Giovanni Marchese di Provera Giovanni Marchese di Provera , or Johann Provera , born c . 1736 – died 5 July 1804 , served in the Austrian army in Italy during the French Revolutionary Wars . Provera played a significant role in three campaigns against General Napoleon Bonaparte during the Italian Campaign of 1796 . Military career . Since he was 60 years old in 1796 , Provera was born around 1736 . During the Seven Years War he fought at the Battle of Kolin . On 18 June 1789 he was promoted to " General - Major " ( Major General ) in the Austrian army . He fought in Italy during the campaigns of 1794 and 1795 , and became a " Feldmarschall - Leutnant " ( Lieutenant General ) on 4 March 1796 . He was a Knight of the Order of Malta and held the noble rank of Marchese . During the Montenotte Campaign in the spring of 1796 , Provera led a 4 , 000 - man Austrian - Sardinian division in the 21 , 000 - strong army of the Kingdom of Sardinia - Piedmont . The Sardinians were allied to a 32 , 000 - man Austrian army led by Johann Beaulieu . On 12 April at the Battle of Montenotte , Bonaparte ' s French army managed to drive a wedge between the two allied armies . Pushing west , the French forces encountered part of Provera ' s division on 13 April at the Battle of Millesimo and pushed it back . To cover the retreat , Provera and about 900 men occupied a ruined castle from which they repelled repeated French assaults . On the morning of 14 April , Provera and his men were compelled to surrender . After being exchanged , Provera rejoined Jozsef Alvinczi ' s Austrian army in the third attempt to relieve the Siege of Mantua . In bitter fighting at the Second Battle of Bassano on 6 November 1796 , Provera ' s division lost 1 , 000 casualties but helped repel Bonaparte ' s attack . He brought up reinforcements in the Austrian victory at the Battle of Caldiero on 12 November . During the losing effort at the Battle of Arcole on 15 to 17 November , Provera defended the village of Belfiore di Porcile against the daily attacks of André Masséna ' s French division . In the fourth attempt to relieve Mantua , Alvinczi led the main Austrian effort from the north , down the Adige River valley . While the French army focused its attention to the north , Provera ' s 9 , 000 men struck at Legnago and Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza ' s 6 , 200 Austrians attacked Verona . On 9 November Provera drove in the French outposts near Legnago . Over the next few days he scouted the Adige to find a place to cross . The elderly general " showed very little sense of urgency " and " simply could not make up his mind what to do . On the 11th , he decided to order a bridge to be built over the Adige , then countermanded it soon afterwards . " On the night of 13 November he built a pontoon bridge over the river at Angiari , crossed the next morning , and headed for Mantua . He left a force behind to defend the bridge . Meanwhile , Bonaparte had inflicted a crushing defeat on Alvinczi at the Battle of Rivoli . The French general ordered large forces to converge on and destroy Provera ' s column . Delayed by a French cavalry brigade , the Austrians arrived in front of Mantua on 15 and 16 November . Provera tried and failed to break through the fortified suburb of San Giorgio , held by the French . At dawn on the 16th , Dagobert von Wurmser ' s garrison tried to break out but was repulsed . Soon , Napoleon concentrated heavy forces behind the Austrians . Hemmed in by greatly superior numbers , Provera surrendered near La Favorita Palace with 6 , 000 men . Even the 2 , 000 men left to defend the pontoon bridge were captured . Provera retired from military service on 29 April 1797 . He died in Venice on 5 July 1804 .