| HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
: He was high in the esteem of Buona- 
) parte, who had formed the greatest 
, expectations from him, and grie- 
| yously lamented his fall. 
1 |The duke of Parma, in whose 
Sight, as it were, the French had 
‘erossed the Po, and defeated the 
Austrians twice in one day, did not 
dare to prolong the contest on his 
part, with so irresistable afoe. He 
requested an armistice from Buona- 
parte, and obtained it on condition 
of paying a large contribution in 
‘money, horses, and provisions; of 
delivering into the possession of the 
French twenty capital paintings 
to bechosen by them, and of send- 
ing without delay commissaries to 
Paris, to conclude a peace with the 
“Tepublic: on these terms the duke 
procured a neutrality for his domi- 
‘pions, which was concluded on the 
ninth of May. 
_ The uninterrupted successes of 
‘the French had now struck their 
‘enemies with universal consterna- 
‘tion, Beaulieu himself, though an 
expert and intrepid warrior, thought 
it more prudent to act on the de- 
fensive, than to attack them with 
troops continually defeated. The 
“bravery of the Austrians, though un- 
_ deniable, had not been proof against 
their impetuous valour and wnyield- 
| ing enthusiasm. They seemed to 
| have reversed the character formerly 
| attributed to them, of impatience 
and unsteadiness, and to have as- 
| sumed that of firmness and con- 
_ Their exploits had now opened 
to them the road to Milan, the cap- 
ture of which would give them the 
possession of Lombardy, and effect 
the expulsion of the Austrians from 
Tialy.. This was the project of 
Buonaparte, whose glory would be 
completed by such an achievement; 
Berks. . 3 
[93 
and whose thirst of fame would 
thereby be gratified to the utmost 
extent of his wishes. 
Between him and that capital of 
Austrian Italy lay the remains of 
the Imperial forces, determined to 
risk another battle for its preserva 
tion. They were posted on the 
other side of the Adda, over which 
stood a long bridge, which Beauliea 
had intended to break down, but was 
prevented from doing by the quick 
approach of the French general, It 
was protected, however, by so nt« 
merous an artillery, that the Aus- 
trians did not imagine the French 
would be able to force a passage 
over it. 
On the tenth of May, the French 
army arrived in sight of this bridge, 
before which stood the town of 
Lodi, filled with the Imperial troops 
which were also posted in every 
place around it in the most advan- 
tageous order of battle that the 
situation of the town and its envi- 
rons would admit. Beaulieu had, 
on this occasion, displayed uncom- 
mon skill, conscious that, on the 
issue of this day, the fate of Aus 
tria in Italy wholly depended, and 
‘that, were he defeated, all future 
resistance would be vain. 
The battle began at nine in the 
morning. The approaches to Lodi 
were vigorously attacked by the 
French, who, after an obstinate dis- 
pute, drove the Austrians into that 
town ; where a resolute fight ensued : 
but the French had again the advan- 
taze, and forced them to retreat 
across the bridge to their main body, 
which was drawn up in order of 
battle, with formidable batterieson . 
their right and left to guard the 
passage of the bridge. A battery 
was planted on the opposite side 
by the French, and a violent can- 
nonade 
