iit 
HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
the efforts of the French, tilla more 
auspicious opportunity of relieving 
it effectually. 
France, in the mean while, was 
resounding with the exploits and 
praises of Buonaparte and his viéto- 
rious army. The standards taken 
from the Austrians, and sent by him 
to the direétory, were presented to 
it with great pomp and ceremony 
on the twenty-seventh of August. 
The officer commissioned to deliver 
them, addressed the direétory ina 
soldierly and spirited speech, which 
was received with great satisfaction 
and applause. It was entirely des- 
criptive of the bravery and determi- 
mation of the French soldiers, in 
Italy, to shed their blood for the 
service of the republic. It specified 
their intrepidity on divers occasions, 
and the great things it had done for 
the benefit of the state, and the 
lory of the nation. 
La Revailliere Lepaux, then pre- 
-sident of the direétory, returned him 
@ suitable answer. 
He loaded the 
French soldiery with all those praises 
that affect them possibly more than 
any other people of the same pro- 
fession elsewhere. He compared 
them to the most renowned warriors 
of antiquity, and exhorted them to 
proceed in that career of triumph 
and fame, which would raise France 
‘above all its enemies, and eter- 
nize their own name. These en- 
comiums were carefully transmit- 
ted to the army of Italy, where 
they produced their intended effect, 
in the satisfaction they afforded to 
both officers and men, and the ar- 
dour it filled them with, to be 
considered and treated as the heroes 
of their country. 
These enthusiastic sentiments 
were, at this period, particularly 
fill 
wanted. The viétories gained in 
Italy had cost the French many of 
their best officers, and bravest sol- 
diers; and their distance from 
France, together with other impedi- 
ments, obstructed the recruiting of 
their forces. Their enemies, on the 
contrary, had many facilities in this 
respect: the country behind them 
was their own; it abounded with 
robust and hardy men, inured to a 
laborious life, and inclined to the 
military profession. Hence conti- 
nual reinforcements were drawn, 
by means of which marshal Wurm- 
ser was enabled to repair his fre- 
quent losses, by incorporating the 
new levies with his veterans. 
His head quarters were now at 
Bassano, a town in the Venetian 
territories. Here he had assembled 
a considerable force, which he dis« 
tributed with great skill in all the 
advantageous positions in his neigh- 
bourhood. One of his divisions 
was stationed at Alla, on the Adige, 
in the road to the city of Trent, of 
which Buonaparte proposed to make 
himself master. This division occu- 
pied a strong post at Serravalle, on 
the right of the Adige, and another 
at Marco, on its left, By a series of 
skilful movements Buonaparte com- 
pelled a number of intermediate 
bodies of Austrians to fall back to 
these two posts, and crossing the 
Adige, on the fourth of September, 
he attacked the one at Marco, while 
the remainder of his forces fell upon 
the other at Serravalle. The en- 
gagement was obstinate on’ both 
sides, but the I'rench prevailed, and 
the Austrians were defeated with 
great loss, and driven from both 
positions. They retreated to Roves 
redo, inorder to recover themselves, 
and make a stand; but the French 
came 
