26] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1797. 
they were entitled to claim. He 
treated them altogether with mark- 
edlenity, in order, doubtless, to pre- 
parethe way for aready submission, 
on the part of those cities and dis- 
tri¢ts, in the Imperial territories, 
which, ia the course of hostilities, 
he would shortly be necessitated to 
reduce to his obedience. 
After the reduction of these two 
towns, a body of French was diss 
patchedtotake possession of Trieste, 
the only sea port belonging to 
the emperor on the Adriatic. It 
fell into their hands on the twenty- 
third of March. Here, and in its 
vicinity, they found an immense 
booty. 
’ In the mean time, general Guieux 
and Massena were advancing, from 
the different quarters, to the bor- 
ders of Carinthia. The former at- 
tacked the Austrians intrenched at 
Pusero, a strong position at the en- 
trance of the narrow passes of Ca- 
poralto, into which he drove them 
with considerable loss. ‘The latter 
possessed himself of Tarvis, a place 
on the opposite side of those pas- 
ses; by which motion the Aus- . 
trians, driven from Pusero, were in- 
closed between the two French di- 
visions, A large body of Austrians 
marched from Clagenfurth, in Ca- 
rinthia, to their relief, and assailed 
Massena at Tarvis, where a most 
obstinate battle "was fought: but 
the Austrians were entirely de- 
feated. “Three of their generals 
were taken, amd a celebrated re- 
giment of Cuirassiers, almost de- 
stroyed, General Guieux had, in 
the mean while, pushed the Austri- 
ans-in the defile, as far as Lachinsa, 
a strongly fortified post, which he 
carried, however, after a resolute 
defence. They endeavoured to 
make a retreat; but were inter- 
_ciples current among the 
cepted by the victorious division, 
under Massenas The loss of the 
Austrians on this occdsion, besides 
the slain, amounted to five thousand 
prisoners, among whom were four 
generals, thirty pieces of cannon,_ 
and four hundred waggons with all 
the baggage. 
This was a fatal day to the Im- 
perial arms. It closed, in a man- 
ner, the hopes that had till remain- 
ed of better fortune, under the aus- 
pices of the archduke Charles, and 
raised the opinion entertained of 
Buonaparte to the highest summit. 
What principally alarmed the court 
of Vienna was the proximity of 
the French army to the Hungarians, 
a people-that had not forgotten the 
struggles of their forefathers,against 
the usurpation of the house of Aus- 
tria, andthe danger lest a simi- 
lar spirit of resistance should be re- 
generated among them, especially 
as they had such recent -causes of 
discontent. 
A specimen of the unconquerable, 
and, in truth, it may be said, insolent 
spirit,inf used by the republican prins 
rench, 
had been exhibited) by their pri- 
soners in the hereditary states, dur- 
ing the last summer. Onvthe tenth 
of August, the day whereon the 
unhappy Lewis the «sixteenth was 
dethroned, a number of them, cons 
fined at Clagenfurth, the principal 
town of the province of Carinthia, 
celebrated this event, with marked 
exultation, in defiance, as it were, 
of the Austrian government. The 
formalities, that accompaniedthe ob- 
servance of tiis day, were all cal- 
culated to manifest their hatred of 
royal power, and their attachment 
to republicanism, and especially, to 
that equality of rank which admits 
ted of ‘no distinction among men, 
but: 
- 
