Battle of Novi (1799). State budgetary institution of social services "Zheleznovodsk comprehensive center for social services of the population" Battle of New Year 1799

On August 15, 1799, Russian troops under the command of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov defeated French troops at the Battle of Novi. This battle is one of a series of brilliant victories won by Suvorov during the Italian campaign.

Novi is an Italian city in the Riviera di Ponente, on the road from Tortona to Gavi. Known for two battles of the Revolutionary Wars era: August 15 and November 9, 1799. Of these, the battle of August 15 (4th old style) is much more important than the second. It is part of Suvorov's Italian campaign.

On August 4 (15), 1799, on the territory of Italy near the city of Novi, the largest battle took place between the united Russian-Austrian troops under the command of Field Marshal A.V. Suvorov (about 65 thousand people) and the French army (38 thousand people) under the command of General B.K. Joubert.

Suvorov’s plans were to deliver the main blow east of Novi, on the right flank of the French defense, and an auxiliary blow on the left, west of Novi. To this end, the group of the Austrian general Kray was supposed to attack the enemy’s left flank in order to divert his main forces there. Then, on Suvorov’s personal order, the main blow was to be delivered by a group of troops consisting of the corps of Derfelden, Rosenberg, Melas and Alkaini.

At 5 a.m. on August 4 (15), Allied troops under the command of the Austrian General Kray began an attack on the French left flank. General Joubert, who arrived in time to the battlefield, restored the balance of power, but was soon mortally wounded. General Moreau, who took command, strengthened his flank and repulsed all subsequent attacks. However, the main goal of the Allies was achieved: Moreau, deciding that Suvorov was going to deliver the main blow on the left flank, pulled the main French forces west of Novi, leaving only 11 thousand people in a more important area.

At about 9 a.m., Suvorov gave the order to Bagration and Miloradovich to attack Novi, Derfelden to go from Rivalta to Novi, and the Krai group to resume the attack on the French left flank. The goal was to break through the enemy's defenses in the center, where he had small forces. However, the assault on the Novi fortress was unsuccessful, and Bagration returned to his original positions. Subsequent Allied attacks also did not bring the desired result.

Suvorov sent orders to the reserve troops of General Melas to move out of Rivalta and, following east of the Russian troops, bypass the right flank of the French. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the allied army went on the offensive along the entire front: Krai soldiers attacked on the right flank, Derfelden's division was in the center, and Melas' troops fought on the left wing. A fierce battle ensued. The French had no reserves, and they were unable to withstand the onslaught of superior forces. Melas, having won the first victory over the weakened French flank, went to the rear of Novi. Russian troops of Bagration and Derfelden broke through the French defenses and broke into the city.

Seeing this, Moreau gave the order to retreat at 6 pm. The left wing of the French retreated to the village. Pasturano, but came under crossfire between the Krai troops and the Russians marching from Novi. At 8 pm the battle ended.

The fierce and stubborn battle lasted 15 hours, the pursuit of the French troops was limited to the battlefield, which allowed Moreau's weakened troops to retreat to the Genoese Riviera, where they could no longer resist.

The French army suffered a complete defeat: the left flank was completely crushed, only a few escaped from the right flank, General Joubert fell on the battlefield, division generals Perignon and Grouchy and brigadier generals Colley and Partuno were captured. The French suffered a crushing defeat.

Successes of Russian troops in Northern Italy and the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean campaign of F.F. Ushakov 1798-1800. led to the almost complete elimination of French dominance in the area.

Great Britain and Austria, fearing the growing influence of Russia, decided to remove Russian troops from Italy. On August 16 (27), Suvorov received an order from the Austrian gofkriegsrat to go with Russian troops to Switzerland to join the corps of Rimsky-Korsakov.

Having made the most difficult transition through the Alps, Russian troops, appearing in Switzerland, discovered that the Austrian army had already left the country.

In 1800, Russia withdrew from the coalition of European powers (1798-1802), and in January 1802, France occupied Italy for the second time...

Based on materials from the websites of the Russian Ministry of Defense and proeveryday.ru

Go to the French army Moreau, the French warned him. Their army in Italy was enlarged and given a new commander-in-chief, General Joubert. Joubert was a young man, very talented, enlightened and brave. In just 7 years he became commander-in-chief from an ordinary soldier; the entire French army knew and loved him. He came to Italy straight from the aisle, telling his young wife that he would return either a winner or dead. Moreau also stayed with the army for a short time to help his comrade at first.

First of all, Joubert gathered a military council, and he decided to go forward, without leaving the mountains. The French position was, in fact, almost impregnable. It stretched between two rivers along the ridge of low but steep mountains.

Suvorov decided to attack the enemy from his left flank and entrusted this to Baron Krai. From his high position, Joubert saw the entire allied army in full view and could count it through the telescope almost without error. He became thoughtful and again convened a military council. The majority advised not to get involved in battle and to retreat until help arrived. Joubert did not dare; he was overcome by anxiety and even despondency. All day he consoled himself with the thought that maybe Suvorov would come to his senses, would not attack the French strong position and would retreat on his own. However, night fell and Suvorov did not leave, and Joubert was overcome by fear.

It had not yet dawned on August 4th when Baron Kray set off against the French. Gunfire began to crackle, and the leading French squadrons were shot down instantly. Joubert galloped towards the shots, rushed towards the skirmishers and was immediately killed by a bullet on the spot. Moreau again took over the main command of the army.

Petrushevsky A.F. Stories about Suvorov. - St. Petersburg, 1885

Progress of the battle (excerpts)

At 6 o'clock in the morning, Major General Prince Bagration, with the advanced troops entrusted to him, attacked the enemy, located on a mountain outside the city of Novi, with undaunted courage. The enemy, seeing a strong attack in the center, began to act with his right wing in order to crash into the left flank. Here Major General Prince Gorchakov, having received from Prince Bagration the Chasseur Major General Miller of the 3rd Regiment, two battalions of Granoder Colonel Lomonosov and Lieutenant Colonel Sanaev, went to the left, struck at him and hit him hard. Prince Bagration himself, with a regiment named after himself, with two battalions of Lieutenant Colonel Dendrigin and Major Kalemin, went into the middle of the enemy position, sending forward to open his regiment with his name, Staff Captain Lvov with 30 riflemen of the rangers, who were first attacked by the enemy cavalry; but Staff Captain Lvov, bravely defending himself with the rangers, killed up to 20 cavalrymen, killed one colonel and General Garo with bayonets; but he himself was killed at the scene of the battle...

At the first attack, the enemy fired a brutal cannonade at our front; but this did not shake the fearlessness of our troops, who intensified to take advantage of the enemy’s advantageous positions. Major General Prince Gorchakov, during his attack on the enemy, suddenly saw a whole enemy column... The enemy, constantly maneuvering left and right, forced our troops to change the formation of our front three times. Finally, the enemy strengthened against the end of our left flank, where the regiment of Miloradovich and Dalgeim's regiment, the Castelian battalion, fought courageously. When Major General Prince Bagration was striking the enemy, a dense column appeared from the bushes, which he attacked with a cold gun, upset and already stabbed into pieces; then two enemy hussar squadrons came to the rescue.<…>Thus, the battle continued for 16 hours, the most stubborn, bloody and in the annals of the world, due to the advantageous position of the enemy, the only one. The darkness of the night covered the shame of the enemies, but the glory of victory bestowed on your weapon by the Almighty, great sovereign! will be illuminated forever with a radiant, unflickering light.

Suvorov's message to PavelI

Lost Army

...8 o'clock. In the evening the battle, which began at 5 o'clock, ended. morning. The French army suffered a complete defeat: the left flank was completely destroyed, only weak fragments escaped from the right flank, the general commanding the army fell on the battlefield, division generals Perignon and Grouchy and brigadier generals Colley and Partuno were captured. The continuous persecution did not allow one to think about any further resistance in the Genoese region and about the possibility of reassembling the army. Meanwhile, normal pursuit by cavalry forces under the given topographical conditions was completely impossible... But when and where, after a fierce battle in such difficult terrain, did the pursuit continue even after dark?

After the Battle of Trebbia and a brief pursuit of Macdonald's army, Suvorov turned his forces against Moreau. The latter, having learned about the disastrous outcome of the battle on June 17–19, also began to retreat. The allies failed to catch up with him. Moreau's army fled to the Genoese Riviera. It was here that the invincible field marshal was going to strike in the future. With a decisive offensive, Suvorov hoped to carry out his invasion plan; France. Therefore, he proposed to develop the success achieved, not allowing the enemy to come to his senses and gather his strength. However, the Austrian command did everything possible to prevent this plan from being implemented. The Allied intervention in Suvorov's actions eventually took on the character of direct opposition. The Austrian Emperor Francis I directly forbade Suvorov from taking any active actions against the Genoese Riviera and ordered to begin the siege and capture of all fortresses in which the French garrisons were settled. The Russian commander was forced to submit. Thus, valuable time was lost.

Meanwhile, the French, taking advantage of the respite provided to them, restored the combat effectiveness of their Italian army. Due to the fact that the threat of direct invasion loomed over the borders of France, the Directory made every effort to rectify the situation. It was decided to form a new army, the so-called. The Alpine, which numbered 32 thousand people, was supposed to cover the passages to France through the Alps. The size of the Italian army was supposed to be increased to 48 thousand people and supplied with everything necessary. (See K. Clausewitz, 1799. M., 1938. P. 267.) Due to the fact that trust in generals MacDonald and Moreau was undermined, one of the most talented commanders of the Republic, B. Joubert, was placed at the head of this army . The young general showed promise, and therefore the Directory sent him the most serious order - “Win ​​at any cost!” Arriving in Italy, Joubert took command from Moreau, who remained with the new commander-in-chief as a consultant, and decided to advance.

The active actions of the French caused a response from Suvorov. The leading regiments were ordered not to impede the enemy's advance in order to lure them out of the mountainous terrain onto the plain, where the large Allied cavalry and artillery could be used. On August 14, the opponents got so close that battle became inevitable. Two armies, the French army of 38 thousand people, and the Allied army of 65 thousand people (Harbottle T. Battles of World History. M., 1993. P. 327), stood against each other, based on the decisions of their military leaders. The position in which General Joubert was stationed stretched for several kilometers, along the last spurs of a mountain range that stretched from east to west to the intersection with the river. Lemmo. In the center of the position, at the foot of the mountains, the French occupied the small town of Novi, the surroundings of which were covered with vineyards, ditches and fenced off with stone walls. The French right flank lagged far back near the village. Serravalle, and the left one in front of the village. Pasturano. The approaches to the French positions, as a result of the rugged terrain, were difficult in themselves and, in addition, were well bombarded from above. All this allowed the famous military historian K. Clausewitz to conclude that “... the position at Novi can be ranked frontally among the strongest positions...” (Clausewitz K. Decree, op., p. 279.)

Suvorov's disposition for the battle of Novi was not preserved. Military historians disagree on what the field marshal's plan was. Some argue that he wanted to deliver the main blow to the French left flank, others believe that the attack on the left flank was a diversion. In general, it was difficult to foresee the response of the French, who had enough forces for both defense and offensive. However, on the evening before the battle, General Joubert did not yet have an exact plan of action; he postponed the decision on this issue until the morning, and at dawn he received news that the Allies had gone on the offensive.

At 5 o'clock in the morning on August 15, the right flank of the Allies under the command of the Austrian General P. Kray launched an attack against the village. Pastorano. The French division that offered resistance was driven back. Joubert, who arrived in time to the battlefield, restored the balance of power, and was soon mortally wounded by a stray bullet. His last words were: “Advance!” Apparently, Suvorov really hoped for such a decision. Perhaps he assumed that Joubert would be carried away by the pursuit of the Austrians and go out onto the plain. However, General Moreau, who took command, having strengthened his flank, categorically forbade any offensive actions.

Repeatedly, General Kray renewed attacks on the enemy’s left flank, but was unsuccessful, since almost half of the French army fought against his forces. The region sent an adjutant to General Bagration, who stood in the center of the allied positions, with a request to support his actions, but Bagration refused, citing the lack of orders from the commander-in-chief. Apparently, Suvorov wanted the French to divert as many forces as possible from their center to the left edge and, taking advantage of this, was going to break through their central positions with a powerful attack.

At 9 o'clock in the morning the Edge was recaptured once again. Then, deciding that a favorable moment had come, Suvorov gave the order to Bagration and A. Mutoradovich to attack Novi. The first Russian attack began with battalions under the command of Bagration himself. Using every cover, under hot fire, he brought his soldiers to the city, but here his path was blocked by a stone wall that did not yield to the cannonballs of light Russian cannons. Then Bagration made an attempt with 4 infantry battalions to bypass Novi from the east. But here the division of General P. J. Vatren advanced to meet him, which drove the Russians back in a bayonet attack. The second joint attack by Bagration and Miloradovich was also unsuccessful. Seeing Bagration's failures, Suvorov himself stood at the head of V.H. Derfelden's division and came out to support the attacks of the center. But the third Russian attack was repulsed. The commander of the Novi garrison, General K.-M. Gardann showed real courage and remarkable leadership talent. Steadfastly withstanding the pressure of the Russians, he met them with grapeshot fire, and then rushed into short bayonet attacks. The Republican soldiers fought with amazing courage and desperation. General Moreau constantly appeared in the most dangerous places, a horse was killed under him, bullets riddled his uniform. The French generals matched their commander in courage, personally leading their soldiers in bayonet and cavalry attacks.

Field Marshal Suvorov was on fire all day. He led every division, every regiment into the attack, finding words of encouragement for the soldiers, instilling in them hope for victory. But it was all in vain. The Russians went on the attack, and then came back with nothing. There was terrible heat, the soldiers suffered from thirst, many fell from exhaustion, even the lightly wounded died from exhaustion. It was one of the most terrible and bloody battles of the 18th century, which Clausewitz called “the great tragedy.”

By 12 noon the outcome of the battle was still unresolved. Both armies had already exhausted their reserves, and a strike from fresh forces could decide the matter. Suvorov sent to inform General Melas that he was waiting for help from his reserves.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Melas' troops began attacking the enemy's right flank. Thus began the final phase of this battle. Simultaneously with Melas's attack, General Kray on the right flank and the Russians in the center renewed attacks along the entire front. The French had no reserves, and they were unable to withstand the onslaught of superior enemy forces this time.

Melas, having won the first victory over the weakened French flank, went to the rear of Novi. Brave gene. L. G. Saint-Cyr could not do anything and only courageously covered the retreat of his right flank. Russian troops of Bagration and Derfelden burst into the city and broke through the French defenses. Seeing this, Moreau gave the order to retreat at 6 pm, but under the pressure of the allies, the retreat turned into a real flight. The left wing of the French retreated to the village. Pasturano, but came under crossfire between the Krai troops and the Russians marching from Novi. The surrounded soldiers succumbed to panic, many rushed in all directions. General E. Grushi with one battalion tried to stop the fugitives in order to hold the village and cover the retreat of the remaining parts of the left flank. But he was attacked from all sides, defeated and, having received 4 wounds, was captured.

At 8 pm the battle ended. At night the pursuit of the fleeing stopped, preventing their complete extermination. The French army was completely destroyed: 7 thousand French were killed on the battlefield, 3 thousand were captured, 37 guns ended up in the hands of the allies. At the same time, the Allies lost about 6–7 thousand people killed and wounded.

Paul I did not skimp on mercy. All participants in the Battle of Novi were given generous royal awards, the families of the killed officers were given an annual pension, and the Tsar wrote to Suvorov that with his victory the commander-in-chief placed himself “above awards.”

The result of the victory at Novi was the retreat of Moro's weakened troops to the Genoese Riviera, where the French could no longer think of resistance. Thus, achieving the strategic goal that the field marshal had long set for himself made it much easier. The vigorous pursuit of the defeated French could have led to the complete destruction of the French army and the subsequent invasion of France. However, these plans were again thwarted by the Austrians, and the extremely advantageous situation created as a result of the Battle of Novi was not used. The Italian camania was ending. The victories won by Suvorov thundered throughout the world, highly raising the glory of Russian weapons and the field marshal's general art.

1. Bayov A.K. Course on the history of Russian military art. - St. Petersburg.

2. Beskrovny L. G. Italian and Swiss campaigns of A. V. Suvorov. Military-historical magazine. - 1974. - No. 8. - P. 98–103.

3. Bogdanovich M.I. The most remarkable campaigns of Peter the Great and Suvorov. - St. Petersburg, 1889. pp. 168–182.

4. Military encyclopedia. - St. Petersburg, Ed. I. D. Sytina, 1914. - T. 17. P. 21–24.

5. Heroes and battles. Publicly available military-historical anthology. - M., 1995. P. 360–371.

6. Zolotarev V. A., Mezhevt M. N., Skorodumov D. E. To the glory of the Russian Fatherland. (Development of military thought and military art in Russia in the second half of the 18th century.) - M., 1984. pp. 188–189.

7. Zuev D. Suvorov in 1799 (according to Austrian military sources). - St. Petersburg, 1900.

8. Kresnovsky A. A. History of the Russian Army: In 4 volumes - M., 1992. - From Narva to Paris 1700–1814. - P. 188.

9. Leer G. A. Review of Russian wars from Peter the Great to the present day. St. Petersburg, 1885.

10. Milyutin D. A. History of the war between Russia and France during the reign of Emperor Paul I. - T. 1–9. - St. Petersburg, 1852–1853.

11. Marine Atlas/Ans. ed. G. I. Levchenko. - M., 1958. -T.3, part 1. - L.20.

12. Orlov N. A. Suvorov’s campaign in 1799 - St. Petersburg, 1898.

13. Soviet military encyclopedia: In 8 volumes / Ch. ed. commission N.V. Ogarkov (pred.) and others - M., 1978. - T.5. - pp. 612–613.

14. Strokov A. A. History of military art. - M., 1955. - T.1. - pp. 612–616.

15. Suvorov A.V. Documents. - T.4. - M., 1954.

16. Encyclopedia of military and maritime sciences: In 8 volumes / edited by. ed. G. A. Leer. - St. Petersburg, 1891. - T 5. - P. 387–388.

The current version of the page has not yet been verified

The current version of the page has not yet been verified by experienced participants and may differ significantly from the one verified on March 28, 2017; checks are required.

The remaining Moro forces retreated again to the Genoese Riviera. They no longer even had the strength to defend the Apennine passes. This battle created an extremely favorable situation for the Allied invasion of France. However, the Austrian leadership did not use this opportunity, fearing the strengthening of Russian influence in Europe.

The Battle of Novi was one of the longest (15 hours) and bloodiest of Suvorov's field battles (in terms of the number of killed, it was second only to the assault on Izmail). In this battle, the French occupied one of the strongest positions in the history of warfare, which gave them enormous fire advantages and negated Suvorov's significant advantage in cavalry, balancing the number of troops. All random circumstances (underestimation of the number of French by Suvorov and, as a result, the first weak blow to the center; the death of Joubert at the beginning of the battle and the coming to command of the more experienced Moreau; the slow actions of Melas, who spent a lot of time covering Vatrin’s division) leaned towards the side of the French army, but, Despite these circumstances, it was completely defeated. The irretrievable losses suffered by the French army were approaching those in the Battle of Borodino. The Battle of Novi is an example of Suvorov’s brilliant military art and one of the rare cases in military history when an army, skillfully and staunchly defending in a strong position, equal in strength to the attacking troops, suffered a heavy defeat.

K. Clausewitz called the battle of Novi “a great tragedy.” General Moreau, realizing that the army's action against Suvorov's troops would result in its destruction, refused to comply with the relevant demands of the Directory, so as not to take the blame for the deaths of thousands of people. However, circumstances developed in such a way that it was he who was forced to fight the battle of Novi, which led the French army to disaster.

Suvorov briefly described the battle of Novi in ​​a letter to Admiral F. F. Ushakov dated August 11 (22):

“I hasten to inform Your Excellency about the severe defeat of the enemy. On the 4/15 of this month, he appeared on the ridges of the mountains near Novi, consisting of 37,000 people, and formed a battle formation, with Gavia on his left side, and his right wing stretching towards Seravalla. In this position he was attacked, completely defeated and put to flight. Its damage extends, according to the French themselves, to 20,000 people.”

Bagration was far from the scene of the drama at the crossing. On April 29, he found himself again at the very tip of the spearhead of his army - near the village of Novi, where he captured many supplies of the French army. In a report to Suvorov, he writes: “The inhabitants in the city of Novi seemed more boring, I declared to them your philanthropy and mercy, with which your Excellency is filled. This revived them, and with great exclamations they presented me with the city keys, and brought all kinds of benefits to the corps.” Bagration was hasty in his assessments: the residents of Novi were almost entirely “Yakubins,” which is why they were so “boring” when the Russian army appeared. When the Battle of Novi later took place, the residents hid the French and, together with them, shot the Russian soldiers in the back. Therefore, massacres and robberies occurred on the streets of the city.

Novi is an Italian city in the Riviera di Ponente, on the road from Tortona to Gavi. Known for two battles of the era of the Revolutionary Wars: August 15 and November 9, 1799. Of these, the battle of August 15 (4th old style) is much more important than the second. It is part of Suvorov's Italian campaign.

Shortly before the First Battle of Novi, at the end of July 1799, a French army in northern Italy, led by a 30-year-old general Joubert(Joubert), was located as follows: the right wing, under the command of Saint-Cyr (15,000 people), observed the exits from the Ligurian mountains, from Pontremoli to Torilla. The center (about 10,000 people) occupied the passage of Bocchetta and Campofreddo; the left wing, General Perignon, (12,000 people), at the entrance to the Tanarota valley, covering communications with France and with the newly formed Army of the Alps. The entire French army was divided into two parts: the divisions of Laboisiere, Vatrin and Dombrowski, under the command of Saint-Cyr, constituted the center and right wing; and the divisions of Grouchy and Lemoine and the reserve brigades of Clausel and Partoneau - the left wing, led by Perignon. The army consisted of 52 batteries and 11 cavalry regiments, totaling up to 40,000 people.

Joubert, unaware of the capture by troops Second anti-French coalition Mantua and having received an order from the Directory to immediately enter into battle to liberate this fortress, on August 9 he moved forward in three columns; On the 14th, the right wing of Saint-Cyr stood at Santo Bartolomeo, on the Scrivia River, and the left wing at the town of Novi. Dombrowski with 3,000 people positioned himself in front of Serravalle, and Perignon occupied the space between Novi and Pasturano.

Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov. Portrait by D. Levitsky, ca. 1786