Rivoli

a village on the Adige River, east of Lake Garda, in Verona Province, Italy. During Napoleon Bonaparte’s Italian Campaign of 1796–97, a battle was fought near Rivoli from Jan. 13 to 15, 1797.

In January 1797 the Austrian Army under General J. Al-vinczy, with about 28,000 men, launched an offensive along the Adige River in order to raise the blockade of Mantua, which was besieged by the French. On January 13 the Austrian forces pushed General B. C. Joubert’s French division toward the northern slopes of the Rivoli plateau. Alvinczy decided to rout Joubert, for which purpose he divided his forces into six columns, three of which were to attack the enemy from the front and the three others were to envelop the enemy’s flanks.

General Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Rivoli on the evening of January 13, personally reconnoitered the terrain, discovered the enemy’s design, and decided to defeat them piecemeal by bringing his forces up from Mantua (up to 22,000 men). On January 14, as Joubert’s troops were with difficulty holding back the Austrian attacks in the center, General A. Masséna’s division approached Rivoli, followed by General M. Rey’s division. The French repulsed the enemy in the center and defeated the enveloping left-flank column. J. Murat’s detachment, which had crossed Lake Garda on boats, attacked the Austrian right-flank column from the rear and took them prisoner. On the morning of January 15 the Austrians began a retreat and were pursued by Joubert’s and Rey’s divisions. Masséna’s division returned together with Napoleon to Mantua, which soon surrendered.