184] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



tion of himself to carry on a siege in 

 form. He had not the artillery ne- 

 cessary for this purpose, unless, in- 

 deed, he should borrow it from the 

 English fleet : but it could not be 

 any other than a matter both te- 

 dious and diflacult to convert the 

 English guns, mounted for the ma- 

 rine service, into battering cannon. 

 The nature of the ground divided 

 the whole of the defence, as well 

 as the attack, into two distinct and 

 separate parts, by the course of the 

 Bisagno. The forts I'Eperon and 

 Diamant, covered the line of de- 

 fence on the left; and, on the right, 

 it was aided by the position of Ge- 

 noa, on the heights of Del Bati, 

 and defended by the fort of Riche- 

 lieu, to which are attached five 

 counter-forts, situated on the pro- 

 longation of the eminence. Mas- 

 sena,aftermaking these dispositions, 

 which seemed to secure, at least for 

 a time, the safety of Genoa, pro- 

 jected a grand movement, which 

 had for its object nothing less than 

 to blockade Savona, retake Vado, 

 and, by recovering his first lines, re- 

 establish his communications with 

 general Suchet. , 



On the night between the eighth 

 and ninth, all the corps that were 

 to compose the column of general 

 Soult, were directed to proceed to 

 Voltri. 



The Austrlans employed the 

 whole of the eighth of April, (the 

 taking of the Bochetta excepted) 

 in watching the motions of the 

 French; and in drawing over dif- 

 ferent corps from their left to their 

 right, towards the centre of their 

 posts, which was at Sasello. 



April 9. At three o'clock on 

 the morning of that day, notice was 



given that the Austrians were fall- 

 ing down from all quarters on Ge- 

 noa. Notwithstanding the agitation 

 that followed this intelligence, Mas- 

 sena made not the least alteration in 

 his disposition, but continued to 

 labour for the execution of his 

 plan : in pursuance of which, he 

 set out for Cogoletto,* where he 

 established his head-quarters. i 



By the plan agreed on, general 

 Soult was to be at Sasello in the 

 evening; but, a movement made 

 by the enemy, retarded the move- 

 ment of general Soult, by the ne- 

 cessity which it laid him under of 

 securing, with great care, his rear, 

 and keeping up his communication 

 with Genoa. Towards two o'clock, 

 in the morning, at the moment he 

 was preparing to depart from Vol- 

 tri, to proceed to Sasello, he learnt 

 that the enemy, having reduced the 

 post of Cabannes de Macarello, had 

 advanced as far as Acqua Santa, 

 within three miles of Voltri. On 

 this, he immediately formed the re- 

 solution to attack the enemy in this 

 new position. This operation was 

 committed to general Gazau, and he 

 performed it with success. But even 

 this success prevented general Soult 

 from taking the share, that had 

 been allotted to him, in the opera- 

 tions of the next day, resolved on 

 by general Massena. 



April ] 0. At four o'clock in the 

 morning, general Soult directed his 

 march by Aqua Bianca, Martino, 

 and St. Pietro del Alba, to Sasello. 

 About a mile from Pallo, he was 

 informed that four Austrian regi- 

 ments, making, in all, eight thou- 

 sand men, were on their way from 

 Monte Notte to La Verreria, and 

 that, on the morrow, that column 



The birth-place of Christopher Columbus. 



