In April 1796, he commanded the Right Wing under a new army commander, Johann Beaulieu, a fellow Walloon. During the Montenotte Campaign, the French army under Napoleon Bonaparte mauled Argenteau's wing at the battles of Montenotte and Dego. After these defeats, Beaulieu's army remained largely paralyzed as the French knocked the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont out of the First Coalition. Despite these events, Argenteau received the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa in May 1796.