Arcole Alois von Gavasini

fanciful painting horace vernet showing bonaparte leading troops across arcole bridge

after being freed in prisoner exchange, gavasini rejoined army third relief of siege of mantua. name not appear in austrian order of battle, lists 6 divisions of 4,000 men each. on morning of 15 november 1796, french army of napoleon bonaparte initiated battle of arcole crossing adige river behind jozsef alvinczi s left flank. there, augereau s division drove north toward arcole village while andré masséna s division moved northwest in direction of belfiore. in response orders alvinczi, gavasini moved brigade belfiore @ 11:00 am. leading splényi infantry regiment nr. 51 along causeway through marshes, gavasini ran masséna s advance @ bionde, midway between belfiore , french crossing site @ ronco adige. @ first splényi regiment drove french, capturing 2 cannons. however, second austrian column under adolf brabeck mistakenly fired gavasini s men adjacent causeway, throwing them panic. masséna followed retreating austrians , temporarily captured belfiore.

on second day of battle, alvinczi ordered 6 battalions under giovanni marchese di provera advance belfiore while anton ferdinand mittrowsky s 14 battalions attacked south arcole. @ 5:00 am, provera s attack underway, blunted masséna. french skirmishers riddled austrian infantry formations , habsburg cannoneers holding enemy singlehandedly. brabeck killed , entire force fled belfiore, french captured again, along 5 guns. mittrowsky s attack miscarried, managed hang onto arcole until nightfall after savage fighting. on third day, provera s attack on masséna failed again , time austrian position unraveled. french general diverted bulk of division augereau , 2 seized arcole 5:00 pm on 17 november, thereby winning battle.