page_title: Battle of Tarvis (1797)
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Tarvis (1797) / Battle
context_page_description: The Battle of Tarvis was fought during 21–23 March 1797 near present-day Tarvisio in far northeast Italy, about 12 kilometres west-by-southwest of the three-border conjunction with Austria and Slovenia. In the battle, three divisions of a First French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte attacked several columns of the retreating Habsburg Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. In three days of confused fighting, French divisions directed by André Masséna, Jean Joseph Guieu, and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier succeeded in blocking the Tarvis Pass and capturing 3,500 Austrians led by Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza. The engagement occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
  After Bonaparte's capture of the fortress of Mantua in early February 1797, he cleared his south flank by crushing the army of the Papal States. Reinforced with forces from the Rhine front, Bonaparte was determined to drive the Austrian army from northeast Italy. His offensive began in March and consisted of a secondary drive through the County of Tyrol by Barthélemy Catherine Joubert's left wing and an eastward thrust by Bonaparte's main army.
context_section_description: As Masséna pushed toward Tarvisio (Tarvis), driving Lusignan before him, the Archduke sent three divisions to hold the pass. However, as they arrived in the vicinity the Austrians found themselves caught between Masséna and Bonaparte's other divisions which operated against their rear. In the first clash on 21 March, Masséna's advance guard pushed General-major Joseph Ocskay von Ocsko's Austrians out of Tarvis, blocking the escape route. Later that day, General-major Charles Philippe Vinchant de Gontroeul appeared with another column and drove the French from Tarvis. Masséna launched a heavy assault on the 22nd, dispossessing Gontroeul of the town and forcing him to withdraw toward Villach.
  This left Feldmarschall-Leutnant Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza's Austrian column on the wrong side of the pass. Bajalics and General-major Samuel Köblös de Nagy-Varád battled on 22 March against the divisions of Masséna, Guieu, and Sérurier. The next day they surrendered 4,000 Austrian soldiers, 25 artillery pieces, and 500 wagons. According to another source, the French captured 3,500 Austrians, 25 guns, and 400 vehicles. In the different clashes, the French suffered 1,200 casualties while inflicting a loss of 1,000 killed and wounded on their opponents.
  The 3rd Battalion of the Klebek Infantry Regiment Nr. 14, 4th Battalion of the Archduke Anton Infantry Regiment Nr. 52, and Khevenhüller Grenadier Battalion were captured. Other Austrian units involved in the fighting were two battalions of the Fürstenburg Infantry Regiment Nr. 36, three battalions of the Nadásdy Infantry Regiment Nr. 39, Rüdt Grenadier Battalion, four squadrons of the Erdödy Hussar Regiment Nr. 11, and one squadron of the Toscana Dragoon Regiment Nr. 26.
caption: André Masséna played a key role in trapping the Austrians.
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