The Lightning Campaign

The Italian campaign unfolded with breathtaking speed. Napoleon's strategic insight was to position his army between the Austrian and Piedmontese forces, preventing them from combining. At Montenotte (April 12, 1796), he struck the Austrians first, then wheeled against the Piedmontese at Millesimo and Mondovi. Within two weeks, Piedmont sued for peace.

The Battle of Lodi (May 10, 1796) created the Napoleonic legend. When his troops hesitated to cross a bridge swept by Austrian cannon fire, Napoleon personally sighted the guns and led the charge. The victory was tactically minor but psychologically transformative. That night, around the campfires, soldiers began calling him "Le Petit Caporal" with affection rather than mockery. Napoleon later identified Lodi as the moment he first imagined himself destined for greatness.

Through the summer and autumn of 1796, Napoleon defeated four successive Austrian armies sent to relieve the siege of Mantua. At Castiglione, Bassano, Arcole, and Rivoli, he demonstrated his signature tactics: dividing his forces to confuse the enemy, then concentrating them at the critical point faster than his opponents thought possible. The Battle of Arcole produced one of the most famous images of his career—Napoleon seizing a flag and leading his troops across a bridge under fire, though artistic depictions significantly romanticized the chaotic reality.