Battle of Bassano The Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September 1796 , during the French Revolutionary Wars , in the territory of the Republic of Venice , between a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces led by Count Dagobert von Wurmser . The battle ended in a French victory . The Austrians abandoned their artillery and baggage , losing supplies , cannons , and battle standards to the French . This engagement occurred during the second Austrian relief attempt of the Siege of Mantua . Background . Austrian Plans . The first relief of Mantua failed at the battles of Lonato and Castiglione in early August . The defeat caused Wurmser to retreat north up the Adige River valley . Meanwhile , the French reinvested the Austrian garrison of Mantua . Ordered by Emperor Francis II to relieve Mantua at once , " Feldmarschall " Wurmser and his new chief - of - staff " Feldmarschal - Leutnant " ( FML ) Franz von Lauer drew up a strategy . Leaving FML Paul Davidovich and 13 , 700 soldiers to defend Trento and the approaches to the County of Tyrol , Wurmser directed two divisions east then south down the Brenta valley . When he joined the large division of Johann Mészáros at Bassano , he would have 20 , 000 men . From Bassano , Wurmser would move on Mantua , while Davidovich probed the enemy defenses from the north , looking for a favorable opportunity to support his superior . Lauer predicted that the French , having suffered recent losses , would be unable to react in time . Unknown to the Austrians , the French government desired that General Bonaparte cross the Alps to join the army of General Jean Moreau in southern Germany . Forces . See Bassano 1796 Campaign Order of Battle for a list of French and Austrian army units . Geography . In 1796 , there were only three practicable routes between Trento and the Po River basin . The first route lay west of Lake Garda . The second route was the road down the Adige valley east of Lake Garda and north of Verona . The third route went east through Levico Terme and Borgo Valsugana , then followed the Brenta River valley ( Valsugana ) southward to Bassano del Grappa . An army that held both Trento and Bassano could move troops and supplies between the two places free from French interference . Operations . Bonaparte posted General of Division Claude Vaubois with 10 , 000 men on the west side of Lake Garda . General of Division André Masséna defended the Adige River valley with 13 , 000 troops and General of Division Pierre Augereau covered Verona with 10 , 000 more . General of Division Charles Kilmaine maintained the blockade of Mantua with General of Division Jean Sahuguet ' s division of 8 , 000 soldiers and held a 2 , 000 man reserve at Verona . Another source gave Vaubois 11 , 000 , Massena 13 , 000 , Augereau 9 , 000 , Sahuguet 10 , 000 , and Kilmaine 3 , 500 soldiers . Bonaparte struck first , sending Masséna and Augereau north toward Trento . Meanwhile , Vaubois advanced past Lake Idro to Riva at the north end of Lake Garda . Vaubois and Masséna converged on Rovereto on the Adige . At the Battle of Rovereto on 4 September , the French routed Davidovich ' s outnumbered troops , inflicting 3 , 000 casualties at a cost of 750 killed and wounded . Finding that Wurmser had moved toward Bassano , Bonaparte abandoned the plan to link with Moreau . Leaving Vaubois to observe the fleeing Austrians in the upper Adige valley , the French army commander decided to take a bold but risky course of action . Cutting loose from his supply line , he ordered Augereau , followed by Masséna , to the east into the Brenta valley . On 7 September , Augereau ' s 8 , 200 soldiers overwhelmed the 2 , 800 to 4 , 000 Austrians of Wurmser ' s rear guard at Primolano ( 6 km north of Cismon del Grappa ) , capturing 1 , 500 men and their commander " Oberstleutnant " Alois von Gavasini . The victorious French then followed the valley as it turned south toward Bassano . Battle . Bassano . Surprised by the speed of the French advance , Wurmser was only able to gather up 11 , 000 men before the collision took place . On 8 September , 20 , 000 French soldiers fell upon Wurmser from the north . First , they attacked the 3 , 800 - man Austrian rearguard under FML Peter Quasdanovich and " General - Major " ( GM ) Adam Bajalics . Bonaparte sent Masséna down the west bank of the Brenta and Augereau down the east bank . Overwhelmed by repeated attacks and pursued by Colonel Joachim Murat ' s cavalry , the rearguard collapsed and Bajalics was captured . Wurmser deployed one brigade on the west bank , a second brigade on the east bank , and a third in Bassano . Colonel Jean Lannes led a successful charge which broke the Austrian lines and burst into the town . Quasdanovich later assumed command over the defeated Austrians who retreated east , but 3 , 500 soldiers of FML Karl Sebottendorf ' s division fell back to the south with their army commander . The French suffered 400 killed , wounded , and missing . Wurmser lost 600 killed and wounded . Between 2 , 000 and 4 , 000 Austrians , eight colors and 30 artillery pieces were captured . The vigorous French pursuit also seized a bridging train plus 200 limbers and ammunition wagons . Race for Mantua . Wurmser unexpectedly headed west toward Mantua and joined the division of Mészáros at Vicenza . Immediately , Bonaparte sent his two divisions after the Austrians , hoping to cut them off . Masséna advanced southwest from Vicenza while Augereau moved south to Padua to close the Austrian escape route to the east . GM Peter Ott distinguished himself leading Wurmser ' s vanguard in the race for Mantua . A French battalion holding Legnago abandoned its post , allowing the Austrians passage across the Adige . Wurmser left 1 , 600 men to hold the city and continued his march . On 11 September , Masséna intercepted the Austrians at Cerea with two brigades weakened by straggling . Ott held on until Wurmser arrived with the main body , driving the French back with 1 , 200 casualties . Bonaparte ordered Sahuguet to take up blocking positions at Castel d ' Ario and at Governolo where the Mincio River flowed into the Po River . The next day , the Austrian field marshal , assisted by a local guide , crossed a bridge that Sahuguet failed to destroy and led 10 , 000 infantry and 3 , 000 cavalry to Mantua . After capturing the detachment at Legnago on 13 September , Bonaparte appeared before Mantua . On 15 September , Wurmser awaited the French on the east bank of the Mincio River in line of battle , with his right flank on the San Giorgio suburb and his left on La Favorita Palace . The Austrian left wing under Ott held off Sahuguet ' s attacks all day . But the Austrian line gave way before the attacks of Masséna on the center and General of Brigade Louis André Bon ( leading Augereau ' s division ) on the right . The French succeeded in capturing the San Giorgio suburb and driving the Austrians into Mantua . During this fight , 2 , 500 Austrians became casualties and 11 cannon and 3 colors were captured . The French lost 1 , 500 killed and wounded , plus 9 guns captured . Results . Mantua ' s garrison was swollen to nearly 30 , 000 men . But , within six weeks , 4 , 000 Austrians died of wounds or disease in the crowded fortress . One historian notes that , The second attempt to relieve Mantua had therefore come to a rather sorry conclusion for the Austrians . Their army commander had managed to get himself shut inside the very place he was trying to liberate , losing more than 11 , 000 men in the process . The French had failed to make the link between their armies in Italy and Germany , and Bonaparte was , in a sense , back to square one , still faced with the problem of reducing Mantua , which now had a much more powerful garrison .