It became evident that Eugène was bent on a close pursuit, so John ordered his army to take up positions to defend the Piave. When Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix's light infantry division crossed the river early on 8 May to bring on the Battle of Piave River, John's troops were drawn up much closer to the river than Eugène suspected, with VIII Armeekorps on the right flank and Ignaz Gyulay's IX Armeekorps on the left. At this time, Albert Gyulay's corps consisted only of the brigades of Hieronymus Karl Graf von Colloredo-Mansfeld and Anton Gajoli. Dessaix was met with a massed cavalry charge led by Christian Wolfskeel von Reichenberg, which he repelled by forming his "voltiguers" in square. But the French soon came under fire from a 24-gun battery.