The Battle of Caldiero on 15 November 1813 saw an army of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

under

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

opposed to an

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

army led by Johann von Hiller. Eugène, who was the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy inflicted a defeat on Hiller's troops, driving them from Caldiero. The action took place during the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

, part of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. Caldiero is located east of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

on the

Autostrada A4 The Autostrada A4, or Serenissima, is a motorway which connects Turin and Trieste via Milan and Venice. The city of Venice (or rather, Mestre which is the "land" part of Venice) originally formed a bottleneck on the A4, but is now bypassed by the ...

. When Austria entered the war against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in August 1813, Eugène attempted to defend the Illyrian Provinces east of Italy. Ultimately, the Austrians compelled the Franco-Italian army to retreat to the

Adige The Adige (; german: Etsch ; vec, Àdexe ; rm, Adisch ; lld, Adesc; la, Athesis; grc, Ἄθεσις, Áthesis, or , ''Átagis'') is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the pro ...

River. As Hiller's forces closed in on Verona from the north and east, Eugène tried to fend them off. The viceroy pushed back the northern force, then rushed back to attack Paul von Radivojevich's Austrians at Caldiero. On the 15th, his divisions under

François Jean Baptiste Quesnel François Jean Baptiste Quesnel du Torpt (18 January 1765 – 8 April 1819) became a division commander under the First French Empire of Napoleon. By the time the French Revolutionary Wars began, he had been a non-commissioned officer in the Fr ...

and

Marie François Rouyer Marie François Rouyer (; 2 March 1765 – 10 August 1824) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. Biography In 1783 he joined the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire and became a lieutenant of dragoons within three years. He ser ...

drove the Austrians back to Soave. Then Eugène pulled most of his troops back to the west bank of the Adige, leaving only

Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet (14 November 1765 – 19 December 1854) joined the French army in 1781 as an officer cadet and fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in the Army of the Rhine and ...

's division on the east bank. Hiller attacked Marcognet between San Michele and

San Martino Buon Albergo San Martino Buon Albergo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about east of Verona. San Martino Buon Albergo borders the following municipalities: Caldiero, Lav ...

on the 19th, but was repulsed after a hard fight. By this time, a new Austrian threat appeared to the south at Ferrara.

Battle

Historian Alain Pigeard stated that the Austrians lost 1,500 killed and wounded, plus 1,000 captured out of a total of 18,000 troops engaged. He noted that 16,000 French soldiers were present during their victory, but gave no losses.

Digby Smith Digby Smith (born 1 January 1935) is a British military historian. The son of a British career soldier, he was born in Hampshire, England, but spent several years in India and Pakistan as a child and youth. As a "boy soldier", he entered train ...

asserted that the French lost 500 killed and wounded out of 16,000 troops in their triumph, while the Austrians suffered 500 killed and wounded plus 900 men and two guns captured. Frederick C. Schneid listed 500 French killed and wounded, 1,500 Austrian killed and wounded, plus 900 Austrians and two guns captured.

Notes

References

* * * * Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition Battles of the Napoleonic Wars Battles involving Austria Battles involving France Battles involving the Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Austrian Empire–France relations Conflicts in 1813 November 1813 events 1813 in the Austrian Empire 1813 in France Battles in Veneto {{Napoleonic-battle-stub