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How Napoleon Found His Destiny
How You Can Too
May 10, 1796, The Bridge of Lodi, Italy. The enemy, the mighty Austrian army of the Habsburg Monarchy had retreated with their tails between their legs. Her commander, Feldzeugmeister (Lieutenant General) Johann Peter de Beaulieu, who began the campaign with a formidable army of 32,000 infantry, supported by a further 17,000-man army from the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, saw a young, unproven, French general take the fight out of his men.
Beaulieu was in full retreat. He had left the rear guard command to Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Philipp Sebottendorf, a three-star lieutenant-general to frustrate Napoleon and to buy time for the retreat.
Missing the opportunity to destroy the bridge, the Austrians now fortified themselves and defended the crossing with heavy firepower.
“Fortified across the bridge were a battery of cannon threatening to destroy any force who dares to attempt to cross. Backed by nine battalions of infantry, arrayed in two lines, the French would have first to brave the cannon fire, then the muskets of the Austrian men with no more than 10 yards of breath to maneuver.”…
