Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume II.Scott, Walter
History
Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume II.
Scott, Walter
France -- History -- 1789-1815; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Napoleon repaired the fortifications of Klagenfurt, and converted it
into a respectable place of arms, where he established his headquarters.
In a space of scarce twenty days, he had defeated the Austrians in ten
combats, in the course of which Prince Charles had lost at least
one-fourth of his army. The French had surmounted the southern chain of
the Julian Alps; the northern line could, it was supposed, offer no
obstacle sufficient to stop their irresistible general; and the
Archduke, the pride and hope of the Austrian armies, had retired behind
the river Mehur, and seemed to be totally without the means of covering
Vienna.
There were, however, circumstances less favourable to the French, which
require to be stated. When the campaign commenced, the French general
Joubert was posted with his division in the gorge of the Tyrol above
Trent, upon the same river Levisa, the line of which had been lost and
won during the preceding winter. He was opposed by the Austrian generals
Kerpen and Laudon, who, besides some regular regiments, had collected
around them a number of the Tyrolese militia, who among their own
mountains were at least equally formidable. They remained watching each
other during the earlier part of the campaign; but the gaining of the
battle of the Tagliamento was the signal for Joubert to commence the
offensive. His directions were to push his way through the Tyrol to
Brixen, at which place Napoleon expected he might hear news of the
advance of the French armies from the Rhine, to co-operate in the march
upon Vienna. But the Directory, fearing perhaps to trust nearly the
whole force of the Republic in the hands of a general so successful and
so ambitious as Napoleon, had not fulfilled their promises in this
respect. The army of Moreau had not as yet crossed the Rhine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account