Battle of Rovereto In the Battle of Rovereto ( also Battle of Roveredo ) on 4 September 1796 a French army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Austrian corps led by Paul Davidovich during the War of the First Coalition , part of the French Revolutionary Wars . The battle was fought near the town of Rovereto , in the upper Adige River valley in northern Italy . The action was fought during the second relief of the Siege of Mantua . The Austrians left Davidovich ' s corps in the upper Adige valley while transferring two divisions to Bassano del Grappa by marching east , then south down the Brenta River valley . The Austrian army commander Dagobert von Würmser planned to march south - west from Bassano to Mantua , completing the clockwise manoeuvre . Meanwhile , Davidovich would threaten a descent from the north to distract the French . Bonaparte ' s next move did not conform to the Austrians ' expectations . The French commander advanced north with three divisions , a force that greatly outnumbered Davidovich . The French steadily pressed back the Austrian defenders all day and routed them in the afternoon . Davidovich retreated well to the north . This success allowed Bonaparte to follow Würmser down the Brenta valley to Bassano and , ultimately , trap him inside the walls of Mantua . Background . Plans . After being defeated in the Battle of Castiglione on 5 August , the Austrian army under Feldmarschall Würmser retreated north to Trento . Meanwhile , the French army resumed the Siege of Mantua . Pre - dawn attacks on 24 August led by General of Division Jean - Joseph Sahuguet and General of Brigade Claude Dallemagne pressed the Austrian garrison back into the fortress . On 26 August orders arrived from Emperor Francis II to immediately attempt a second relief of the fortress of Mantua . Würmser ' s new chief - of - staff , Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz von Lauer therefore drew up plans for an offensive . The division of " Feldmarschall - Leutnant " Johann Mészáros near Bassano was reinforced to 10 , 700 troops . Würmser would lead two divisions from Trento into the Brenta River valley . This route went east , then south to reach Bassano . From that location , the Austrians would turn southwest , join Mészáros , and march to Mantua via Legnago . The 17 , 300 - man Mantua garrison was sent orders to stage attacks on the besiegers when the relief army drew close . Feldmarschall - Leutnant Davidovich with 19 , 600 troops defended Trento . If the French forces facing him weakened , he was to move south on Mantua . Lauer noted that the French army , " had suffered badly during the recent combats , and had not properly recovered , nor received significant reinforcements . However , he drew some dangerous conclusions from this . . . " Lauer confidently predicted that the French army would remain quiet long enough for the Austrian relief effort to get well underway . In fact , the French government approved a strategy that sent the Army of Italy north across the Brenner Pass to link with General of Division Jean Moreau ' s army in Bavaria . Accordingly , General of Division Bonaparte planned to mass 33 , 000 soldiers from the divisions of Generals of Division Claude Belgrand de Vaubois , André Masséna , and Pierre Augereau , then advance to Trento . His remaining 13 , 500 men covered the blockade of Mantua and the line of the Adige near Verona and Legnago . Bonaparte instructed Sahuguet and General of Division Charles Kilmaine to leave a garrison in Peschiera del Garda and fall back behind the Oglio River if they were unable to resist an Austrian attack from the east . Battle . The 4 , 100 - man division Feldmarschall - Leutnant Karl Philipp Sebottendorf moved out on 1 September . It was soon followed by " Feldmarschall - Leutnant " Peter Quasdanovich ' s 4 , 600 soldiers . Davidovich controlled 19 , 555 troops , but only 13 , 695 of these were immediately available . He deployed the brigades of General - major s Josef Philipp Vukassovich and Johann Rudolph Sporck near Rovereto , while the brigade of General - major Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss - Plauen held Trento and some positions west of the Adige . The brigades of General - major Johann Loudon in the Valtelline and General - major Johann Grafen in the Voralberg were not within supporting distance . Vaubois , with 10 , 000 men , lay to the west of Lake Garda . He put General of Brigade Jean Joseph Guieu and his brigade in boats , while his other two brigades marched north past Lake Idro to Riva del Garda at the northern end of the lake . Joined by Guieu , Vaubois turned east toward Rovereto . Bonaparte sent Masséna ' s 13 , 000 troops advancing directly north up the Adige valley while Augereau ' s 9 , 000 men struggled through the mountains north of Verona . On 3 September , Masséna attacked 1 , 500 of Vukassovich ' s troops near Ala and drove them back to Marco on the east bank of the Adige . Vukassovich tried to warn Davidovich , but his superior was away at a conference with Würmser in Trento . Vaubois brushed aside some elements of Reuss ' s brigade at Nago - Torbole and stood poised to attack an Austrian position at Mori on the west bank . Meanwhile , Würmser became aware of the French threat to Trento , but he nevertheless pursued his strategy of moving via the Brenta valley . At dawn , Masséna ' s division attacked Vukassovich ' s Austrians at Marco . General of Brigade Claude Perrin Victor led one demi - brigade straight up the main road , while General of Brigade Jean Joseph Magdeleine Pijon seized the high ground to one flank . After sturdy resistance , the Austrians pulled back to avoid being cut off . Masséna pursued vigorously , breaking up a number of Austrian formations . When he reached Rovereto , Vukassovich stood firm again until noon - time . Then he fell back toward Calliano with the remnant of his brigade and Sporck ' s troops . By this time , Vaubois had captured Mori on the west bank . Davidovich placed Colonel Karl Weidenfeld and the " Preiss " Infantry Regiment 24 in a formidable position in the Adige gorge to cover the retreat of his forces . However , the regiment ' s morale was poor after suffering casualties and being hustled out of several defensive lines . Aided by artillery fire directed by General of Brigade Elzéard Auguste Cousin de Dommartin , Masséna ' s troops attacked in heavy columns and broke through . Believing themselves well - covered by Weidenfeld ' s force , Vukassovich and Spork allowed their troops to cook dinner when they arrived in Calliano . Without warning , the French interrupted the proceedings by storming into the camp in the late afternoon . The result was a rout of the surviving Austrians . Result . The French lost 750 casualties during the day . Austrian losses included 3 , 000 killed , wounded , and prisoners , plus 25 cannon and 7 colours captured . During the night , Davidovich evacuated Trento and fell back to Lavis , a village at the river Avisio and southern frontier of Austrian territory , where he joined Reuss . Masséna entered Trento on the morning of 5 September , followed by Vaubois . At this time , Bonaparte found out Würmser ' s plan of marching east into the Brenta valley . He discarded the strategy of joining Moreau and adopted a very bold plan . Far from retiring down the Adige with his whole army , Bonaparte ordered Vaubois to block the gorges north of Trent with 10 , 000 men , while the remaining 22 , 000 troops set off in full pursuit of Würmser down the same pass that the Austrians were using . This was an extremely risky course to pursue , for during the operation the Army of Italy would be wholly dependent on what supplies it could seize locally , and even a temporary check on the Brenta might lead to starvation in the midst of the Alps . " On 5 September , Vaubois crossed the bridge of the river Avisio , attacked Davidovich at Lavis and drove him farther north . Satisfied that Davidovich was no longer a threat , Bonaparte sent Augereau ' s division to Levico Terme on the trail of Würmser . Soon , Masséna ' s troops followed in Augereau ' s wake . This set the stage for the subsequent skirmish at Primolano on 7 September and the Battle of Bassano on 8 September .