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The Battle of Novi
4 (15) August 1799, in Italy, near the town of Novi took place the largest battle between the combined Russian and Austrian troops under the command of Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov (about 65, 000 men), and the French army (38, 000 men), under the command of General B. K. Joubert.
Suvorov planned to organize the main attack east of Novi, on the right flank of the French defense, and an auxiliary attack - on the left flank, west of Novi. To this end, a group of Austrian General Krai was to attack the left flank of the enemy in order to draw there his main force. Then, on the personal orders of Suvorov, a group of armies including the corps of Derfelden, Rosenberg, Melas and Alkaini was to launch the main offensive.
4 (15) of August, at 5 am the allied forces under the command of the Austrian General Krai launched an attack on the left flank of the French. General Joubert who arrived to the place of the battle in time restored the balance of forces, but soon was mortally wounded. General Moreau, who then took command, having reinforced his flank, repulsed all further attacks. However, the main goal of the Allies was achieved: Moreau, who believed that Suvorov was going to make the main blow against the left flank, pulled the main French forces west of Novi, leaving at the most important sector only 11, 000 men.
Around 9 a.m. Suvorov ordered Bagration and Miloradovich to attack Novi; Derfelden to go from Rivalta to Novi, and Krai’s group to resume the offensive on the left flank of the French. The aim was to break through enemy defenses in the center, where he had a small force. However, the assault on the fortress of Novi proved unsuccessful, and Bagration returned to initial positions. Subsequent attacks of the allies also had not brought the desired result.
Suvorov sent orders to reserve troops led by General Melas to leave Rivalta and going east of the Russian troops, round the right flank of the French.
At 3 p.m. the Allied army launched an offensive on all fronts: on the right flank attacked Krai’s soldiers, in the center – Derfelden’s division, on the left wing fought the troops led by Melas. A severe fight broke out. The French had no reserves, so they could not deter the onslaught of superior forces. Melas, who was the first to win over a weakened French flank, reached the rear of Novi. Russian troops led by Derfelden and Bagration broke through the French defense and entered the town.
Seeing this, at 6 p.m. Moreau gave the order to retreat. The left wing of the French withdrew near the village of Pasturano, but caught in the crossfire of Krai and the Russians on their way from Novi. At 8 p.m. the battle ended. Fierce and hard battle lasted 15 hours, the persecution of French troops confined to the battlefield, allowing Moreau’s weakened forces to retreat to the Genoese Riviera, where they could not resist any more.
The French army was completely defeated: left flank was completely destroyed; only a few soldiers of the right flank survived, General Zhjuber fell on the field of battle, Major General Perignon and Gruchi along with brigadier generals Collie and Partuno were captured. The losses of the French amounted to 37 guns, 128 caissons, 4 banners, 1, 500 men killed, 5, 000 wounded, and 3, 000 taken prisoners. The Allies lost killed up to 1, 250 men (350 Russians and 900 Austrians), and wounded up to 4.7 million men (1, 500 Russians and 5, 200 Austrians); according to other data, the losses of the allies were 8, 000 men, 5, 000 of which belonged to the corps of Krai; 2, 500 - to Russian troops and 500 men – to the corps of Melas.
The successes of the Russian troops in northern Italy and the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean campaign of Ushakov in 1798-1800 led to an almost complete elimination of the French domination in the area. Great Britain and Austria, fearing the growing influence of Russia, decided to remove Russian troops from Italy. 16 (27) August Suvorov was ordered by Austrian Hofkriegsrath to lead Russian troops to Switzerland to join the corps of Rimsky-Korsakov. Having made the difficult crossing of the Alps to Switzerland, Russians found that the Austrian army had already left the country. In 1800, Russia withdrew from the coalition of European powers (1798-1802), and in January 1802 France invaded Italy again.
Lit.: Боголюбов А. Н. Полководческое искусство А. В. Суворова. М., 1939; Зуев Д. Суворов в 1799 году (по австрийским военным источникам). СПб., 1900; Клаузевиц К. 1799 год. М., 1938. Гл. 5: Взятие союзниками Мантуи и Александрии. Суворов наносит поражение Жуберу при Нови; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/h/clausewitz1/05.html; Милютин Д. А. История войны 1799 г. между Россией и Францией. Т. 1-3. СПб., 1857; Орлов Н. А. Поход Суворова в 1799 г. СПб., 1898.
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