Battle of Montenotte The Battle of Montenotte was fought on 12 April 1796 , during the French Revolutionary Wars , between the French army under General Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian corps under Count Eugène - Guillaume Argenteau . The French won the battle , which was fought near the village of Cairo Montenotte in the Kingdom of Sardinia - Piedmont . The modern town is located in the northwestern part of Italy . On 11 April , Argenteau led 3 , 700 men in several assaults against a French mountaintop redoubt but failed to take it . By the morning of the 12th , Bonaparte concentrated large forces against Argenteau ' s now - outnumbered troops . The strongest French push came from the direction of the mountaintop redoubt , but a second force fell on the weak Austrian right flank and overwhelmed it . In its hasty retreat from the field , Argenteau ' s force lost heavily and was badly disorganized . This attack against the boundary between the Austrian and Sardinian armies threatened to sever the link between the two allies . This action was part of the Montenotte Campaign . Background . " See Montenotte 1796 Campaign Order of Battle for the organization of the French , Austrian , and Sardinian armies . " On 27 March 1796 , a young General Bonaparte arrived in Nice to take over the Army of Italy , his first army command . His army included 63 , 000 troops , but of these , only 37 , 600 men and 60 artillery pieces were capable of being put into the field . The soldiers were badly fed , months behind in pay , and poorly equipped . Consequently , morale in many units was low and in a few cases this had led to mutiny . Bonaparte ' s Austrian opponent , Feldzeugmeister Johann Peter Beaulieu was also new to the Italian theater of operations . Beaulieu directly controlled 19 , 500 Austrians of whom half were still in winter quarters . Beaulieu ' s subordinate Argenteau commanded an additional 11 , 500 Austrians who were deployed farther to the west around Acqui Terme . A Kingdom of Sardinia - Piedmont army of about 20 , 000 men was west of Argenteau ' s corps . Bonaparte planned to advance from the Ligurian coast to drive a wedge between Beaulieu ' s Austrian army to the northeast and Feldmarschall - Leutnant Michelangelo Alessandro Colli - Marchi ' s 21 , 000 - strong Austro - Sardinian army to the northwest . Colli , an Austrian on loan to the Sardinian army , shared a personal friendship with Beaulieu . However , the Austrian government secretly warned Beaulieu not to trust his Sardinian ally . This made it difficult for the two allied leaders to agree on a joint strategy . Colli feared an attack that would split the allied armies , which was exactly the plan that Bonaparte was contemplating . He argued for the allied armies to concentrate in the center . But Beaulieu became convinced that the French intended to seize Genoa , and he intended to thwart that possibility with an attack of his own . Based on a muster roll from 9 April , Bonaparte ' s field army consisted of four divisions under Generals of Division Amédée Emmanuel Francois Laharpe , Jean - Baptiste Meynier , Pierre Augereau , and Jean - Mathieu - Philibert Sérurier . Laharpe and Meynier ' s divisions formed the advance guard under André Masséna . Laharpe ' s 8 , 614 soldiers were divided between the 17th and 22nd Light Infantry Demi - Brigades and the 32nd and 75th Line Infantry Demi - Brigades . Meynier commanded 9 , 526 men in the 11th and 27th Light and the 25th , 51st , old 51st , and 55th Line . Augereau led 10 , 117 troops in the 4th and 29th Light and 4th , 14th , and 18th Line . Sérurier directed 9 , 448 men in the 69th Light , 39th Line , and 85th Line . General of Brigade Jean - Baptiste Cervoni was detached at Voltri with the 3 , 181 troops of the 75th Line and 2 , 000 soldiers of the 51st Line . Beaulieu planned to fall on Cervoni with two columns under General - major Philipp Pittoni von Dannenfeld and Feldmarschall - Leutnant Karl Philipp Sebottendorf . Pittoni had infantry five battalions and four cavalry squadrons totalling 3 , 350 foot soldiers and 624 horsemen . Sebottendorf led 3 , 200 troops in five battalions . Argenteau counted 9 , 000 infantry and 340 cavalry in 11 battalions and two squadrons . These were scattered , with four battalions near Sassello , one at Acqui Terme , two at Mioglia , one at Dego , one at Cairo Montenotte , and two others nearby . Pittoni was ordered to move through the Bocchetta Pass north of Genoa while Beaulieu accompanied Sebottendorf ' s column through the Turchino Pass , northwest of Genoa . On 10 April , the left wing of the Austrian army under Beaulieu , Sebottendorf , and Pittoni attacked Cervoni ' s French brigade in the Battle of Voltri . Cervoni made a fighting retreat and escaped intact to Savona down the coast . Beaulieu belatedly realized that he was now dangerously separated from his right wing under Feldmarschall - Leutnant Argenteau . He made arrangements to shift his left wing west to support his colleague and directed reinforcements from Lombardy to concentrate at Acqui . The road net in the vicinity of the Montenotte battlefield resembled a triangle ( Δ ) . The village of Altare , which was on the main east - west road from Savona to Ceva , lay at the bottom of the left leg , to the west . Altare was on the important Cadibona Pass road . The village of Madonna di Savona was located at the bottom of the right leg , to the east . Montenotte Superiore could be found at the top of the triangle . From Montenotte Superiore , the road continued north from the top of the Δ to Montenotte Inferiore . Three peaks were spaced at intervals along the right leg on the triangle . Starting from the top of the Δ , they were Monte San Giorgio , Monte Pra , and Monte Negino ( or Monte Legino ) . Battle . Monte Negino . Due to poor staff work , the attack of Argenteau ' s right wing did not begin until 11 April . On that day , the Austrians moved with 3 , 700 soldiers against a French position on Monte Negino . Argenteau led one battalion of " Alvinczi " Infantry Regiment Nr . 19 and two battalions of " Archduke Anton " Infantry Regiment Nr . 52 to a position near Montenotte Superiore . There , the Austrian rendezvoused with General - major Mathias Rukavina von Boynograd , who commanded one battalion each of " Stein " Infantry Regiment Nr . 50 and " Pellegrini " Infantry Regiment Nr . 49 plus three companies of Grenz infantry from the " Gyulai " Freikorps . The Austrians began to press southeast down the right leg of the Δ , driving in the enemy outposts on Monte San Giorgio and Monte Pra . Colonel Henri - François Fornésy with about 1 , 000 French troops of the 17th Light Infantry Demi - Brigade held an old Austrian - built redoubt atop Monte Negino . These soldiers were joined by Colonel Antoine - Guillaume Rampon who assumed overall command . An additional 1 , 192 men of the 32nd Line from Madonna di Savona also arrived to help . The road to Monte Negino followed the crest of the Apennines . Led by the Croats of the " Gyulai " Freikorps in skirmish order , the Austrians pressed their attacks . At a moment when the French troops were wavering , Rampon rallied them by making them swear to " conquer or die " , according to one eyewitness . All the Austrian attacks failed and Rukavina was shot in the shoulder . Argenteau called a halt to operations about 4 : 00 PM . That evening , the Austrian commander sent a courier to Oberstleutnant Karl Leczeny in Sassello asking for reinforcements . Rampon estimated Austrian losses at 200 to 300 , but they were probably closer to 100 . The French reported 57 casualties . Montenotte . Argenteau ' s attack precipitated an immediate counteroffensive by Bonaparte , who moved General of Division André Masséna ' s two divisions from Savona to the area of the Cadibona Pass . Satisfied that Beaulieu was too far to the east to intervene effectively , Bonaparte determined to crush Argenteau . He ordered General of Division Amédée Emmanuel Francois Laharpe ' s division to join Rampon ' s force , making a total of 7 , 000 soldiers at Monte Negino on the right leg of the Δ . Masséna marched from Altare , up the left leg of the Δ , with General of Brigade Philippe Romain Ménard ' s 4 , 000 - man brigade . In order to reach their jumping off positions , the troops started at 2 : 00 AM and marched in a rain storm . General of Division Pierre Augereau ' s division and other units concentrated near the Cadibona Pass . The 3rd battalion of the " Terzi " Infantry Regiment Nr . 16 marched all night to reach Montenotte at dawn . Argenteau deployed this unit , some Croats , and several detached companies from his other regiments to guard the Altare road . The rest of the Austrians still faced Monte Negino . One battalion of the " Preiss " Infantry Regiment Nr . 24 arrived in the area but was not committed to the next day ' s battle . Fog shrouded the area at dawn on 12 April . When it cleared , several French cannons began firing from Monte Negino on the Austrians below them and Argenteau saw that he was confronted by a large force . Shortly afterward , Masséna ' s soldiers launched their attack on the weakly held Austrian right flank , swamping the defenders with superior numbers . Argenteau deployed the " Stein " and " Pellegrini " battalions under Oberstleutnant Nesslinger to hold the center and assigned the two " Archduke Anton " battalions to defend the left flank on Monte Pra . Then he took the " Alvinczi " battalion to the rescue of the 3rd " Terzi " battalion on his right flank . While Masséna overwhelmed Argenteau ' s right , Laharpe fell on the Austrians defending Monte Pra . At first the Austrians conducted a stout defense . But Masséna ' s assault made such rapid progress that Argenteau ordered a retreat . The 3rd " Terzi " battalion was nearly destroyed and Nesslinger ' s two battalions were badly cut up . In the Austrian retreat from Montenotte Superiore , the " Alvinczi " battalion provided the rear guard . The battalion had to fight its way out , losing its color and many soldiers . Argenteau ' s men barely cleared out of Montenotte Inferiore before Masséna ' s and Laharpe ' s flanking forces converged on the hamlet . By 9 : 30 AM the battle was over . Results . The battle was General Bonaparte ' s first victory in the Montenotte Campaign . By the next morning , Argenteau reported only 700 men with the colors . The rest were lost in combat or scattered . Historian Martin Boycott - Brown presented French losses as light ; a sampling of reports show that the 32nd Line , 51st Line , 75th Line , and 17th Light lost 10 , 8 , 27 , and 19 casualties , respectively . The Austrians admitted losing 166 killed , 114 wounded , and 416 missing , for a total of 696 . Three historians assert that losses were more severe . Digby Smith wrote that the French suffered 800 killed , wounded , and missing out of a total of 14 , 000 troops and 18 guns . The Austrians went into the action with 9 , 000 men and lost 2 , 500 killed , wounded , and captured , with 12 guns lost . Most of Argenteau ' s casualties were prisoners . Gunther E . Rothenberg listed Austrian casualties as 2 , 500 and 12 guns out of 4 , 500 engaged , while French losses were 880 out of 10 , 000 available troops . David G . Chandler gave Austrian losses as 2 , 500 out of 6 , 000 , but listed no French losses out of a total of 9 , 000 . A badly shaken Argenteau pulled his surviving soldiers back to cover Acqui , while other forces under Rukavina held Dego , about to the northwest of Montenotte Superiore . Argenteau sent an alarming dispatch to Beaulieu stating that his command was " almost completely destroyed " . Bonaparte issued orders to exploit his success by widening the gap between the Austrian and Sardinian armies by thrusting west toward Millesimo and north toward Dego . The next actions were the Battle of Millesimo on 13 April and the Second Battle of Dego on 14 and 15 April .