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=> 
HISTORY OF EUROPE. : 
places and employments in their 
service. 
Induced by these various motives, 
the direétory resolved to begin mili- 
tary operations abroad, with the at- 
tack of a country, where the princes, 
one excepted, the king of Sardinia, 
could place little reliance on the 
loyalty of their subjeéts; and where 
this prince had already lost such a 
portion of his territories, as greatly 
endangered the remainder. 
Nevertheless, obstacles of a se- 
rious nature presented themselves. 
The undertaking was, indeed, ar- 
duous ; Italy,proverbially the grave 
of the French, was viewed by the 
generality of people as unconquer- 
able on the side of France. Envi- 
roned by mountains, the passes of 
which were fortified with the ut- 
mostart, and guarded with numerous 
well-disciplined troops, it seemed 
calculated for an invincible resist- 
ance. The French, after reducing 
Many forts and fortresses in the 
heart of the Alps, had not been able 
to make an effeétual impression on 
Piedmont, without which an en- 
trance into Italy appeared impraéti- 
cable. ‘The powers interested in the 
preservation ofltaly,aware of the hos- 
tile intentions of France, had made 
ample preparations for defence. The 
empero:’s forces amounted to eighty 
thousaad well-disciplined men, com- 
manded by excellent officers and 
generals, and provided with every 
species of warlike necessaries. The 
king of Sardinia’s army was sixty 
thousand strong, exclusive of mili- 
tia. The pope and the king of 
Naples were occupied in embo- 
dying as many troops as their cir- 
cumstances would permit; and the 
latter had dispatched two or three 
(87 
thousand horse to serve in the Im- 
perial army. - 
Though the strength with which 
the French proposed to attack their 
enemies in Italy was much inferior 
in number to theirs, and far from 
being so well supplied, it was come 
posed of hardy and resolute soldiers, 
filled with enthusiasm, and impa- 
tient to enter into aétion, and to 
indemnify themselves for the suffer- 
ings they had undergone upon the 
rocky and barren coast, to which 
they had long been confined, through 
want of reinforcements to enable 
them to move forward against the 
enemy. 
The supplies of men and ammu- 
nition did not errive till the begin- 
ning of April, when the French de- 
termined immediately to commence 
their operations. They were can- 
toned along the coast of that sea, 
called the river of Genoa, within 
three leagues of that city ; and the 
Austrians and Piedmontese were 
posted on the mountains opposite to 
them. 
The French were commanded by 
general Buonaparte, already noticed 
in the attion between the conven- 
tional troops and the seétions of Pa- 
ris,* in Oétober, 1795, a native of 
Corsica, born, as it were, a com- 
mander, and uniting the intrepidity - 
of an ancient Roman, with the 
subtilty and contrivance of a mo- 
dern Italian; and both these forti- 
fied and improved by a liberal, as 
well as military education. Hardly 
thirty years of age, he had signa- 
lized his military abilities, not only 
on that but some other very decisive 
occasions, andacquireda reputation 
that had raised’ him to the highest’ 
degree of esteem in his profession. 
* See Vol. XXXVII. Page 106, 
[G4] The 
