Battle of Calliano
The Battle of Calliano on 6 and 7 November 1796 saw an Austrian corps commanded by Paul Davidovich rout a French division directed by Claude Belgrand de Vaubois. The engagement was part of the third Austrian attempt to relieve the French Siege of [Mantua (1796-1797)|siege of Mantua] during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was preceded by a clash at Cembra on 2 November and followed by actions at Rivoli Veronese on 17 and 21 November.
Campaign
By November 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte's French Army of Italy had reduced Field Marshal Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser's Austrian garrison of Mantua to near-starvation. Emperor Francis I of Austria appointed Feldzeugmeister Jozsef Alvinczi to lead a new army in smashing though the French blockade. Alvinczi planned to advance on Mantua from the east with the 28,000-man Friaul Corps, while Feldmarschal-Leutnant Davidovich led 19,000 soldiers of the Tirol Corps down the Adige valley from the north.Forces
See Order of battle for the Battle of Arcole for a list of the major units of both armies, including the strengths and commanders of the Tyrol Corps' six columns.San Michele: 2 November
Bonaparte badly underestimated Davidovich's strength. To oppose the northern thrust, he deployed a division of 10,500 soldiers under General of Division Vaubois. The start of Davidovich's offensive led to a series of clashes beginning on 27 October. On 2 November the French attacked the Austrians at Cembra. Although Vaubois inflicted 1,100 casualties on his enemies at the cost of only 650 Frenchmen, he decided to pull back to Calliano when Davidovich resumed his forward movement the next day. The French 85th Line Infantry Demi-Brigade was roughly handled. The Austrians occupied Trento on 5 November.Battle
On 6 November, Vaubois repulsed Davidovich's attacks on his position at Calliano, inflicting losses of 753 men. That night the French general detached several units to cover key positions in the area, weakening his main line. At dawn, the Austrians launched a new attack that was resisted all day, Calliano changing hands several times. Some Grenz infantry worked their way into the rear of the French line and this caused a panic-stricken flight from the field beginning at 4 pm.The second day of fighting at Calliano cost Davidovich another 1,523 men for a total of 3,567 for the campaign. These heavy losses kept the Austrians from vigorously following up the fleeing Frenchmen. Vaubois suffered 4,400 casualties at Cembra and Calliano.
Aftermath
During the day of 8 November, the French soldiers retreated to Rivoli Veronese where they finally rallied. Furious over the misbehavior of his troops, Bonaparte issued an announcement to the army in which he harshly criticised the 39th and 85th Demi-Brigades. Meanwhile, in the Po River valley, Alvinczi defeated Bonaparte's attack at the Second Battle of Bassano on 6 November, forcing the French main army to fall back to Verona.Poor communications continued to plague the Austrian effort. It took two days for dispatches to pass between Davidovich and Alvinczi. Davidovich refrained from attacking the Rivoli position because he believed that André Masséna was present with his division. While Masséna was briefly in command, he did not bring any troops with him. By this time Davidovich probably had 14,000 men, but this includes General-Major Johann Loudon who was guarding his line of communications with the Tyrol.