At the foot of Monte Baldo, only a stone’s throw from Lake Garda, Rivoli looms above the Adige valley in a part of Italy that is both picturesque and popular among travellers. Here on 14 January 1797 Napoleon defeated the Austrian army under General Alvinczy's command.

The Battlefield of Rivoli

At war with most of its neighbours, revolutionary France gave command of the Italian front to a 26-year-old inexperienced commander: Napoleon Bonaparte. In what turned out to be an unprecedented display of brute force, the Italian Campaign of 1796 – 1797 catapulted the hitherto unknown Napoleon onto Europe’s centre stage, showing him to be a military genius and political force to be reckoned with.

Two weeks at the front and Napoleon had defeated Piedmont. Another month and he had defeated the Austrian forces. Austria, however, was not out of the game and she was to launch another three offensives in Italy - all of which Napoleon crushed - before she was forced to enter peace negotiations. The Battle of Rivoli exhausted the Austrian war effort in northern Italy. The huge fortress of Mantua capitulated two weeks later on 2 February and on 18 April 1797 the peace preliminaries were concluded at Leoben.

Austrian troops at Rivoli: 28,000

French troops at Rivoli: 20,000

Located in the rugged border district between the mountains and the plain, the small town of Rivoli, highly raised above the Adige, fronts onto a sudden drop in the otherwise steep valley slope, a drop so dramatic that it has furnished the valley with an exit route, the old highway the Pontare. Coming from Trent this was the most important point allowing for access to the open plain of the Po. Hence its strategic importance.

In Napoleonic literature the Pontare is often referred to as the Osteria gorge. In reality the road is less dramatic and to describe it as a steep sunken road would be somewhat closer to the topographical truth.

On the northern rim of the valley outlet, the Pontare swirls around the foot of Mt. Magnone, a mountain that commands the road’s ascent to the plateau of Rivoli – obviously a key military point even to the untrained eye.

While the Pontare did indeed provide a perfect way out of the Adige valley it was too much of a bottleneck to allow an entire army to pass through and any attack on Rivoli would have to include advances in the mountains bringing into play the military importance of the heights forming a semi-circle around Rivoli. Known collectively as the Trombasore heights, these hills merged with Mt. Magnone protecting the inner, lower but far from flat plateau of Rivoli. Since the mountain tracks converged on the upper half of the Trombasore heights (some 2 km in length) the best way for the defence to use the terrain to its advantage would be to occupy these heights, the key to the defences.

The road in the Adige valley also continued down the left bank but as the fort of La Chiusa a bit further down presented too big an obstacle for any attacker this route had never been part of the Austrian plan.

Weighing the pros and cons of the different approach routes, the Austrian commander in chief, Alvinczy, eventually decided to launch his main thrust from the Tyrol down through the mountainous terrain of Monte Baldo and the Adige valley while a diversionary force swept across the plain.

Night. Initial Manoeuvres

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.

Morning. Austrian Attack

The Austrians launched their attack on the Trombasore heights at the break of dawn on 14 January. For two frightful hours they engaged Joubert’s men in a frontal battle so tense that his presence was needed at the very front. The losses were of course high and included Joubert’s horse, which, hit by an enemy bullet, collapsed right under him.

The Austrians broke through the French left and penetrated all the way to the Rivoli plateau. Had it not been for the arrival of reinforcements under the command of Massena, Napoleon might have lost his stronghold.

Meanwhile, however, the men further towards the right had run into trouble and when an entire French brigade fell back along the crest of Mt.Magnone, further aggravating the situation for Napoleon, for a while it seemed as if only a miracle would prevent the Austrians in the valley from erupting on to the open plateau.

Doing everything within his powers to avert disaster, Joubert rushed back and forth between the local hot spots. In the centre he encountered the chief of staff Berthier organising the retreat, and at Mt. Ceredello he mustered a counter-attack, never losing sight of the severely battered brigade desperately trying to hold on to the crest.

Midday. French Victory

The Austrian columns in the Adige valley were finally ready to do their part and after Vukassovich’s artillery, positioned in the flat land in front of the small village of Ceraino, had been allowed time to pound the French defending the Pontare, Reuss’ men set off in a massed charge overrunning each and every entrenchment along the steep road with so much fervour that even his cavalry units were committed to the fight.

For Napoleon it was the grimmest hour of the day. Every other local front along the line of defence was ready to burst and just as things couldn't get any worse a long-delayed Austrian column appeared at the French rear. Luck was on Napoleon's side though.

The sunken road of the Pontare channelled all French fugitives towards the hamlet of Zuane di Sopra, where it was easy to rally them and thereby stop the rout at the valley outlet to spread to the plateau. Further, the Austrian officers had lost control of their men who, drunk on victory, came tumbling down the hills towards the French defences.

Napoleon moved to take advantage of the Austrian tilt. At 12pm he had 200 cavalrymen under the command of Lasalle and Leclerc thrown forward.

When the first few Austrian cries of French cavalry, French cavalry! echoed across the field, the already scattered Austrians turned on their heels and took off in wild flight. Quite a few of the fugitives dove into the Pontare and what a few minutes ago had been a busy road now transformed into a chaotic muddle of soldiers, horses and canons ruining every chance of warding off the French.

Joubert’s infantry dared to leap forward from what just a few minutes before had also been a last desperate line of defence and, closely followed by LaSalle’s cavalry, he fell on the defenceless Austrians trapped in the Pontare driving the Austrians back into the Adige valley.

In just 30 minutes the Austrians had lost everything.

Rivoli sightseeing

Rivoli Veronese: c. 2,000 inhabitants; 30 km from Verona, 65 km from Trent.

Museo Napoleonico: The battle museum’s several artefacts including old maps, proclamations, plastic models, and archaeological findings make it an interesting place to visit.

Forte di Wohlgemuth: The imposing fortress of Rivoli is of later date and therefore had nothing to do with the fighting in 1797. It is open to the public though and its northern walls offer an undisturbed view of the Rivoli amphitheatre.

Mt. Magnone: Apart from being integral to the fighting, Mt Magnone offers beautiful views of the Adige valley and the Rivoli battlefield. The path leading to its southern peak is accessed via the old highway, the Pontare.

Church of Rivoli: When Bonaparte arrived in Rivoli at 2am on 14 January, only a few hours before the battle commenced, he found Joubert, the commander of Rivoli until then, in the local church. Open to the public.

Village of Ceraino: The Austrian General Vukassovich positioned artillery on the left bank of the Adige at Ceraino in support of the columns that were to climb out of the valley. The ground in front of Ceraino offers a perfect view ofthe valley outlet, revealing the strategic importance of Mt. Magnone and the Trombasore heights.

The Pontare highway: Driving up or down the old highway, the Pontare, connecting the Rivoli plateau with the Adige valley, is essential when exploring the battlefield: this was the sunken road, or gorge as some historians have called it, that saw some of the fiercest fighting.

Napoleonic monument: In 1806 Bonaparte had a monument raised on the battlefield of Rivoli. Although the Austrians in tore down the column when passing through in1814, the secluded monument, or what is left of it, is still worth a visit.