Skip to content

Questions about Battle of Tarvis (1797)

Short answers, pulled from the story.

When and where was the Battle of Tarvis (1797) fought?

The Battle of Tarvis was fought between the 21st and the 23rd of March 1797 near present-day Tarvisio in far northeast Italy, approximately 12 km west-by-southwest of the three-border junction with Austria and Slovenia. It was the final major engagement of the War of the First Coalition.

Who commanded the French and Austrian forces at the Battle of Tarvis?

Napoleon Bonaparte commanded the French army, with divisions led by Generals André Masséna, Jean Joseph Guieu, and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier. The retreating Austrian army was commanded by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, with Feldmarschall-Leutnant Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza leading the column that was ultimately trapped and captured.

How many Austrian soldiers were captured at the Battle of Tarvis?

Sources give slightly different figures: one account records 4,000 Austrian soldiers, 25 artillery pieces, and 500 wagons surrendered on the 23rd of March 1797; another gives 3,500 Austrians, 25 guns, and 400 vehicles. French casualties across the three days of fighting totaled 1,200 men.

What happened after the Battle of Tarvis in the 1797 campaign?

After Tarvis, French forces captured Klagenfurt on the 29th of March and seized Leoben on the 7th of April 1797, placing them only 75 miles from Vienna. Bonaparte proposed peace negotiations on the 16th of April, and the Austrians signed the Preliminaries of Leoben on the 18th. Most terms were confirmed by the Treaty of Campo Formio on the 17th of October 1797.

What role did General Masséna play at the Battle of Tarvis?

André Masséna commanded the French division that drove toward Tarvisio from the west, pushing General-major Lusignan's forces before him. His troops seized the town of Tarvis on the 21st of March, briefly lost it to a new Austrian column, retook it on the 22nd, and then joined with Guieu and Sérurier to surround and compel the surrender of Bajalics' trapped Austrian column on the 23rd.

How did the fall of Mantua set up the Battle of Tarvis?

On the 2nd of February 1797, Feldmarschall Wurmser surrendered Mantua after a siege that cost the garrison 16,333 men. The fall secured Bonaparte's southern flank and freed him to drive northeast into Friuli with roughly 60,000 troops, beginning the offensive that culminated at Tarvis six weeks later.