The Battle of Rivoli 14 January 1797

It was General Joubert who commanded Napoleon's outpost in the Rivoli area and it was therefore also him who got the first taste of the Austrian columns’ fire power. In the night of 12/13 January he pulled back from Ferrara di Monte Baldo to Rivoli trailing the crest of Mt. Magnone down to the plateau of Rivoli. The trail passes the ruins of the small Chapel of St. Marco, which the two enemies took turns in occupying.

Napoleon was in Bologna at the time the Austrians commenced the offensive and it took a whole three days before news of the first enemy movements reached him. Contrary to the sluggishness demonstrated by the Austrians, there was zero tolerance for delays under his command and once he had received the news he immediately proceeded to strengthen of the northern front.

Napoleon himself was back in Verona by the afternoon of 12 January, just in time to catch the last scenes of the eight hours’ combat it took Massena to repel the Austrian diversionary force outside of the city. So far enemy manoeuvres contained too little information to unmask Alvinczy’s full hand though and for a while Bonaparte was bewildered as to the direction of the main thrust, unaware that it was already in full progress in the mountains above Rivoli.

Eventually Joubert communicated that Alvinczy was launching his main thrust against Rivoli. Napoleon rushed to the scene. When he arrived at 2am on 14 January, only a few hours before the battle commenced, he found Joubert in the local church. Together they toured the battlefield in the bitter cold of the night, camp-fires revealing the Austrian positions.

Having inspected the battlefield, Napoleon set out to devise a battleplan. It was clear that the Austrians had the advantage of a considerable numerical superiority over Joubert’s 10,000 men. It was also clear that the Austrians were set to strike at dawn. So unless Joubert's men made the best possible use of the terrain holding on to natural strong points until reinforcements had time to arrive, morning would almost certainly spell defeat.

Napoleon estimated that 1,000 men would suffice to prevent the approaching Austrian columns in the Adige valley from gaining access to the Pontare, the valley’s exit route. He further intended for Joubert to start the day by reclaiming the Trombasore heights and thereby put to good use the heights’ natural strength. That done, maybe the day would start on more equal terms.