La Bataille de Deutsch Wagram 1809

The French Army of Italy: A Remembrance 1792 to 1814

the border of Piedmont, split off from the command of the the Midi formation. The War Department in Paris then on November 7, 1792 renamed the Var formation, The Army of Italy. By the end of the year, General Anselme and The Army of Italy captured Nice from Piedmont, and Nice has been, for the most part, included in Metropolitan France. From its founding to the arrival of General Bonaparte as the commander of The Army of Italy on March 27, 1796, The Army of Italy had 12 commanders, some more than once. Its fortunes swayed like the revolution itself, but prior to the arrival of General Bonaparte, The Army of Italy, after the taking of Nice, could not be called a successful organization. It was known for its bad morale, and had a reputation for looting and other sorts of mayhem. It was an army which could not be trusted.

The Arrival of General Bonaparte

Of course, General Bonaparte’s exploits changed all of that, and his campaigns in 1796- 97 and 1800 in Italy saved the revolution and solidified his subsequent regimes. After General Bonaparte left Italy to eventually invade Egypt, the command of The Army of Italy fell to a series of commanders, who only fared slightly better than the initial set of commanders the command had prior to Bonaparte’s command.

General Bonaparte as Army of Italy commander at Rivoli 1797

The one exception was the leadership provided by General Andre Massena when he commanded The Army of Italy in the spring of 1800 during his masterful defense of Genoa. His successful defense of that Italian port allowed The Army of the Reserve, under now First Consul Bonaparte, to slip into the Po Valley plain while the Austrians were tied up with Massena, and to defeat the Austrians at Marengo. As the Wars of Revolution conclude with Consul Bonaparte’s victory, over 30 different generals commanded The Army of Italy during the Revolutionary and Consular years.

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