 25.000 farmers skilled to arms. They formed the Christian and Real Army, also known as Esercito della Santa Fede in Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, and conquered Crotone moving to the Basilicata and Apulia regions (Altamura and Modugno), and finally in the Principato Ultra.
Taking into an account importance of the Sicilian ports as the Russian naval and trade bases, Admiral Ushakov, who just completed his Corfu operation, got a permission, if he finds it feasible, and not involving serious risks for the Russian squadron, to provide a naval support to Ruffo’s operations.
With a backing of the Russian-Ottoman squadron Ruffo, at the head of his army, marched on Naples and took it on 15 June 1799: possibly exceeding his authority, he promised the Neapolitan republicans immunity from reprisals and obtained their surrender (they had to be shipped to France) [4]. Queen, who had much more zeal than brains, was very unhappy but Nelson was not there to implement her orders and neither Russian nor British naval commanders on the scene had any intention to obey her whims. Anyway, the Southern Italy was back in the hands of the Bourbons. Ruffo lost favor of the King, resigned his vicar-generalship to the prince of Cassero and lived quietly in Naples.
Northern Italy. The Austrians started campaign with 55,000 under command of general Melas.
On the opposite side there was French Army of Italy, 58,000 strong under command of Scherer who was mostly remarkable by a visible lack of any talent, military or administrative [5]. He won an initial clash at Pastrengo on March 26 but was defeated by Austrian General Pál Kray at the Battle of Magnano on April 5. "Schérer went into this battle without forming a reserve and was thus unable to react to crisis or opportunities effectively." Forced to retire behind the river Mincio, he gave up command to Jean Moreau.
From this point on situation stabilized with the French and Austrian armies maneuvering between the Guarda Lake and the Po River with neither side achieving any noticeable advantage for a while. While Moreau was more talented, his operations had been severely handicapped by a sorry state of his troops: a dysfunctional Ministry of War failed to supply troops with pretty much everything and, unlike Bonaparte, Moreau was trying to prevent his troops from unrestricted looting (and, anyway, it would not provide an army with gunpowder, cannonballs, etc.
Central Italy. General Macdonald had his 38,000 spread from the Rome to the Adriatic coast to prevent the further advances of Neapolitan army and also had to guard the right bank of the Po River to prevent possible Austrian attempt to advance South. Obviously, the force in his disposal was inadequate for the assigned task and suffered from the same supply problems.
Germany. Jourdan, appointed commander of the Army of Observation, assessed the quality and disposition of the forces and identified needed supplies and manpower. He found the army woefully inadequate for its assignment. The Army, and its flanking armies, the Army of Helvetia(Switzerland) and the Army of Mayence, were equally short of manpower, supplies, ammunition, and training. Jourdan documented assiduously these shortages, pointing out in lengthy correspondence to the Directory the consequences of an under-manned and under-supplied army; his petitions seemed to have little effect on the Directory, which sent neither significant additional manpower nor supplies. However, all these armies got orders to act offensively. On March 1, 1799, the Army of Observation, in an order of battle of approximately 30,000 men in four divisions, crossed the Rhine at Kehl and Basel as units crossed, they took the name Army of the Danube.
Jourdan was a good administrator and capable legislator (he was the framer of the famous conscription law of 1798, which came to be known as the Jourdan law) but his record in a field was sketchy and now he was confronted by the best Austrian general, Archduke Charles. On the top of this his army was outnumbered by the Austrians more than 2:1.
In March 1799, the Army of the Danube engaged in two major battles, both in the southwestern German theater, and was defeated in both. Jourdan instructed his generals to take up positions in the Black Forest, and he himself established a base at Hornberg. From there, General Jourdan relegated command of the army to his chief of staff, Jean Augustin Ernouf, and traveled to Paris to ask for more and better troops and, ultimately, when these were not forthcoming, to request a medical leave. The Army was reorganized, and a portion placed under the command of André Masséna and merged with the Army of Helvetia.
Egypt or s—t happens. In February 1799 commander of cavalry of the Army of Egypt and one of the most colorful figures [6] of the French Army, general Thomas Alexandre Dumas, asked and received permission to leave Army of Egypt due to the bad health.
While it is unclear if he really did have the health problem, it was not a secret that by that time he completely fall out with Bonaparte over conduct of campaign [7].
On 7 March 1799, Dumas boarded a small ship called the Belle Maltaise in the company of his fellow General Jean-Baptiste Manscourt du Rozoy, the geologist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, forty wounded French soldiers, and a number of Maltese and Genoan civilians. Dumas had sold the furnishings of his quarters in Cairo, and purchased 4,000 pounds of moka coffee; eleven Arabian horses (two stallions and nine mares) to establish breeding stock in France; and hired the ship. The ship managed to avoid the Brits patrolling Mediterranean, the weather was good and 41 day later it reached Marseilles safely. After selling his merchandise general Dumas went to Paris to report to the Ministry of War and wait for the next assignment.
On August 23 general Bonaparte accompanied by the generals Berthier, Murat, Lannes and Marmont boarded 44 guns frigate “Murion” and, accompanied by 3 other ships, left Egypt without bothering to say “Good Bye” to anybody. His deputy, general Kleber, got a letter appointing him a new army commander when Bonaparte was already sailing to France. The voyage started well but then storm dispersed the squadron and severely damaged “Murion” began to sink and forced by storms to land at Taranto, in the Kingdom of Naples. Bonaparte and his companions expected to get a friendly reception, having heard that the Kingdom had been overthrown by the Parthenopean Republic. But that short-lived republic had succumbed to an internal uprising by a local force known as the Holy Faith Army, led by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, in alliance with King Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples, who was at war with France. They were imprisoned and most of their belongings were confiscated. Ruffo, who was not a cruel person, tried to arrange for the exchange but the Directory did not show any interest and he gave up. The imprisonment conditions were rather harsh and soon enough heath of general Berthier noticeably deterriorated: he was partially paralyzed, almost blind in one eye, had been deaf in one ear. [8]
The salvation came from a rather unexpected corner. In March 1, 1801 (Edit: changed from “1800”) the prisoners had been visited by no lesser figures than Admiral Ushakov and Russian Ambassador at the court of Naples, Count Golovkin [9]. The visitors informed them that from now on they are personal guests of Emperor Paul and are going to be sent to Moscow with all comforts fitting their high rank and glorious reputation. Upon arrival, they will be presented with a various options to chose from but in a meantime there are personal letters to general Bonaparte from his family and friends and, most important, the Emperor’s personal letter with the invitation. Those of the personal belongings which had been recovered, will. be returned to them immediately but as of right now let’s proceed to the admiral’s ship where the dinner will be served. Well, of course, unless you prefer to stay in prison…
___________
[1] “What a trouble, that there is no bread and no kvass, Bullet will find soldier's meat.” Prutkov ‘Military aphorisms’
[2] “Don't look at the hole in the backpack - March forward and shout: hurrah!” Prutkov ‘Military aphorisms’.
[3] “The commander in war should not bind himself with anything, but act according to the circumstances and always quickly. “ Suvorov
[4] In OTL Nelson in his capacity of the Queen’s (or Lady’s Hamilton) lapdog cancelled cardinal’s decision and ordered execution of 124 republicans. Taking into an account that he did not play any role in taking Naples, this was really lousy (one of the reasons why he is killed ahead of a schedule: he was a brilliant naval tactician but other than that a rather unsavory type).
[5] He served as French Minister of War from July 22, 1797, to February 21, 1799 leaving it in a complete mess.
[6] No pun intended.
[7] In OTL much later Napoleon, who tended not to forget and forgive, first refused to exchange him and upon return refused to give him the money owned according to the law and he struggled to support his family.
[8] I dislike him even more than Nelson but, this aside, I have to put him out of the circulation.
[9] In OTL he did serve in this capacity but much earlier.
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