Episode 20: Q4-1796 - The shadow of Russia

The Napoleonic Quarterly

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Listen on Apple Podcasts 1796. October… November… December… Three months in which Bonaparte sees off another Austrian offensive – but only through some desperate fighting at Arcola… The Royal Navy, withdrawing from the Mediterranean, misses an opportunity to attack the Spanish fleet… And further north an attempted invasion of Ireland is underway. This is episode 20 of the Napoleonic Quarterly – covering three months in which the Royal Navy begins to wonder whether France’s successes on land will prevent the Royal Navy from doing its job of protecting Britain at sea. Including a discussion from [05:11] by Alexander Mikaberidze and from [1:22:50] by Charles Esdaile of the significance of Catherine the Great's death and her replacement by her son Paul I - a momentous event of great significance for this period. Plus the usual three segments: [22:15] - Rick Schneid on Napoleon Bonaparte's struggles with Austrian forces in north Italy [37:20] - Rachel Blackman-Rogers on the Royal Navy's withdrawal from the Mediterranean [55:55] - Ciarán McDonnell on Ireland in the 1790s and the attempted French landing at Bantry Bay This episode's main sections were recorded in January 2022.

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‎Show The Napoleonic Quarterly, Ep Episode 20: Q4-1796 - The shadow of Russia - Feb 26, 2022

the next episode of the Napoleonic Quarterly and again very worthwhile to listen to, I very much enjoyed the contributions of Rachel - Blackman Roger and of Ciarán McDonnell, it makes me realy wonder what such a high class general as Hoche along with 15,000 French veterans could have achieved, both sides discuss this szeneario very well, and I agree at least it would have cause a lot of problems for the English when Wolf Tone would have proclaimed the Republic of Irland.

But, yes - as rivet counter it is very depressing to see ArcolA all over. I am not blaming Alexander Stevenson for using it, but Rick Schneid, ok he used it before, but then, and I am loosing believe even Charles Esdaile as well, argh Alexander Mikaberidze - where did all my heros go, I feel like

Then, Arcole was badly presented, it was indeed an out flanking at the third day, when down below the bridge over the Alpone (and this is the river which had to be crossed and not the Adige - which was at Ronco) was conducted by units from Augereaus division. In case when all those highly esteemed profs would travel to Arcole (they wouldn't find Arcola) - they would see still some battle scars on some of the houses, at least that was 30 years ago.

All know of course about the propaganda picture of Boney on the bridge, but it was Augereau who was there Boney fell into the swamp.

"Le général en chef et son état-major sont culbutés; le général en chef lui meme est renverse avec son cheval dans un marais, d'ou, sous le feu de l'ennemi, il est retire avec peine: il remonte a cheval, la colonne se rallie, et l'ennemi n'ose sortir de ses retrenchemens."
Berthier Dispatch [19.11.1796] Published in ' La Gazette Nationale, ou Le Moniteur [Dec 3 1796]
['The commander-in-chief and his staff are sent reeling back; the commander-in-chief himself, together with his horse, falls into a an area of marsh from which, under enemy fire, he is extracted with difficulty: he remounts his horse, the column rallies , [after which] the enemy does not dare sally from his defences.'] 

from a contribution of 42 flanker (very well read but another ArcolA victim as well)

"Boney leading the attack at the bridge at Arcole with a colour – is one of the many lies, it was Augereau who did – Boney fell into the swamp and had to be drawn out by grenadiers."
You are wrong. And it isn't a 'lie.'

 'Lie,' might be too ugly a word. 
Perhaps 'self-agrandizing fiction' would a fairer summary. In the days after the battle Berthier's dispatches sowed the seeds of a narrative that, well watered by Gros's portrait of Buonaparte on the bridge at Arcole, evolved into an enduring myth.
From Sulkowski's eyewitness account we learn two things: that Buonaparte, in an further attempt to encourage the troops to resume the assault on Arcole, repeated Augereau's gesture of seizing a regimental standard (apparently shouting "Suivez votre général!"); and that in so doing he exposed himself and his headquarters group to the intense fire of the Austrian force holding the river crossing. 
Although General Buonaparte was not hit, men of his staff and escort fell all round him. Sukorowski, himself narrowly missing injury or death from a piece of caseshot, was then knocked out by debris from a bursting shell and so missed the denoument- the hasty retreat behind the river dijk which saw the slender general plunged into a draining ditch and narrowly avoiding capture when the Austrians counter attacked across the bridge.
From all the versions one can read, it seems clear that Buonaparte seized a flag intending to animate the men of Augereau's command. It is what happened afterwards that has been subject to the human capacity to create myths, not least that of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
A quick survey of images and popular accounts on the internet shows that the prevailing myth is that Buonaparte grabbing a flag and braving the hail of enemy fire, led his grenadiers to victory across the bridge at Arcola- or at the very least the attackers got some way acrosss the bridge before the weight of fire forced retreat, and that so inspired by their general's courage they went on to carry the passage.
General Buonaparte in his despatch of Nov 19 was much more modest. He simply describes his attempt to encourage the men, the casualties among his subordinates and the necessity to find another route of approach. Berthier in his despatch depicts the young Buonaparte shouting "Follow your general" and getting to within 30 paces of the bridge before the weight of fire drove them back – at the moment the enemy were about to turn and flee - a claim which strains logic if not credibility, particularly as the general ends up in a marsh under fire from that demoralised enemy on the other side of the river (and as it transpires with an dijk embankment intervening).
This also puts in question Sulkowski's disgusted report that the French infantrymen declined to be insired by their commander's repeat of Augerau's gesture with the flag and remained resolutely in cover, leaving him and his men to face to the fire of the Austrian guns alone.
Nevertheless, the image is clear. The attacking force did not get as far as the bridge but was turned back by fire on the causeway. 
However, by the time the Emperor Napoleon was dictating his memoirs on St Helena, the story had changed. The Emperor having seized the flag, raced forward and planted it on the bridge (presumably piercing the wooden roadbed). A column of men rose and rallied on the standard.
They had got half-way across the 80-foot bridge when they were hit in flank by fire that caused the attackers to falter then fall back. The grenadiers at the head of column dragged their general back with them into cover where he found himself up to his waist in a marsh and exposed to an enemy threat that appears from nowhere. In this version, it is while rescuing their general from the marsh and driving the enemy back across the bridge that his faithful staff are shot up.
It is interesting to consider the versions of two soldiers who were also present. André Estienne gained fame and was honoured by the Emperor as the 'little drummer of Arcole' for his role in a successful flanking attack at Arcola. A member of the 51e demi brigade which was the regiment in place at the bridge, Estienne wrote,"It was at this moment that Bonaparte, being on horseback, took the same flag and was able to carry it ten paces further." Not quite as far as halfway across the bridge. At what point did the general dismount we might ask, but no matter. He is on mounted once again when retreating back along the causeway and at the end of a long skid on the damp chaussee, the back legs of the general's mount slip from under him and both are thrown into the marsh beyond.
Meanwhile Auguste Marmont, at that time an ADC to General Buonaparte and one of the officers who attempted to shield him from enemy fire, in later life described a column of men rising to follow the general and getting within 200 paces of the bridge (He doesnt say how far they had run. Perhaps more than ten paces). 
Despite the murderous fire, it looked like they were going to make it across when one of the infantry officers grabbed Buonaparte and started wrestling him to the rear saying, "You're going to get yourself killed and that'll be the end of us all. You have no business being here." With this hiatus at the head of the column, the attack stalled with men dropping all about. The survivors, retreating in disorder, fell back to the shelter of the dijk- having got nowhere near the bridge.
Buonaparte ends up in a deep drainage ditch, is pulled out by Marmont and Louis Napoleon, and sent off to get a change of clothes. Marmont concludes with a shrug, "That's the story of the other flag which the prints show being carried by Bonaparte on the bridge at Arcole. This charge, really a confused scrimmage, achieved nothing."
Adolphe Thiers, writing in 1842 chose to describe the episode thus: 
'Bonaparte advanced, carrying the colours, amidst a shower of balls and grape-shot [generals and staff fall all about him] The column was, nevertheless, on the point of clearing the bridge, when a last discharge stopped it and threw it back….' 
So near, and yet so far. 
A fastidious algorhythm wont allow me to write 'dyke.' Now that is an ugly word.{unless enclosed in 'quotation' marks, apparently.}

Ah - yes that is not Boney but Augereau.

Even wikipedia gets ArcolE right

en.wikipedia.org