FRANCE. 383 



heim, and blockaded Mentz, to which they had already laid siege for 

 several months. In this attempt, however, they were unsuccessful : 

 they suffered a defeat from the Austrian s, and were compelled to re- 

 pass the river. A suspension of arms, for three months, was soon 

 after agreed to by the generals of the contending armies, which was 

 ratified by the respective powers. 



In the succeeding year (1796) the campaign opened in the south, 

 on the 9th of April ; when the rapid and signal victories of the re- 

 publican troops, under the command of the then obscure and little 

 known, but now celebrated Buonaparte (which name he has since 

 chosen to write Bonaparte) ended, in little more than a month, the 

 war with . Sardinia. The battles of Millessimo, Dego, Mondovi, 

 Monte Lermo,'and Monte Notte, compelled his Sardinian majesty to 

 accept such terms as the conquerors thought proper to offer ; and a 

 treaty of peace, by which he ceded Savoy and Nice to France, was 

 signed on the 17th of May. 



Bonaparte pursued his success; and, again defeating Beaulieu, the 

 Austrian general, at the battle of the bridge of Lodi, forced the shat- 

 tered remains of the Austrian army to retire towards Mantua, pur- 

 sued by one part of the republican forces : while the remainder en- 

 tered Milan on the 18th of May without further resistance, and the 

 French armies gained possession of the whole of Lombardy. 



The armistice which had been concluded on the Rhine, was after- 

 wards prolonged, but at length declared to be at an end on the 31st 

 of May : when the army of the Sambre and Meuse, under general 

 Jourdan, gaining considerable advantages over the Austrians, advanc- 

 ed into the heart of the empire ; while another army, under general 

 Moreau, passed the Rhine at Strasbourg, took the fort of Kehl (a 

 post of great importance on the opposite bank) and penetrating 

 through Bavaria nearly to Ratisbon, endeavoured to form a junction 

 with the army of Jourdan. This attempt, however, did not succeed; 

 both armies experienced a reverse of fortune, and were obliged to re- 

 treat till they recrossed the Rhine. The situation of general Moreau. 

 was highly critical ; and his retreat is acknowledged, on all sides, to 

 have been conducted with great military skill. The archduke 

 Charles, who commanded the Austrian army, followed Moreau in his 

 retreat ; and laid siege to the fort of Kehl, which he retook after a 

 most obstinate resistance on the part of the French. 



To restore the affairs of Italy, the emperor assembled a new ar- 

 my, composed of the flower of the German troops serving on the 

 Rhine ; and gave the command of it to general Wurmser, one of the 

 oldest and ablest of the imperial generals. This force, on its first ar- 

 rival, was successful : the French were repulsed, defeated, and com- 

 pelled to raise the siege of Mantua. Bonaparte, however, soon re- 

 turned to the charge ; and, after a series of hotly-contested actions, 

 the army of Wurmser was so reduced and harassed, that he was 

 obliged to shut himself up in Mantua ; where he was closely besieg- 

 ed by the victors, who at the same time made incursions into the Ty- 

 rol ; and, by the battle of Roveredo, and the possession of Trent, be- 

 came masters of the passes that led to Vienna. The Austrians, at 

 the same time, made a great effort, under general Alvinzy, to rescue 

 the gallant Wurmser and his besieged army ; but the battle of Ar- 

 eola completely defeated their design, and Mantua was soon after 

 obliged to surrender. 

 The victories of Bonaparte compelled the pope, the king of Na- 



