Battle of Bassignana (1799) 1799
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Date | 12 May 1799 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1799 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 45.0022, 8.7319 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Bassignana (12 May 1799) saw a Russian corps led by Andrei Grigorevich Rosenberg, who was under the influence of Grand Duke Constantine, attempt to establish a bridgehead on the south bank of the Po River in the presence of a French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau. The French rapidly massed superior strength and attacked. After several hours of hard fighting, the Russians abandoned their foothold with serious losses. This War of the Second Coalition action occurred near the town of Bassignana, located in the angle between the Po and Tanaro Rivers, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Alessandria, Italy.
A string of Austrian and Russian victories in the spring of 1799 evicted the French armies from north and northeast Italy. The leader of the combined Austro-Russian armies, Alexander Suvorov prepared to drive the French armies from the rest of Italy. Suvorov ordered his lieutenant Rosenberg to join him on the south bank of the Po below its confluence with the Tanaro. Probably overruled by the Tsar's son Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia, Rosenberg unwisely crossed above the confluence with the Tanaro. Two of Moreau's divisions under Paul Grenier and Claude Victor-Perrin soon counterattacked and defeated the Russians.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bassignana (1799) (revision 1373308495), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Browse more: battles in Italy · Europe · Early modern battles