Key Facts
- Duration
- 18 days (10–28 April 1796)
- Start date
- 10 April 1796
- End date
- 28 April 1796 (Armistice of Cherasco)
- Napoleon's role
- First independent army command
- Strategic result
- Sardinia withdrew from the First Coalition
Strategic Narrative Overview
Bonaparte struck the center of the allied line, defeating the Austrians at Montenotte before turning on the Sardinians at Millesimo. A second blow fell on the Austrians at Dego, driving a widening gap between the two armies. Leaving a division to pin the Austrians, the French pursued the Piedmontese westward, clashing again at Ceva before decisively defeating the Sardinian army at Mondovì, collapsing Sardinian resistance within days.
01 / The Origins
In spring 1796, revolutionary France sought to pressure Austria and Sardinia by launching an offensive in northern Italy. Napoleon Bonaparte, newly appointed to command the Army of Italy, planned to split the combined Habsburg and Sardinian forces. Before he could strike, the Austrians moved first, attacking the French right flank near Genoa at Voltri, prompting Bonaparte to seize the initiative and counterattack the seam between the two allied armies.
03 / The Outcome
One week after Mondovì, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont signed the Armistice of Cherasco on 28 April 1796, withdrawing from the War of the First Coalition. In under three weeks Bonaparte had eliminated one of France's two principal enemies in Italy, leaving a weakened Habsburg army as the sole remaining opponent in the region and opening the way for the broader Italian Campaign of 1796–1797.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Side B
2 belligerents
Johann Peter Beaulieu, Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.