Battle of Rivoli The Battle of Rivoli ( 14 – 15 January 1797 ) was a key victory in the French campaign in Italy against Austria . Napoleon Bonaparte ' s 23 , 000 Frenchmen defeated an attack of 28 , 000 Austrians under " Feldzeugmeister " Jozsef Alvinczi , ending Austria ' s fourth and final attempt to relieve the Siege of Mantua . Rivoli further demonstrated Napoleon ' s brilliance as a military commander and led to French occupation of northern Italy . Forces . See Rivoli 1797 Campaign Order of Battle . Prelude . Alvinczi ' s plan was to overwhelm Barthélemy Joubert in the mountains east of Lake Garda with the concentration 28 , 000 men in five separate columns , and thereby gain access to the open country north of Mantua where Austrian superior numbers would be able to defeat Bonaparte ' s smaller Army of Italy . Alvinczi attacked Joubert ' s 10 , 000 men on 12 January . However Joubert held him off and was subsequently joined by Louis - Alexandre Berthier and , at 2am on 14 January , by Bonaparte , who brought up elements of André Masséna ' s division to support Joubert ' s efforts to form a defensive line on favorable ground just north of Rivoli on the Trambasore Heights . The battle would be a contest between Alvinczi ' s efforts to concentrate his dispersed columns versus the arrival of French reinforcements . Battle . The morning of the 14th saw fierce fighting along the Trambasore Heights , as another Austrian column under Prince Heinrich of Reuss - Plauen attempted to turn the French right via the Rivoli gorge . By 11 : 00 things looked very bad for Bonaparte : Austrian dragoon s had forced their way through the gorge , word arrived that another Austrian column under Colonel Franz Lusignan was cutting off his retreat south of Rivoli , and Alvinczi was on the Trambasore Heights urging his victorious battalions forward , though they were unformed by combat and rough terrain . By a series of actions , the French managed to take advantage of this crucial mistake . Bonaparte , Joubert , and Louis Alexandre Berthier put together a well co - ordinated combined arms attack . A battery of 15 guns blasted the dragoons , while two columns of infantry , one for the gorge and one for the Trambasore Heights were led forward supported by cavalry under Charles Leclerc and Antoine Lasalle . The packed masses in the gorge fled when their own dragoons were driven over them in panic . And likewise the dispersed infantry on the Heights were unable to hold once French cavalry got in their midst . Lastly , Gabriel Rey ' s division and Claude Victor ' s brigade arrived and broke Lusignan ' s southern column with the loss of 3 , 000 prisoners . Results . The next day Joubert led a successful pursuit of Alvinczi , all but destroying his columns , the remnants of which fled north up the Adige River valley in confusion . The Battle of Rivoli was Bonaparte ' s greatest victory at the time . The French lost 2 , 200 killed and wounded and 1 , 000 captured , while the Austrians suffered 4 , 000 killed and wounded , plus 8 , 000 men and 40 guns captured . One authority gives the French 5 , 000 and the Austrians 14 , 000 total losses . Mantua surrendered on 2 February . In March , Bonaparte launched an offensive to the east . Popular Lore . The Rue de Rivoli , a street in central Paris , is named after the battle .