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35-817: On 10 May 1796, the French army defeated the Austrian troops in the Battle of Lodi , and occupied the Duchy of Milan . Napoleon set up a temporary authority, the General Administration of Lombardy , which replaced the Austrian administration and created a French client republic in Northern Italy , adopting the French Republican calendar . The administration was granted full civil powers by

70-512: A general of brigade on 25 March 1795. On 26 March 1796, a youthful commander named Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Nice to assume command of the Army of Italy. At that time, Beaumont was a brigadier in the 3,090-man 1st Cavalry Division under the overall command of Henri Christian Michel de Stengel . The division included the 1st Hussar Regiment, the 10th, 22nd, and 25th Chasseurs à Cheval , and

105-416: A French crossing because the bridge was wooden and could have been burnt. The bridge was about 200 yards long and was simply constructed with wooden piles driven into the river bed every few yards with beams laid to form a roadway. The French advance guard was not strong enough to try to cross the bridge so several hours passed as additional French forces arrived. That afternoon, French artillery arrived and

140-465: A central element in the Napoleonic legend convincing even Napoleon himself that he was superior to other generals and that he was destined to achieve great things. Marc Antoine de Beaumont Marc-Antoine de Beaumont ( French pronunciation: [maʁk ɑ̃twan də bomɔ̃] ; 23 September 1763 – 4 February 1830) a French nobleman, became a page to the king and joined the army of

175-502: A clash followed them towards Lodi. Vukassovich was soon relieved by Gerhard Rosselmini 's covering force near the town. The town's defences were not strong, the defenders were few, and the French were able to get inside and make their way towards the bridge. The span was defended from the far bank by nine battalions of infantry arrayed in two lines and fourteen guns. The Austrian general in command at Lodi, Sebottendorf, also had four squadrons of Neapolitan cavalry at his disposal, giving him

210-890: A member of the Légion d'Honneur . In the War of the Third Coalition , Beaumont led the 3rd Dragoon Division, which included 18 squadrons in the 5th, 8th, 9th, 12th, and 16th Dragoon Regiments, and a horse artillery battery. His brigadiers were Charles Joseph Boyé and Nicolas-Joseph Scalfort. Under the overall leadership of Marshal Joachim Murat , he led his 2,400 troopers into action at the Battle of Wertingen on 8 October 1805. The French cavalry, including Beaumont's division, Louis Klein 's 1st Dragoon Division, Anne-François-Charles Trelliard 's Light Cavalry Brigade, and Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty 's 1st Cuirassier Division, marched from Rain early that morning. Moving south along

245-406: A proclamation of Napoleon on Brumaire 8, year V (29 October 1796), although its orders had to be approved by the French military commander of Lombardy. The administration was composed of four departments: religious and cultural affairs, transportation and engineering affairs, financial and tax affairs, and mercantile and commercial affairs. After the new victories of Napoleon's army, the territory of

280-502: A total of 6,577 men, who were mostly completely exhausted after a hasty forced march. Sebottendorf decided that it was inadvisable to retire in daylight, and opted to defend the crossing until nightfall. According to French grenadier François Vigo-Roussillon, the Austrians had men attempting to destroy the bridge but the French stopped their efforts by bringing up guns to fire along its length. It should have been fairly easy to prevent

315-508: The Battle of Castiglione on 5 August 1796, a powerful redoubt crowned a small hill on the Austrian left flank near the village of Medole . To take the Monte Medolano position, Bonaparte assigned Beaumont's cavalry, Auguste Marmont 's 15 to 18 artillery pieces, and the 4th Line Infantry Demi-Brigade under Jean-Antoine Verdier . After an hour and a half of combat, the position fell to the 4th Line and Beaumont's cavalry supports. Though

350-750: The Battle of Wagram . In 1814, the Senate officially passed laws deposing Napoleon. King Louis XVIII of France bestowed the Order of Saint Louis on Beaumont in June 1814. He was not employed during the Hundred Days . After the Bourbon Restoration he commanded a division in the Army of Paris. Beaumont married in 1801 to Julie d'Avout (1771–1846), sister of Louis-Nicolas d'Avout, Prince of Eckmühl, Duke of Auerstedt . He died on 4 February 1830 and

385-547: The Kaiser Hussars # 1 were supported by four Russian jager battalions and a squadron of hussars. Murat ordered Beaumont's 3rd Dragoon Division and Baptiste Pierre Bisson 's 1st Division of Davout's III Corps to attack. The Allies were driven back, with the Russians suffering 100 killed and less than 50 wounded. French losses were "slight" though Bisson was wounded. Beaumont fought at the Battle of Austerlitz , leading

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420-540: The Lech River to Nordendorf , they turned west and appeared before Franz Xavier Auffenburg's 5,400 Austrians at Wertingen . Klein's division marched south and west to flank the Austrians, while Beaumont and Trelliard attacked in front. Major Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans led an attack by 200 dismounted dragoons which cleared the Austrians out of an outlying village. The French found the nine enemy battalions drawn up behind Wertingen in one large square. The formation

455-530: The Napoleonic Wars . He led his cavalrymen against Habsburg Austria and Russia in several actions during the War of the Third Coalition in 1805. In the War of the Fourth Coalition , he was present at Jena and fought at Prenzlau and Eylau . In 1809, he commanded a reserve formation. His brother-in-law was Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout . Beaumont is one of the names inscribed under

490-689: The Old Regime . He stayed in the army during the French Revolution and narrowly escaped being executed. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in the 1796 Italian campaign under Napoleon Bonaparte , leading the cavalry at Lodi and Castiglione . In 1799 he was wounded in Italy but fought there again in late 1800. After Napoleon became emperor, Beaumont led the 3rd Dragoon Division in two major campaigns during

525-791: The Uecker River, forcing it to surrender. Hohenlohe capitulated with his main body soon afterward. He was present at the Battle of Czarnowo on 23 December 1806. Emperor Napoleon named Beaumont a Senator on 14 August 1807 and a Count of the Empire in March 1808. That year he was also awarded the Order of the Iron Crown , the Military Order of Max Joseph of Bavaria , and the Order of Fidelity of Baden . In 1809 Beaumont commanded

560-560: The 5th and 20th Dragoon Regiments. In April, Beaumont fought in the Montenotte Campaign , in which Stengel was mortally wounded at the Battle of Mondovì . On 2 May, while leading part of the cavalry, Beaumont sent out patrols to find where the Austrian forces were located. At the Battle of Lodi on 10 May, Bonaparte directed him to take his cavalry to ford the Adda River and flank the Austrians out of position. A ford

595-559: The 5th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 21st Dragoon Regiments. He was named a Grand Officer of the Légion d'Honneur on 10 February 1806. Beaumont led the 3rd Dragoon Division at the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition . His division was one of the three present with Marshal Joachim Murat at the Capitulation of Erfurt . The 3rd Division included the 5th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 19th, and 21st Dragoon Regiments. He

630-541: The Arc de Triomphe . Born into a noble family from the province of Touraine , Beaumont became a page in the household of King Louis XVI of France on 31 December 1777. After attaining the position of first page, he was nominated captain in the Lorraine Dragoon Regiment on 2 June 1784. He received the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel on 22 July 1792 and colonel on 7 August. While his regiment

665-434: The Austrian positions for several hours, at about 6 pm the French prepared to attack. Marc Antoine de Beaumont 's cavalry was sent to ford the river upstream while the 2nd battalion of carabiniers (elite light infantry) was readied inside the walls of the town for an assault onto the bridge itself. The carabiniers stormed out of the gates and onto the bridge. Vigo-Roussillon tells us that the enemy artillery fired one salvo when

700-667: The French tried to cut off the retreat of Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser 's army, it was able to escape across the Mincio River. In the War of the Second Coalition , Beaumont served in Italy again. On 5 April 1799, he was shot through the right shoulder at the Battle of Magnano . He recovered from his wound in time to fight at the Battle of the Mincio on 25 December 1800. He received promotion to general of division sometime in 1802 or 1803. On 11 December 1803 he became

735-542: The Reserve Division under Marshal François Christophe de Kellermann . Based at Frankfurt-on-the-Main , the all-arms unit consisted of 826 men from elite companies of line and light infantry regiments, 1,251 Württemberg infantry, 527 Bavarian infantry, a 160-man foot artillery company with eight guns, and the following provisional dragoon regiments, 1st - 697 sabers, 2nd - 669 sabers, 3rd - 515 sabers, 4th - 771 sabers, and 5th - 792 sabers. This force did not fight at

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770-436: The heavy guns were positioned to fire across the river. With the heavy guns in place, a violent cannonade began to pound the Austrian positions across the river. It has been suggested that Bonaparte was personally involved in directing some of the guns and that his troops began to refer to him as le petit caporal (the little corporal) because of this. However, there is no contemporary evidence to back this up. After bombarding

805-416: The main Austrian army. The Austrian morale collapsed as the carabiniers rushed towards them and a hasty retreat ensued. The remaining Austrian soldiers made the most of the gathering darkness to make their escape towards Crema though some units maintained a dogged rearguard action thus discouraging the French from pursuing too closely. Oberst Count Attems of Terzi Infantry Regiment # 16 was killed covering

840-430: The pursuit of the Austrians. As the French cavalry advance guard approached Crema in a cloud of dust, the observer made out the leading horseman yelling at the Austrian stragglers whom he encountered on the road. It was Beaumont. The general dismounted his men, who were on their best behavior, and requested refreshment for his unit. At the time much of the army was on a plundering rampage, looting everything in sight. At

875-624: The rear guard was driven into a defile. Murat sent in chasseurs à cheval and dismounted dragoons to crush this force, capturing 500 to 600 prisoners. The next day, 4,000 troops from Merveldt's rear guard under Emmanuel von Schustekh-Herve made a stand at Lambach on the Traun River. Three battalions of the Ignaz Gyulai Infantry Regiment, two squadrons of the Kaiser Dragoons # 1, and eight squadrons of

910-592: The republic a final arrangement: by his own decree, he proclaimed the birth of the Cisalpine Republic . 45°28′N 09°10′E  /  45.467°N 9.167°E  / 45.467; 9.167 This Lombardy location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Battle of Lodi The Battle of Lodi was fought on 10 May 1796 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf at Lodi, Lombardy . The rear guard

945-649: The republic grew; with the Peace of Leoben on 17 April 1797, France invaded the Republic of Venice , conquering Bergamo and moving eastwards from the Adda River to the Oglio River , the Venetian demarcation line established more than three centuries earlier. On 19 May, Napoleon transferred to Milan the territories of the former Duchy of Modena from the bordering Cispadane Republic . On 29 June, he decided to give

980-401: The successful, though costly withdrawal. Austrian losses were 21 officers, 5,200 men, and 235 horses killed, wounded, or captured. In addition, 12 cannons, 2 howitzers and 30 ammunition wagons were lost. The French suffered approximately 1,000 casualties. The Battle of Lodi was not a decisive engagement since the bulk of the Austrian army managed to escape. Nevertheless, the engagement became

1015-415: The thesis of a single attack.) As the French column pushed forward over the bridge, some French carabiniers climbed down the bridge pilings and waded through the river firing as they went. The Austrian troops, already exhausted from hours of marching and fighting without food and presumably demoralised by the French cannonade, were likely concerned that the French cavalry was in position to cut them off from

1050-447: The troops were part-way across, causing numerous casualties, at which point the column wavered and stopped. It was then that a number of senior French officers, including André Masséna , Louis Berthier , Jean Lannes , Jean-Baptiste Cervoni , and Claude Dallemagne , rushed to the head of the column and led it forward again. (Some authorities suggest that the French retreated and attacked again, but an important Austrian source supports

1085-460: Was active in the pursuit of Prince Hohenlohe's Prussian corps. He was present in the action of Zehdenick on 26 October. Beaumont played a prominent role at the Battle of Prenzlau on 28 October. After the Prussian rear guard under Prince Augustus of Prussia became separated from the marching column, Beaumont charged it repeatedly, driving it northward. He finally pinned the rear guard against

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1120-437: Was attacked with the help of Nicolas Oudinot 's infantry division and driven back in increasing confusion. Finally, the Austrians fled, leaving 2,000 prisoners in French hands. After the Austrians surrendered at the Battle of Ulm , Napoleon's army pursued a rear guard led by Maximilian, Count of Merveldt to the east. Murat's cavalry attacked between 4,000 and 6,000 Austrians near Ried im Innkreis on 30 October. A portion of

1155-466: Was defeated, but the main body of Johann Peter Beaulieu 's Austrian Army had time to retreat. It occurred as part of the Italian Campaign of 1796–1797 . French Army: General Napoleon Bonaparte (15,500 infantry, 2,000 cavalry) Austrian-Neapolitan Army: Beaulieu (not present) The French advance guard caught up with Josef Vukassovich's Austrian rear-guard at about 9 am on 10 May and after

1190-403: Was located 800 meters upstream but it was hard to move significant numbers of horsemen across because the river banks were a tangle of trees. At 6:00 PM Bonaparte ordered a frontal attack, which was a success. Though the horsemen were not directly involved, the knowledge that enemy cavalry were crossing the river helped to unnerve the Austrian defenders. An eyewitness described an incident during

1225-529: Was posted at Lyon during the Reign of Terror , he came under suspicion, was arrested, and condemned to die. His dragoons turned out fully armed and promised to use violence if the sentence was carried out. In the face of this threat, the authorities had a change of heart and Beaumont was posted to the Army of Italy instead. While in Italy, he served under André Masséna and Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer . He became

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