page_title: Battle of Bassignana (1799)
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Bassignana (1799) / Battle
caption_attribution_description: Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich Romanov
context_page_description: The Battle of Bassignana saw an Imperial Russian corps led by Andrei Grigorevich Rosenberg attempt to establish a bridgehead on the south bank of the Po River in the presence of a Republican French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau. The French rapidly massed superior strength and attacked. After several hours of hard fighting, the Russians abandoned their foothold with serious losses. This War of the Second Coalition action occurred near the town of Bassignana, located in the angle between the Po and Tanaro Rivers, about 19 kilometres northeast of Alessandria, Italy.
  A string of Austrian and Russian victories in the spring of 1799 evicted the French armies from north and northeast Italy. The leader of the combined Austro-Russian armies, Alexander Suvorov prepared to drive the French armies from the rest of Italy. Suvorov ordered his lieutenant Rosenberg to join him on the south bank of the Po below its confluence with the Tanaro. Probably overruled by the Tsar's son Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia, Rosenberg unwisely crossed above the confluence with the Tanaro.
context_section_description: Instead of following orders, Rosenberg began sending his troops across the Po near Bassignana, which was upstream from where the Tanaro emptied into the Po. Grand Duke Constantine was almost certainly responsible for ordering Rosenberg to ignore Suvorov's instructions. At first the Allies believed that Valenza was unoccupied, so that a plan was made on 8 May to cross the Po. On 10 May it was discovered that Valenza was held by the French. During this time, Nikolay Andreievich Chubarov explored Mugarone island in the Po River and found it to be a suitable crossing place. Chubarov set up a flying bridge from the north bank to the island. A cable connected the north bank with the island so that a ferry boat could be quickly hauled across the deep channel. The Russian preparations were so obvious that Moreau believed it was a feint and not a real attack. He ordered Grenier to leave a few outposts and march his division south to Alessandria to face the gathering threat from Suvorov to the east.
  On the evening of 11 May 1799, Rosenberg sent 4,000 Russians across to the island. Crossing on the ferry were three grenadier battalions, three jäger companies, and the Semernikov Cossack Regiment. Ivan Ivanovich Dahlheim with two infantry battalions crossed on small craft. The Russians waited on the island until daylight. On the morning of 12 May, the Russians waded across two shoulder-deep fords shown to them by the local people. Grand Duke Constantine crossed early and led the troops as they drove off Grenier's outposts. The residents of Bassignana welcomed the Russians and chopped down the "Tree of Liberty" that the French had planted in their town. At this time, Rosenberg began transferring more troops from the north bank to the island. The Russians on the south bank moved southwest past the hamlet of Pellizzari and began encountering French resistance at the village of Pecetto di Valenza.
  There are two different accounts of what happened next. The first source stated that the French defenders posted at Pecetto and the Brico di San Antonio (hill) farther north drove off the initial wave of Cossacks. Russian infantry came up early in the afternoon and by 4:15 pm they dislodged the French from Pecetto. Sometime before this, Moreau was completely alerted by this unexpected threat. He instructed Grenier's division to turn back to repel the Russians and sent Gaspard Amédée Gardanne with his reserve. He also ordered Victor's division to the scene. When Grenier's division swept forward it soon recaptured Pecetto. Chubarov tried manfully to rally his troops to hold back the French. 
  The second source asserted that Moreau, who was in Valenza, ordered the outposts in Bassignana to fall back to Grenier's main line. Chubarov advanced with the Cossacks and 2,500 infantry in three and one-half battalions. Grenier deployed his division facing east with Valenza on his left. His line included the high ground of the Sant' Antonio ridge and Pecetto. He posted Louis Gareau's brigade on the left and François Jean Baptiste Quesnel's brigade on the right. Gardanne's reserve was on Quesnel's right. Moreau ordered Victor to quickly march to the battlefield from the south. Beginning about 1:00 pm, the Russians led by Constantine attacked Quesnel's brigade at Pecetto but were consistently repulsed. When Victor's approaching columns began to appear on the hills to the south, the Russians became unnerved and started to retreat.
  At about this moment, a staff officer from Suvorov appeared with an order from the army commander. It read, "The count has commanded you to dispatch a courier to inform him whether you are really crossing to join us. We have completely abandoned the project of taking Valenza... Bring as many troops as you can and join us here, and just leave pickets and observation posts opposite Valenza". The officer had ordered that no more troops be brought across the Po and instructed the troops already on the south bank to evacuate the bridgehead. Constantine rushed back and overruled the staff officer; he ordered the battalions from the Miloradov
caption: Gr. Duke Constantine
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