page_title: Battle of Gotthard Pass
section_title: 24 September
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Gotthard Pass / Battle / 24 September
caption_attribution_description: English: From Gotthard pass to Airolo
context_page_description: The Battle of Gotthard Pass or Battle of St. Gotthard Pass saw an Imperial Russian army commanded by Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov supported by two Habsburg Austrian brigades attack a Republican French division under General of Division Claude Lecourbe. The Austro-Russian army successfully captured the Gotthard Pass after stiff fighting on the first day. Suvorov's main body was assisted by a Russian flanking column led by Lieutenant General Andrei Rosenberg and a smaller Austrian flanking column under General-major Franz Xaver von Auffenberg. The next day, Suvorov's army fought its way north along the upper Reuss River valley past the Teufelsbrücke in Schöllenen Gorge. By 26 September the army reached Altdorf near Lake Lucerne.
  Suvorov's offensive was part of a misbegotten Allied strategy that planned to unite the Russian armies of Suvorov and Lieutenant General Alexander Korsakov near Zurich. Together with Austrian and Swiss forces led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze, they would sweep General of Division André Masséna's French Army of Helvetia from Switzerland.
context_section_description: Lecourbe's division consisted of three brigades under Generals of Brigade Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière, Louis Henri Loison, and Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor. Gudin's brigade numbered 3,801 men and consisted of the 67th and 109th Line Infantry Demi-brigades and three grenadier companies. Loison's brigade was 2,980-strong and was made up of the 38th and 76th Line Infantry Demi-brigades. Lecourbe was in Altdorf at the northern end of the upper Reuss valley with the 720-man divisional reserve of nine grenadier companies. Molitor's brigade was far to the east near Glarus on the upper Linth River. The 67th Line defended the Gotthard Pass, the 109th Line held the Oberalp Pass and the village of Andermatt, and Loison's brigade was posted near Amsteg in the center of the upper Reuss valley. A second author credited Gudin with 4,294 soldiers and Loison with 4,366 men.
  Massena ordered Lecourbe to advance east on 25 September as part of a general offensive against the Allies. Suvorov was about to assault Lecourbe from the south, catching his opponent off-balance. As early as 5 September, rumors reached the French that Suvorov was coming north with 25,000 troops, but Lecourbe discounted the stories. His patrols detected Strauch's Austrians in the Ticino valley and from 20 September there were even reports of Russian soldiers nearby. Lecourbe put Gudin's brigade on alert, but did not budge from his headquarters in Altdorf. In previous campaigns, Lecourbe proved himself a capable general in mountain fighting, but this time he found himself poorly prepared for Suvorov's impending attack.
  Suvorov's plan of attack for 24 September called for the main effort by Derfelden's Russians and Strauch's Austrians against the Gotthard Pass. This thrust would be assisted by a right-hook by Rosenberg's Russians across the Oberalp Pass that would seize Andermatt north of the Gotthard. Auffenberg's Austrians would make a deeper right hook and block the upper Reuss valley at Amsteg. The 67th Line with 1,861 soldiers was divided into three groupings, at Airolo, at the hamlet of Cima del Bosco near the entrance to the Val Tremola, and at the pass itself. The attackers must climb 916 metres (3,005 ft) from Airolo to the pass. This hike might take an unencumbered person two and a half hours, but the Russians and Austrians would have to carry a musket, ammunition, battle gear, and full haversack with French firearms blazing in their faces.
  The advance to the foot of the Gotthard Pass fell badly behind schedule so that the attack did not start until 2:00 pm. The French quickly abandoned Airolo and established themselves in improvised defenses on the slopes above. For the assault on the Gotthard, Suvorov split the main body into three columns. The right column consisted of Bagration's advance guard followed by Schveikovsky's division. It climbed the right side of the valley, aiming for Cima del Bosco. Bagration's orders called for detaching four battalions over the mountain to gain the pass by a flanking move. The center column was made up of Forster's division and two battalions of the Austrian Wallis Infantry Regiment. It advanced directly up the Val Tremola. The left column was formed from the Russian Veletsky Infantry Regiment and the remainder of Strauch's Austrian brigade. Its assignment was to block the valley leading west to prevent any interference from French troops under General of Division Louis Marie Turreau.
  The assault ran into fierce French resistance at once. The 250 Russian Jägers forming the apex of the attack lost 150 men as casualties. Schveikovsky's division inexplicably veered downhill into the valley and the Russian attack stalled. Seeing his soldiers falter, Suvorov lay down in a ditch and asked to be buried. He announced, "You are no longer my children, and I am no longer your father. There is nothing left to me but to die." The nearby Rosenberg Grenadiers rallied and insisted on continuing the attack. The story was denied by some, but it was just the sort of theatrics that Suvorov often used to inspire his troops. Strauch's
caption: The photo shows Airolo and the Ticino valley at the foot of Gotthard Pass. The hamlet of Cima del Bosco is just beyond the hairpin curve.
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