HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
wounded, and the city taken and 
delivered up to the troops for pil- 
lage during three hours. A procla- 
mation was then issued, ordering all 
arms to be surrendered, on pain of 
death to those who retained them ; 
and threatening to set fire to places 
where Frenchmen should be mur- 
dered. The reduction of Lugo took 
_ place on the sixth of July. 
Mantua was, in the mean time, 
closely besieged, and hard pressed. 
The garrison made several vigorous 
sallies, but Buonaparte, who had by 
this time collected, from the many 
strong towns he had taken, a nume- 
rous and formidable artillery, gave 
no respite to the besieged, and con- 
Stantly repelled them. He erected 
batteries for the firing red hot balls, 
and several parts of the city were 
in flames : but the governor was re- 
solved to hold out to the last ex- 
tremity, and refused to listen to the 
summons to surrender. 
Powerful reinforcements having 
joined marshal Wurm<ser, since the 
check he had received in the moun- 
tains of the Tyrol, he resolved to re- 
pair this by raising the siege to Man- 
tua; by effecting which he would at 
once undo all that had been done by 
Buonaparte. Animated with this 
hope, he assailed the French at Salo, 
on the western side of the Lake of 
Garda, and at Corona on the east. 
He had the good fortune to dislodge 
them on the twenty-ninth of July, 
from both of these positions : those 
at Sulo retired to Peschiera, and 
those at Corona to the city of 
Verona. 
- Buonaparte, who perceived the 
€riticalness of his situation,assembled 
all his forces to oppose the Austrian 
general, who, after seizing Brescia, 
in Consequence of the capture of 
Salo, on the one side-of the lake, 
“ ‘4 
[105 
and Verona on the other, which the 
French were compelled to abandon, 
was moving with the division under 
his command towards Buonaparte, 
while the other was advancing with 
all expedition to place the French 
between two fires. 
Conscious that his strength was 
not equal to an encounter with the 
Austrian general’s united divisions, 
Buonaparte came to the determina- 
tion to attack them singly before 
they could form a junction. ‘This, 
indeed, seemed the only expedient 
left to extricate him from his present 
danger. It was not, however, 
without the deepest concern, that 
he saw himself reduced to the ne- 
cessity of abandoning the siege of 
Mantua, now almost destitute of 
provisions, and on the point of sur- 
rendering. 
He raised it on the thirtieth of 
July, and, in pursuit of his plan, 
marched with all expedition to 
Brescia, where he joined the divi- 
sions of his army. They had gained 
several advantages over the Aus- 
trians, particularly at Lonado, a 
town which these had seized, but 
from which they were expelled, after 
being completely defeated in an en- 
gagement, the last of July, wherein 
they lost great numbers. 
From Brescia, where the Austri- 
ans were again totally routed, on the 
first of August, they withdrew in dis- 
order towards the Tyrol, where they 
took refuge in the mountains. On 
the third, marshal Wurmser,who,ap- 
prised of the ill fortune that had at- 
tended his other division, had ad- 
vanced with all speed to its assistance 
came up with Buonaparte, who, ex- 
pecting him, was prepared for batile. 
The Austrians had some advantage 
at first, through the rash impetuosity 
of an advanced corps of French, 
which 
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