Arcole (pronounced ), historically also known as Arcola, is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' with 5,274 inhabitants in the

province of Verona The province of Verona (Italian: ''provincia di Verona'') is a province of the Veneto region in Italy. On its northwestern border, Lake Garda—Italy's largest—is divided between Verona and the provinces of Brescia (Lombardy region) and Trentin ...

. It is known as the site of the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole.

History

Between 15 and 17 November 1796, the

Battle of Arcole The Battle of Arcole or Battle of Arcola (15–17 November 1796) was fought between French and Austrian forces southeast of Verona during the War of the First Coalition, a part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle saw a bold maneuver ...

took place.

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, recently appointed commander of the French Army of Italy, led a rapid and conclusive attack through Italy as part of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. In April and May of that year he had defeated

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

army and driven the Austrian army out of almost all of Northern Italy. In November, Napoleon joined battle with

József Alvinczi Freiherr Joseph Alvinczi von Borberek a.k.a. Baron József Alvinczi de Borberek (; 1 February 1735 – 25 September 1810) was a soldier in the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Army and a field marshal of the Austrian Empire. He is remembered for han ...

near the junction of the Adige and Alpone rivers. Despite lacking basic equipment and food, the French army went on the offensive. On 14 November, they crossed the Adige. All that remained between the two armies now was the Alpone. On 15–16 November, the French made repeated attempts to cross the bridge at Arcole. These initial assaults were beaten back by Austrian firepower. By 17 November, French flanking moves convinced Alvinczi that he was threatened with encirclement and he ordered a tactical withdrawal. The following year Napoleon went on to crush the Austrians at Rivoli, forcing them to sign the Peace of Campo Formio later that year.

Twin towns

Arcole is twinned with: * Cadenet, France

References

Cities and towns in Veneto Wine regions of Italy {{Veneto-geo-stub