Battle of Novi (1799)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Novi


caption=Alexander Kotzebue. "Battle of Novi"
partof=the French Revolutionary Wars
date=15 August 1799
place=Novi Ligure, Piedmont, present-day Italy
result=Coalition victory
combatant1=flagicon|France France
combatant2=flagicon|Holy Roman Empire Austria
flagicon|Russia Russia
commander1=Barthélemy Catherine Joubert †
commander2=Alexander Suvorov
strength1=34,930
strength2=51,547
casualties1= 12,000 killed and wounded,
4,600 prisoners,
37 guns,
28 powder transports
casualties2= 8,200 killed, wounded & missing

The Battle of Novi was a battle near Novi Ligure, Italy. It was fought on August 15, 1799 in the French Revolutionary Wars. The Austrians and Russians under Fieldmarshal Alexander Suvorov defeated the French under General Barthelemy Catherine Joubert.

In 1799, Second Coalition forces had defeated French troops in Italy, left by Napoleon during his Egyptian campaign. After the defeat at the Battle of Cassano, French and Cisalpine Italian troops retreated into the Ligurian Republic for a final resistance on the plateau immediately South of the town of Novi, a few miles to the Southeast of Marengo.

On 15 August, the Austro-Russian army, led by Suvorov, attacked French positions. In the early moments of the battle, Joubert died, shot in a skirmish line action, but the French resisted the Austrian attack and counter-attacked. The battle is characterized by several coalition attacks, repelled by French forces, until afternoon, when a final blow ordered by Suvorov caused the French to retreat in disorder through the mountains to the Ligurian coast.

References