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which being executed with great vigor, especially by the Poles, caused considerable confusion, which the Spanish general endeavored to remedy by closing to the assailed flank."
## Positions.
West of Ocaña town, Aréizaga placed José Pascual de Zayas y Chacón's Vanguard and Rivas's cavalry. From Ocaña to the east, the Spanish commander aligned his center and right. The right flank, which hung in air, was held by Freire's remaining three cavalry divisions. From there to Ocaña, Luis Roberto de Lacy, Castejon, Pedro Agustín Girón and Vigodet held the front line. Their battalions were arranged in a double line. In reserve behind Castejon stood Jacome's men, Zerain supported Giron and Copons backed
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up Vigodet.
The Royal Guard and one brigade of Dessolles stood north of Ocaña, facing across a deep ravine. The next unit to the east was Louis Rey's brigade of Dessolles. Gazan and Girard of the V Corps, Leval and Werlé of IV Corps, and the cavalry completed the line to the east. Soult massed 30 cannons near Dessolles and the V Corps' positions.
## Battle.
On 19 November, the massed battery pounded the Spanish center as Leval attacked Castejon and Werlé went in against Lacy's division. At first the Spanish swung their line back. Then, as the IV Corps halted to wait for artillery to be brought up, the two Spanish divisions surged forward into musket range and opened fire. The Dutch, Germans
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and Poles began to edge rearward. Soult ordered up Girard's division to support the wavering IV Corps battalions.
While this was going on, Milhaud's dragoons, supported by Woirgard and Paris, moved rapidly toward the vulnerable Spanish right flank. Screened by olive groves, they suddenly appeared in front of Freire's command. The French charged and soon routed the Spanish horsemen. Milhaud, Paris and Woirgard neatly wheeled their squadrons and tore into the unprotected flank of Lacy's infantry. Soult sent the French line forward. The massed battery savaged the Spanish line with renewed fury.
Faced by the threat of infantry pressing their front while cavalry slashed into their flank, the Spanish
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divisions collapsed one after another and bolted for the rear. At this crisis, Dessolles and the Royal Guard dashed across the ravine and burst into Ocaña, severing the Spanish left from their disintegrating center and right. As the Spanish army streamed away to the south, only Zayas's division remained intact to cover the retreat. Soult's cavalry pressed the pursuit and broke Zayas later in the day.
## Results.
The French captured 14,000 Spaniards, 50 cannon, 30 flags and the entire baggage train. Another 4,000 were killed and wounded. French losses were 2,000 killed and wounded. Paris was killed and Girard wounded. This catastrophe temporarily laid Spain open to French domination. The northern
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orthern Spanish army was beaten a week later at the Battle of Alba de Tormes. The way was open for the French conquest of Andalusia.
# Bibliography.
- Glover, Michael. "The Peninsular War 1807-1814." London: Penguin, 2001.
- Napier, William. "History of the war in the Peninsula and the south of France, from the year 1807 to the year 1814 (1873)" New York : D. & J. Sadlier.
- Smith, Digby. "The Napoleonic Wars Data Book." London: Greenhill, 1993.
- Zimmermann, Dick. "The Battle of Ocana," Wargamer's Digest magazine. v. 6, no. 1, Nov. 1979.
# See also.
- Pieter Hendrik van Zuylen van Nijevelt
# External links.
- Napoleonic Guide description
- The Vistula Uhlans - Picadors of the Hell
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Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
Christmas celebrations in the denominations of Western Christianity have long begun on the night of the 24th, due in part to the Christian liturgical day starting at sunset, a practice inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the story of Creation in the Book of Genesis: "And there was evening, and there
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was morning – the first day." Many churches still ring their church bells and hold prayers in the evening; for example, the Nordic Lutheran churches. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night (based in Luke 2:6-8), Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, in commemoration of his birth. The idea of Jesus being born at night is reflected in the fact that Christmas Eve is referred to as "Heilige Nacht" (Holy Night) in German, "Nochebuena" (the Good Night) in Spanish and similarly in other expressions of Christmas spirituality, such as the song "Silent Night, Holy Night".
Many other varying cultural traditions and experiences are also associated with Christmas
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Eve around the world, including the gathering of family and friends, the singing of Christmas carols, the illumination and enjoyment of Christmas lights, trees, and other decorations, the wrapping, exchange and opening of gifts, and general preparation for Christmas Day. Legendary Christmas gift-bearing figures including Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkind, and Saint Nicholas are also often said to depart for their annual journey to deliver presents to children around the world on Christmas Eve, although until the Protestant introduction of Christkind in 16th-century Europe, such figures were said to instead deliver presents on the eve of Saint Nicholas' feast day (6 December).
# Religious
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traditions.
## Western churches.
Roman Catholics and high church Anglicans traditionally celebrate Midnight Mass, which begins either at or sometime before midnight on Christmas Eve. This ceremony, which is held in churches throughout the world, celebrates the birth of Christ, which is believed to have occurred at night. Midnight Mass is popular in Poland (pasterka).
In recent years some churches have scheduled their "Midnight" Mass as early as 7 pm. This better suits the young children, whose choral singing has become a popular feature in some traditions. In Spanish-speaking areas, the Midnight Mass is sometimes referred to as "Misa de Gallo", or "Missa do Galo" in Portuguese ("Rooster's
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Mass"). In the Philippines, the custom has expanded into the nine-day "Simbang Gabi", when Filipinos attend dawn Masses (traditionally beginning around 04:00 to 05:00 PST) from 16 December, continuing daily until Christmas Eve. In 2009 Vatican officials scheduled the Midnight Mass to start at 10 pm so that the 82-year-old Pope Benedict XVI would not have too late a night.
A nativity scene may be erected indoors or outdoors, and is composed of figurines depicting the infant Jesus resting in a manger, Mary, and Joseph. Other figures in the scene may include angels, shepherds, and various animals. The figures may be made of any material, and arranged in a stable or grotto. The Magi may also appear,
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and are sometimes not placed in the scene until the week following Christmas to account for their travel time to Bethlehem. While most home nativity scenes are packed away at Christmas or shortly thereafter, nativity scenes in churches usually remain on display until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Whilst it does not include any kind of Mass, the Church of Scotland has a service beginning just before midnight, in which carols are sung. The Church of Scotland no longer holds Hogmanay services on New Year's Eve, however. The Christmas Eve Services are still very popular.
On Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle in the center of the Advent wreath is traditionally lit in many church services.
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In candlelight services, while singing "Silent Night", each member of the congregation receives a candle and passes along their flame which is first received from the Christ Candle.
Lutherans traditionally practice Christmas Eve Eucharistic traditions typical of Germany and Scandinavia. "Krippenspiele" (Nativity plays), special festive music for organ, vocal and brass choirs and candlelight services make Christmas Eve one of the highlights in the Lutheran Church calendar.
Christmas Vespers are popular in the early evening, and midnight services are also widespread in regions which are predominantly Lutheran. The old Lutheran tradition of a Christmas Vigil in the early morning hours of Christmas
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Day (Christmette) can still be found in some regions. In eastern and middle Germany, congregations still continue the tradition of "Quempas singing": separate groups dispersed in various parts of the church sing verses of the song "He whom shepherds once came Praising" ("Quem pastores laudavere") responsively.
Methodists celebrate the evening in different ways. Some, in the early evening, come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families. The mood is very solemn, and the only visible light is the Advent Wreath, and the candles upon the Lord's Table. Others celebrate the evening with services of light, which include singing the song "Silent Night" as a variety of candles (including
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personal candles) are lit. Other churches have late evening services perhaps at 11 pm, so that the church can celebrate Christmas Day together with the ringing of bells at midnight. Others offer Christmas Day services as well.
The annual "Nine Lessons and Carols", broadcast from King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, has established itself a Christmas custom in the United Kingdom. It is broadcast outside the UK via the BBC World Service, and is also bought by broadcasters around the world.
## Eastern churches.
In the Byzantine Rite, Christmas Eve is referred to as Paramony ("preparation"). It is the concluding day of the Nativity Fast and is observed as a day of strict fasting by those
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devout Byzantine Christians who are physically capable of doing so. In some traditions, nothing is eaten until the first star appears in the evening sky, in commemoration of the Star of Bethlehem. The liturgical celebration begins earlier in the day with the celebration of the Royal Hours, followed by the Divine Liturgy combined with the celebration of Vespers, during which a large number of passages from the Old Testament are chanted, recounting the history of salvation. After the dismissal at the end of the service, a new candle is brought out into the center of the church and lit, and all gather round and sing the Troparion and Kontakion of the Feast.
In the evening, the All-Night Vigil
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for the Feast of the Nativity is composed of Great Compline, Matins and the First Hour. The Byzantine services of Christmas Eve are intentionally parallel to those of Good Friday, illustrating the theological point that the purpose of the Incarnation was to make possible the Crucifixion and Resurrection. This is illustrated in Eastern icons of the Nativity, on which the Christ Child is wrapped in swaddling clothes reminiscent of his burial wrappings. The child is also shown lying on a stone, representing the Tomb of Christ, rather than a manger. The Cave of the Nativity is also a reminder of the cave in which Jesus was buried.
The services of Christmas Eve are also similar to those of the Eve
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of Theophany (Epiphany), and the two Great Feasts are considered one celebration.
In some Orthodox cultures, after the Vesperal Liturgy the family returns home to a festive meal, but one at which Orthodox fasting rules are still observed: no meat or dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) are consumed (see below for variations according to nationality). Then they return to the church for the All-Night Vigil.
The next morning, Christmas Day, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated again, but with special features that occur only on Great Feasts of the Lord. After the dismissal of this Liturgy, the faithful customarily greet each other with the kiss of peace and the words: "Christ is Born!", to which
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the one being greeted responds: "Glorify Him!" (the opening words of the Canon of the Nativity that was chanted the night before during the Vigil). This greeting, together with many of the hymns of the feast, continue to be used until the leave-taking of the feast on 29 December.
The first three days of the feast are particularly solemn. The second day is known as the Synaxis of the Theotokos, and commemorates the role of the Virgin Mary in the Nativity of Jesus. The third day is referred to simply as "the Third Day of the Nativity". The Saturday and Sunday following 25 December have special Epistle and Gospel readings assigned to them. 29 December celebrates the Holy Innocents.
Byzantine
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Christians observe a festal period of twelve days, during which no one in the Church fasts, even on Wednesdays and Fridays, which are normal fasting days throughout the rest of the year. During this time one feast leads into another: 25–31 December is the afterfeast of the Nativity; 2–5 January is the forefeast of the Epiphany.
## Meals.
### Bulgaria.
In Bulgaria, the meal consists of an odd number of lenten dishes in compliance with the rules of fasting. They are usually the traditional sarma, bob chorba (bean soup), fortune kravai (pastry with a fortune in it; also called "bogovitsa", "vechernik", "kolednik"), stuffed peppers, nuts, dried fruit, boiled wheat. The meal is often accompanied
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with wine or Bulgaria's traditional alcoholic beverage rakia, in the past "olovina" (a type of homemade rye beer). The meals used to be put on top of hay, directly on the floor, together with a ploughshare or a coulter.
### France.
In French-speaking places, Réveillon is a long dinner eaten on Christmas Eve.
### Italy.
While other Christian families throughout the world celebrate the Christmas Eve meal with various meats, Italians (especially Sicilians) celebrate the traditional Catholic "Feast of the Seven Fishes" which was historically served after a 24-hour fasting period. Although Christmas fasting is no longer a popular custom, some Italian-Americans still enjoy a meatless Christmas
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Eve feast and attend the Midnight Mass. In various cultures, a festive dinner is traditionally served for the family and close friends in attendance, when the first star (usually Sirius) arrives on the sky.
### Poland.
A similar tradition ("Wigilia", or 'Christmas Vigil') exists in Poland. The number of dishes used to be traditionally an odd number (usually 5, 7, 9, or 11.) According to the "Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego" ("Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language") by Aleksander Brückner, the number of dishes was traditionally related to social class: the peasants' vigil consisted of 5 or 7 dishes, the gentry usually had 9, and the aristocracy, 11 dishes, but the even number
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12 is also found today to remember the 12 disciples. It is obligatory to try a portion of all of them. Some traditions specify that the number of guests cannot be odd.
In Poland, gifts are unwrapped on the Christmas Eve, as opposed to the Christmas Day.
### Lithuania.
Lithuanian Christmas Eve blends pagan and Christian traditions as initially it was a celebration of winter solstice. Traditionally, Lithuanians believed that animals could talk on that night, and it was possible to predict the future. "Kūčios" ("Holy Meal") is the most important event of the year and family reunion. Dead relatives are remembered with an empty plate set at the table. The feast starts after the rise of the evening
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star. No products made from meat, milk and alcohol are allowed during the Kūčios. In all, 12 dishes are served, each of them are rustic, made from grains, fish, dried fruit or mushrooms including "kūčiukai," Small bread biscuits with poppy seed milk are served. After the dinner is over the table is left uncleared overnight for the feast of "vėlės" (spirits or soul).
### Russia, Ukraine.
In Russia, Ukraine, traditional, meatless, 12-dishes Christmas Eve Supper is served on Christmas Eve before opening gifts. The table is spread with a white cloth symbolic of the swaddling clothes the Child Jesus was wrapped in, and a large white candle stands in the center of the table symbolizing Christ the
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Light of the World. Next to it is a round loaf of bread symbolizing Christ Bread of Life. Hay is often displayed either on the table or as a decoration in the room, reminiscent of the manger in Bethlehem. The twelve dishes (which differ by nationality or region) symbolize the Twelve Apostles.
The Holy Meal was a common Eastern Orthodox tradition in the Russian Empire, but during the era of the Soviet Union it was greatly discouraged as a result of the official atheism of the former regime. It is coming back in Russia and continues to be popular in Ukraine.
The main attributes of Holy Meal in Ukraine are kutia, a poppy seed, honey and wheat dish, and uzvar, a drink made from reconstituted dried
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fruits. Other typical dishes are borscht, Varenyky, and dishes made of fish, phaseolus and cabbage.
### Serbia.
In accordance with the Christmas traditions of the Serbs, their festive meal has a copious and diverse selection of foods, although it is prepared according to the rules of fasting.
As well as a round, unleavened loaf of bread and salt, which are necessary, this meal may comprise roast fish, cooked beans, sauerkraut, noodles with ground walnuts, honey, and wine.
Families in some Slavic countries leave an empty place at the table for guests (alluding to Mary and Joseph looking for shelter in Bethlehem).
# Gift giving.
During the Reformation in 16th- and 17th-century Europe, many
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Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or "Christkindl", and the date of giving gifts changed from 6 December to Christmas Eve. It is the night when Santa Claus makes his rounds delivering gifts to good children. Many trace the custom of giving gifts to the Magi who brought gifts for the Christ child in the manger.
In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary, where Saint Nicholas (sv. Mikuláš/szent Mikulás) gives his sweet gifts on 6 December, the Christmas gift-giver is the Child Jesus (Ježíšek in Czech, Jézuska in Hungarian, Ježiško in Slovak and Isusek in Croatian).
In most parts of Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Switzerland, presents are
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traditionally exchanged on the evening of 24 December. Children are commonly told that presents were brought either by the Christkind (German for Christ child), or by the Weihnachtsmann. Both leave the gifts, but are in most families not seen doing so. In Germany, the gifts are also brought on 6 December by "the Nikolaus" with his helper Knecht Ruprecht.
In Estonia "Jõuluvana", Finland "Joulupukki", Denmark "Julemanden", Norway "Julenissen" and Sweden "Jultomten", personally meets children and gives presents in the evening of Christmas Eve.
In Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania,
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Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Quebec, Romania, Uruguay, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, Christmas presents are opened mostly on the evening of the 24th – following German tradition, this is also the practice among the British Royal Family since it was introduced by Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort – while in Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, English Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, this occurs mostly on the morning of Christmas Day.
In other Latin American countries, people stay awake until midnight, when they open the presents.
In Spain, gifts are traditionally opened on the morning of 6 January, Epiphany
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day ("Día de Los Tres Reyes Magos"), though in some other countries, like Argentina and Uruguay, people receive presents both around Christmas and on the morning of Epiphany day.
In Belgium and the Netherlands Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas and his companion Zwarte Piet deliver presents to children and adults alike on the evening of 5 December, the eve of his nameday. On 24 December they go to church or watch the late-night Mass on TV, or have a meal.
# Christmas Eve around the world.
Christmas Eve is celebrated in different ways around the world, varying by country and region. Elements common to many areas of the world include the attendance of special religious observances such as a midnight
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Mass or Vespers and the giving and receiving of presents. Along with Easter, Christmastime is one of the most important periods on the Christian calendar, and is often closely connected to other holidays at this time of year, such as Advent, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St. Nicholas Day, St. Stephen's Day, New Year's, and the Feast of the Epiphany.
## Celebrations.
Among Christians, as well as non-Christians who celebrate Christmas, the significant amount of vacation travel, and travel back to family homes, that takes place in the lead-up to Christmas means that Christmas Eve is also frequently a time of social events and parties, worldwide.
## In Jewish culture.
Nittel Nacht
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is a name given to Christmas Eve by Jewish scholars in the 17th century.
### In contemporary American-Jewish culture.
With Christmas Day a work holiday throughout the United States, there is a space of unfilled free time during which much of American commerce and society is not functioning, and which can give rise to a sense of loneliness or alienation for American Jews.
Jews also typically do not engage in the family gathering and religious worship activities that are central to Christmas Eve for Christians.
Typical contemporary activities have usually been limited to "Chinese and a movie"—consuming a meal at a Chinese restaurant, which tend to be open for business on the Christmas holiday,
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and watching a movie at the theater or at home, stereotypically a rerun of "It's a Wonderful Life".
Since the 1980s a variety of social events for young Jews have sprung up, and become popular, on Christmas Eve. These include the Matzo Ball, The Ball, and a number of local events organized by Jewish communities and local Jewish Federations in North America.
## In Chinese culture.
In Mandarin, Christmas Eve is called 平安夜 ("peaceful night"). People exchange apples, because the word for "apple" (果) is a rhyming wordplay with "peace" (安).
# Historical events.
A number of historical events have been influenced by the occurrence of Christmas Eve.
## Christmas truce.
During World War I in 1914
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and 1915 there was an unofficial Christmas truce, particularly between British and German troops. The truce began on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night"). The British troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols. The two sides shouted Christmas greetings to each other. Soon there were calls for visits across the "No man's land" when small gifts were exchanged. The truce also allowed a breathing space during which
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recently killed soldiers could be brought back behind their lines by burial parties. Funerals took place as soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral in No Man's Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from Psalm 23. The truce occurred in spite of opposition at higher levels of the military command. Earlier in the autumn, a call by Pope Benedict XV for an official truce between the warring governments had been ignored.
## Apollo 8 reading from Genesis.
On 24 December 1968, in what was the most watched television broadcast to that date, the astronauts Bill Anders, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman of Apollo 8 surprised the world
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rised the world with a reading of the Creation from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the moon. Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an atheist activist, filed a lawsuit under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit, which was upheld on appeal.
In 1969, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp (Scott# 1371) commemorating the Apollo 8 flight around the moon. The stamp featured a detail of the famous photograph, "Earthrise", of the Earth "rising" over the moon (NASA image AS8-14-2383HR), taken by Anders on Christmas Eve, and the words, "In the beginning God...".
# See also.
- Christmas Day
- Nativity of Jesus
- Santa Claus
- Winter holiday season
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Dressing Up the Idiot
Dressing Up the Idiot (1997) was the only album by the band Prunella Scales.
# Track listing.
- 1. "Crisp"
- 2. "Deadman"
- 3. "Freak Machine"
- 4. "When"
- 5. "Fifty Tons of Life"
- 6. "Don't Let the Flowers Die"
- 7. "Toms River"
- 8. "TV is King"
- 9. "Had to Look"
- 10. "Talk Myself Down"
# Bonus track on WEA Japan release.
- 1. "The Hardest Part"
# Personnel.
- Rachel Bolan: Bass and Vocals
- Phil Varone: Drums and Vocals
- Elwood Francis: Guitar and Vocals
- Tommy Southard: Guitar and Vocals
Tommy Southard is current founder/member of "Solace" and past member of "Godspeed".
Elwood Francis is featured in the film "FUZZ: The Sound that Revolutionized
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diot
Dressing Up the Idiot (1997) was the only album by the band Prunella Scales.
# Track listing.
- 1. "Crisp"
- 2. "Deadman"
- 3. "Freak Machine"
- 4. "When"
- 5. "Fifty Tons of Life"
- 6. "Don't Let the Flowers Die"
- 7. "Toms River"
- 8. "TV is King"
- 9. "Had to Look"
- 10. "Talk Myself Down"
# Bonus track on WEA Japan release.
- 1. "The Hardest Part"
# Personnel.
- Rachel Bolan: Bass and Vocals
- Phil Varone: Drums and Vocals
- Elwood Francis: Guitar and Vocals
- Tommy Southard: Guitar and Vocals
Tommy Southard is current founder/member of "Solace" and past member of "Godspeed".
Elwood Francis is featured in the film "FUZZ: The Sound that Revolutionized the World".
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The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame Gen. Michael von Melas's surprise attack, driving the Austrians out of Italy and consolidating Napoleon's political position in Paris as First Consul of France in the wake of his coup d’état the previous November.
Surprised by the Austrian advance toward Genoa in mid-April 1800, Bonaparte hastily led his army over the Alps in mid-May and reached Milan on 2 June. After cutting Melas’ line of communications by crossing the River Po and defeating "Feldmarschallleutnant"
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(FML) Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz at Montebello on 9 June, the French closed in on the Austrian army, which had massed in Alessandria. Deceived by a local double agent, Bonaparte dispatched large forces to the north and south, but the Austrians launched a surprise attack on 14 June against the main French army under Gen. Louis Alexandre Berthier.
Initially their two assaults across the Fontanone stream near Marengo village were repelled, and Gen. Jean Lannes reinforced the French right. Bonaparte realized the true position and issued orders at 11:00 am to recall the detachment under "Général de Division" (GdD) Louis Desaix, while moving his reserve forward. On the Austrian left Ott's column
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had taken Castel Ceriolo, and its advance guard moved south to attack Lannes’ flank. Melas renewed the main assault and the Austrians broke the central French position. By 2:30 pm the French were withdrawing and Austrian dragoons seized the Marengo farm. Bonaparte had by then arrived with the reserve, but Berthier's troops began to fall back on the main vine belts. Knowing Desaix was approaching, Bonaparte was anxious about a column of Ott's soldiers marching from the north, so he deployed his Consular Guard infantry to delay it. The French then withdrew steadily eastward toward San Giuliano Vecchio as the Austrians formed a column to follow them in line with Ott's advance in the northern sector.
Desaix's
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arrival around 5:30 pm stabilized the French position, as the 9th Light Infantry Regiment delayed the Austrian advance down the main road and the rest of the army reformed north of Cascina Grossa. As the pursuing Austrian troops arrived, a mix of musketry and artillery fire concealed the surprise attack of "Général de Brigade" (GdB) François Étienne de Kellermann’s cavalry, which threw the Austrian pursuit into disordered flight back into Alessandria, with about 14,000 killed, wounded or captured. The French casualties were considerably fewer, but included Desaix. The whole French line chased after the Austrians to seal "une victoire politique" (a political victory) that secured Bonaparte's
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grip on power after the coup. It would be followed by a propaganda campaign that sought to rewrite the story of the battle three times during Napoleon's rule.
# Background.
The Battle of Marengo was the victory that sealed the success of Bonaparte's Italian campaign of 1800 and is best understood in the context of that campaign. By a daring crossing of the Alps with his Army of the Reserve (officially commanded by Louis Alexandre Berthier) in mid-May 1800 almost before the passes were open, Bonaparte (who crossed on a mule) had threatened Melas' lines of communications in northern Italy. The French army then seized Milan on 2 June, followed by Pavia, Piacenza and Stradella, Lombardy, cutting
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the main Austrian supply route eastward along the south bank of the Po river. Bonaparte hoped that Melas' preoccupation with the Siege of Genoa, held by Gen. André Masséna, would prevent the Austrians from responding to his offensive. However, Genoa surrendered on 4 June, freeing a large number of Austrians for operations against the French.
On 9 June Gen. Jean Lannes beat Feldmarschallleutnant Peter Ott in the Battle of Montebello. This caused Bonaparte to get overconfident. He became convinced that Melas would not attack and, further, that the Austrians were about to retreat. As other French forces closed from the west and south, the Austrian commander had withdrawn most of his troops from
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their positions near Nice and Genoa to Alessandria on the main Turin-Mantua road.
## Austrian plans and preliminary French moves.
The Austrians planned to fight their way out eastward but--using a local double agent, usually known by his cover of François Toli--attempted to deceive Bonaparte into thinking they would try to march north, cross the Po and head for Milan, joined by the remaining troops marching up from Genoa. The spy would advise Bonaparte to march via Sale on the northern side of the plain, so that he could be engaged by the Austrian left wing; meanwhile the main force would move through Marengo village in the centre, turn north and fall into the French left flank. Ott arrived
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from Montebello of 13 June in a war council. The senior generals of the Austrian army strongly approved this plan, as the alternative would have meant that the army would have had to retreat along the River Po and leave Piedmont to the enemy without a fight. Nonetheless, by abandoning the San Giuliano plain, where the superior Austrian cavalry could have given him an edge, Melas probably made a serious mistake.
Bonaparte knew that Ott had no way out from Alessandria, but he had no idea of Melas' position. Following his meeting with the spy and fearing that the Austrian general might try to escape, Bonaparte spread his army out in a wide net by sending Louis Desaix with Divisional General Jean
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Boudet's division (6,000 men) south to Novi Ligure and Divisional General Jean François Cornu de La Poype (3,500 men) north on the other bank of the Po. Further north, from Vercelli to Lake Maggiore, were stationed the divisions of Antoine de Béthencourt and Joseph Chabran and, further to the rear, north of Piacenza, Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge's division. Bonaparte's view was confirmed when Gen. Claude Victor-Perrin, supported by Divisional General Joachim Murat’s cavalry, swiftly evicted FML Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough’s Austrian brigade from Marengo village that afternoon. Victor then deployed divisional generals Gaspard Amédée Gardanne and Jacques-Antoine de Chambarlhac de Laubespin's
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divisions along the Fontanone stream. Austrian headquarters debated building a bridge to the north to outflank the French, but the lack of pontoons and time forced the Austrians to cross the River Bormida and then launch a single, direct assault across the Fontanone bridge.
# Prelude.
## Battlefield.
The battle took place to the east of Alessandria, on a plain crossed by a river forming meanders, the Bormida, over which the Austrians installed a bridgehead. On the plain were spread numerous hamlets and farms that represented strategic points. The three main sites of the battle formed a triangle, with Marengo in the west, Castel Ceriolo in the north and San Giuliano Vecchio in the east. A
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small stream, the Fontanone, passed between Marengo and the Bormida. The First Consul had established his headquarters at Torre Garofoli, which was further to the east. This headquarters, nowadays visitable, is situated in the street: "Strada Comunale Cerca" coordinates N44°53'37.01" E 8°48'14.12"
## Forces.
The 30,000 Austrians and their 100 guns were opposed by 22,000 French and their 15 guns. Meanwhile, after the arrival of Desaix, 6,000 men would reinforce Bonaparte's army.
The 1799 campaign had exhausted the Austrian army in Italy, casualties and disease reducing some regiments to 300 men. The largest component of the army was in Piedmont and the neighbouring Po
valley; only a few units
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were moved to winter quarters in better-supplied areas. Long distances from the home bases, from which the regiments drew reinforcements, meant that troop transports had to endure miserable conditions, so only about 15% reached the field army. The army of March 1800 was scarcely larger than at the conclusion of the 1799 campaign. Equipment and uniforms were improved and updated. Although a simpler uniform, with a leather helmet and smaller-caliber muskets, was introduced, little had reached the field armies by 1800. Efforts were made to standardize equipment, but many units used a variety of musket and saber patterns. Melas split his army into three corps facing the Bormida, in front of Alessandria.
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In the north Ott commanded Friedrich Heinrich von Gottesheim's advance guard plus Joseph von Schellenberg and Ludwig von Vogelsang's divisions. In the south was Feldmarschallleutnant Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough's division. Melas himself took control of the center, with the divisions of Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak, Konrad Valentin von Kaim, Ferdinand Johann von Morzin and Anton von Elsnitz.
In 1799 the 36,000 French troops in Italy were in a desperate state similar to that at the end of 1795. Supplies of all sorts were inadequate, discipline was breaking down, desertion was increasing and, on a few occasions, whole formations marched to the rear in search of food. The
survivors would be
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of limited combat value. In establishing the Army of the Reserve in France, Bonaparte's first move was to overhaul the supply system to provide the troops with regular food and decent uniforms. Lacking the large superiority in infantry and artillery enjoyed in many
Republican campaigns, the core of Bonaparte's reserve was 30,000 men, mostly from the Batavian Republic, who had been used under Guillaume Marie Anne Brune to crush the rebellion in the Vendée. Additional veteran troops came from the remains of the former Army of England. The new military doctrine emphasised the offensive, mobility and the bayonet over linear firepower. In front of the Austrian army were stationed, in and to the
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south of Marengo, the corps of Victor (Jacques-Antoine de Chambarlhac de Laubespin and Gaspard Amédée Gardanne's divisions), supported on the left by François Étienne de Kellermann's cavalry and, further to the northeast, by the corps of Lannes (François Watrin's division, Mainoni's brigade) together with two cavalry brigades. To the east of Castel Ceriolo took position Jean-Charles Monnier's division, supported by the Guard, which formed the reserve. Victor was the one who would bear the brunt of the Austrian attack.
# Battle.
## Austrian attack.
The Austrian troops advanced from Alessandria eastwards across the Bormida river by two bridges debouching in a narrow bend of the river (the river
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being not easily crossed elsewhere). Poor Austrian staff work prevented any rapid development of their attack and the entire army had to file through a narrow bridgehead. The movement began about 6 am with the first shots fired around 8 am, but the attack was not fully developed until 9 am.
The 1,200-man Austrian advance guard, under Colonel ("Oberst") Johann Maria Philipp Frimont and a division of 3,300 men under FML O'Reilly, pushed the French outposts back and deployed to become the Austrian right wing, driving the enemy from Pedrabona farm, then
heading south to tackle the French at La Stortiglione farm. The Austrian centre (about 18,000 under Melas) advanced towards Marengo until halted
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by GdD Gardanne's French infantry deployed in front of the Fontanone stream. On the Austrian left, 7,500 men under FML Peter Ott waited for the road to clear before heading for the village of Castel Ceriolo well to the north of the French positions. This move threatened either an envelopment of the French right, or a further advance to cut the French line of communication with Milan.
Gardanne's men gave a good account of themselves, holding up the Austrian deployment for a considerable time. When Gardanne's division was exhausted, Victor pulled it back behind the Fontanone and committed his second division under GdD Chambarlhac (this officer soon lost his nerve and fled). The French held Marengo
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village and the line of the Fontanone until about noon, with both flanks in the air. First, at 8 am, Melas hurled FML Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak's division (four battalions) at Victor's defenses, supported by Frimont's advance guard battery along the stream. Forced into a funnel by the bad ground and Fontanone stream, Hadik's attack came under fire from two sides and failed, with Hadik being killed. The Austrian commander then committed FML Konrad Valentin von Kaim's division but this attack was also thwarted by 11 am. Finally, as the French position was reinforced by François Étienne de Kellermann's cavalry and Jean Lannes's formation was on the way, FML Ferdinand Johann von Morzin's elite
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grenadier division was sent in to attack Marengo village. Melas also committed a serious tactical blunder, detaching "Generalmajor" (GM) Nimptsch's brigade of 2,300 hussars and two artillery batteries back over the Bormida bridge to block the corps of General Louis Gabriel Suchet, which was mistakenly reported around 9 am from Acqui Terme to be approaching Alessandria from the south. Besides delaying the crossing of the Austrian left wing, this also meant that, being 30 kilometers away, Nimptsch's brigade would play no part in the battle.
### Stalemate in the centre around Marengo.
It took Bonaparte (5 kilometers away from Marengo) until about 10 am to recognize that the Austrian activity
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was not a diversionary attack to cover the anticipated retreat by Melas. His subordinates had brought their troops up in support of Victor's corps. Lannes's corps had deployed on the crucial right flank. GM Friedrich Joseph Anton von Bellegarde’s part of Kaim's division had crossed the Fontanone north of Marengo and occupied La Barbotta farm. Lannes directed Watrin's infantry to drive Bellegarde back. They briefly crossed the Fontanone before Austrian reserve guns drove the French back. Kellermann's heavy cavalry brigade and the 8th Dragoons took up a covering position on the left, smashing an attempt by GM Giovanni Pilatti's light dragoon brigade which attempted to cross the steep-sided Fontanone
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at its southern end to envelop Victor's flank. On the right, GdB Pierre Champeaux was killed trying to stop the progress of Ott's column. A small part of the 6ème Légère (6th Light Infantry Regiment) occupied Castel Ceriolo to the north, but soon Ott's lead units took it around 11:30 am and began putting pressure on the French right flank. Ott could not see any sign of the expected main French advance from Sale (to the northeast), so he sent GM Friedrich Heinrich von Gottesheim’s reinforced advance guard to outflank Lannes north of Marengo. By 11 am Bonaparte was on the battlefield. He sent urgent recalls to his recently detached forces and summoned up his last reserves. As they came up, GdD
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Jean-Charles Monnier's division and the Consular Guard were committed to extend and shore up the French right, rather than to try to hold Marengo where Victor's men were running short of ammunition.
### Austrian breakout across the Fontanone.
Toward 12:30 pm Lannes moved the rest of his force to face Gottesheim in a hook shape, while Kaim attacked again, but this time against Victor's wings. A "Laufbrücke" (small bridge) was thrown over the Fontanone and supported by reserve artillery. GM Christoph von Latterman’s grenadiers crossed to engage Olivier Macoux Rivaud de la Raffinière’s two demibrigades defending Marengo village, while Bellegarde and Frimont's four squadrons split Watrin off.
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Although Rivaud retook the village, O’Reilly had taken Stortiglione by 2:00 pm, and in the north, Ott prepared to send FML Joseph von Schellenberg’s column to support Gottesheim. After securing the Fontanone bridge, Pilatti's cavalry crossed but were again charged and defeated by Kellermann. However, Victor could no longer hold his positions and withdrew southeast to the main vine belt (grape vines slung among mulberry trees), Lannes mirroring the move. The Marengo farm garrison was abandoned and at around 2:30 pm Melas led two cavalry squadrons to capture them.
At about 2:00 pm the French attacked Castel Ceriolo and delayed the advance of Schellenberg's column by attacking its tail. Aided
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by Frimont, Ott defeated Monnier and forced two-thirds of his command to retreat to the northeast. About the same time, Marengo had fallen to the Austrians, forcing Napoleon's men into a general retreat. As Austrian troops crossed the Fontanone, their guns bombarded the French infantry in the vines. In a bid to further delay Schellenberg's advance, Bonaparte committed his main Guard battalion and its artillery, which moved to flank the column. After driving off Austrian dragoons with the aid of GdB Champeaux's remaining cavalry (under Joachim Murat), they engaged the head of the column. After a 15-minute firefight around 4:00 pm the Guard were surprised and destroyed by Frimont's cavalry.
The
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French fell back c. 3 km and attempted to regroup to hold the village of San Giuliano. With the French outnumbered and driven from their best defensive position, the battle was as good as won by the Austrians. Melas, who was slightly wounded, and 71, handed over command to his chief-of-staff, General Anton von Zach, and Kaim. The Austrian centre formed into a massive pursuit column in order to chase the French off the battlefield, with the advance guard commanded by GM Franz Xaver Saint-Julien. The column formed up around Spinetta, southeast of Marengo, and advanced down the New Road. However, delays in the flanks led to the Austrian army forming a crescent shape with a thinly stretched central
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sector. On the Austrian right wing, O'Reilly wasted time hunting down a 300-man French detachment led by Achille Dampierre (which was finally captured) and moved southeast. This took his troops out of supporting distance from the Austrian main body. On the Austrian left, Ott hesitated to press hard against the French because GdB Jean Rivaud's small brigade of French cavalry hovered to the north.
## French counter-attack.
However, Desaix, in charge of the force Bonaparte had detached southwards, had hastened his advance and reached a small road junction north of Cascina Grossa (3 kilometers west of San Giuliano). Shortly before 5:00 pm, he reported to Bonaparte in person with the news that
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his force (6,000 men and 9 guns of Boudet's division) was not far behind. The story goes that, asked by Bonaparte what he thought of the situation, Desaix replied: "This battle is completely lost. However, there is time to win another."
The French were fast to bring up and deploy the fresh troops in front of San Giuliano, and the Austrians were slow to mount their attack. Boudet and the 9ème Légère (9th Light Infantry Regiment) were quickly moved on to the exit from the main vine belt, where they surprised the head of Saint-Julien's column. As the Austrian infantry deployed on the south side of the road, the 9ème Légère conducted a steady withdrawal for 30 minutes back to Desaix's position.
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There he had placed GdB Louis Charles de Guénand's brigade on the north side while most of the remaining French army (Monnier and Lannes) were forming up north from there. The Austrians deployed three artillery batteries on the north side of the road supported by a dragoon regiment. GdB Auguste de Marmont massed the remaining French cannon against the Austrians as they advanced. Boudet's division advanced in line of brigades against the head of the Austrian column, defeating Saint-Julien's leading Austrian brigade. Zach brought forward GM Latterman's grenadier brigade in line and renewed the attack. Faced with a crisis, Napoleon sent Desaix forward again and ordered a cavalry charge requested
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by Desaix. The 9ème Légère halted to face the main Austrian advance and Marmont's guns blasted the Austrians with grapeshot at close range. Further back, an Austrian ammunition limber exploded. In the temporary heightening of confusion, Lattermann's formation was charged on its left flank by Kellermann's heavy cavalry (ca. 400 men) and disintegrated. At the decisive moment of the battle, Desaix was shot from his horse. Zach and at least 2,000 of his men were taken prisoners.
Murat and Kellermann immediately pounced on the supporting Liechtenstein Dragoons who were too slow to respond and routed them as well. The fleeing Austrian horsemen crashed into the ranks of Pilatti's rattled troopers
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and carried them away. As the mob of terrified cavalry stampeded past them, the exhausted Austrian infantry of the main body lost heart, provoking a wild rush to the rear. The gun teams fled, pursued by French cavalry, while their whole infantry line advanced westward. The second grenadier brigade under GM Karl Philippi von Weidenfeld and some unpanicked cavalry delayed Boudet's advance long enough for O’Reilly's cavalry to return, and together with Frimont, they mounted a last defense around Marengo village as night fell, allowing the Austrian centre to reach safety behind the Bormida. Ott with the Austrian left failed to intervene and found his retreat through Castel Ceriolo blocked by French
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troops advancing northwest from the centre, but managed to fight his way back to the Bormida bridgehead.
The Austrians fell back into Alessandria, having lost about half the forces they had committed. The Austrians had lost heavily in the 12 hours of fighting: 15 colours, 40 guns, almost 8,000 taken prisoner, and 6,500 dead or wounded. French casualties (killed and wounded) were on the order of 4,700 and 900 missing or captured, but they retained the battlefield and the strategic initiative. Desaix's body was found among the slain.
# Aftermath.
Bonaparte needed to depart for Paris urgently and the next morning sent Berthier on a surprise visit to Austrian headquarters. Within 24 hours of
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the battle, Melas entered into negotiations (the Convention of Alessandria) which led to the Austrians evacuating northwestern Italy west of the Ticino river, and suspending military operations in Italy.
Bonaparte's position as First Consul was strengthened by the successful outcome of the battle and the preceding campaign. After this victory, Napoleon could breathe a sigh of relief. The generals who had been hostile to him could see that his luck had not abandoned him. Thus, he had surpassed Schérer, Joubert, Championnet, and even Moreau, none of whom had been able to inflict a decisive blow on the Coalition. Moreau's victory at Hohenlinden, which was the one that in reality had put an end
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to the war, was minimised by Bonaparte who, from then on, would pose as a saviour of the fatherland, and even of the Republic. He rejected offers from Louis XVIII, who had considered the Consulate to be a mere transition towards the restoration of the king. Thanks to the victory at Marengo, Napoleon could finally set about reforming France according to his own vision.
## Propaganda.
A last-gasp victory in reality, Marengo was mythologised in an army bulletin and three increasingly glamourised "Official Reports" during Bonaparte's reign. Tales were invented about the Guard and the 72ème demibrigade, which had been under his direct control throughout.
General François Kellermann distinguished
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himself at Marengo. Melas, trapped in Alessandria with his hopes of breaking through to the east shattered, sent the same evening to Vienna a message in which he explained that the "charge of Kellermann had broken the soldiers and this sudden and terrible change of fortunes finished by smashing the courage of the troops. The disorder of the cavalry which had disorganised our infantry precipitated its retreat." At the same time, Murat was writing to Berthier: "I especially have to tell you about Kellermann; through a powerful charge he managed to tilt the balance in our favour." However, in the "Bulletin de l'armée" issued the following day, Napoleon sought to counterbalance Kellermann's charge
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with Jean-Baptiste Bessières's: "The "chef de brigade" Bessières, in front of the reckless grenadiers of the guard, executed a charge with as much activity as valour and penetrated the line of the enemy cavalry; this resulted in the entire rout of the army."
Another piece of work which attempted to justify the retreat maneuver and to present it as a highly strategic calculation was Berthier's "Relation de la bataille de Marengo", published in 1804. Berthier suggests that time had to be given to Desaix and Boudet's division to occupy their positions: "The enemy general misinterpreted this maneuver and thought the army was in full retreat, while in reality it was only executing a movement of
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conversion." However, it is known that Desaix's arrival, while definitely expected, was not certain before the retreat. The bulletin explains that Desaix's forces were waiting in reserve with artillery pieces, which in reality was false, because they arrived late in the battle. Several participants to the fighting reveal the precarious condition of the army throughout the day, including Marmont in his Memoirs, Captain Coignet: "We were retreating in good order but all ready to start running at the earliest sign of danger", Captain Gervais: "In this battle, we were many times on the verge of being defeated. The enemy cavalry, on a terrain favourable to this arm, charged us repeatedly. We were
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often obliged to concentrate and even to retreat", and General Thévenet: "There is no doubt that a part of the French army was repelled up to the Scrivia".
# Legacy.
## Marengo museum.
The Museum of Marengo "Museo della Battaglia di Marengo" is located in Via della Barbotta, Spinetta Marengo, Alessandria. This is exactly the place where most of the fights between the French and Austrian armies took place. It is a part of Villa Delavo, with the park of the museum surrounding the village of Marengo.
## Remembrance.
Napoleon sought to ensure that his victory would not be forgotten, so, besides the propaganda campaign, he entrusted General Chasseloup with the construction of a pyramid on the
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site of the battle. On 5 May 1805, a ceremony took place on the field of Marengo. Napoleon, dressed in the uniform he wore on 14 June 1800, together with Empress Joséphine seated on a throne placed under a tent, oversaw a military parade. Then, Chasseloup gave Napoleon the founding stone, on which was inscribed: "Napoleon, Emperor of the French and King of Italy, to the "manes" of the defenders of the fatherland who perished on the day of Marengo." This pyramid was actually part of a very ambitious project meant to glorify Bonaparte's conquests in Italy. The field of Marengo was supposed to become the site of a "city of Victories" whose boulevards, named after Italian battles, would converge
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to the pyramid. In the event, the project was abandoned in 1815 and the stones recovered by the peasants. The column erected in 1801 was also removed, only to be restored in 1922.
Napoleon ordered that several ships of the French Navy be named Marengo, including "Sceptre (1780)", "Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1795)", "Ville de Paris (1851)" and "Marengo (1810)". In 1802, the Marengo department was named in the honour of the battle. Furthermore, Napoleon's mount throughout the battle was named Marengo and further carried the Emperor in the Battle of Austerlitz, Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Battle of Wagram, and Battle of Waterloo.
After Bonaparte's fall, Marengo County, Alabama, first settled by Napoleonic
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refugees with their Vine and Olive Colony, was named in honour of this battle. Since then, numerous settlements were named Marengo in Canada and the United States (see places named Marengo).
Presently, a museum of the battle exists on the outskirts of Alessandria. Re-enactments are also organised every year to commemorate the event.
# External links.
- Battle of Marengo Maps
- The Battle of Marengo – A Bicentennial Review "An overview of the battle, including short summaries for beginning students and detailed analysis for more serious readers."
- Defeat of Bonaparte's Guard at Marengo, 1800.
- Battle of Marengo in the memoirs of Captain Coignet "
- Gaspar Cugnac, Campaign of the Army
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useum of the battle exists on the outskirts of Alessandria. Re-enactments are also organised every year to commemorate the event.
# External links.
- Battle of Marengo Maps
- The Battle of Marengo – A Bicentennial Review "An overview of the battle, including short summaries for beginning students and detailed analysis for more serious readers."
- Defeat of Bonaparte's Guard at Marengo, 1800.
- Battle of Marengo in the memoirs of Captain Coignet "
- Gaspar Cugnac, Campaign of the Army of the Reserve in 1800 "French scans and OCR complete, English translation for vol 1 only, use French version for the battle proper."
- Alex. Berthier, Relation of the Battle of Marengo
- Marengo Museum
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Battle of Montmirail
The Battle of Montmirail (11 February 1814) was fought between a French force led by Emperor Napoleon and two Allied corps commanded by Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg. In hard fighting that lasted until evening, French troops including the Imperial Guard defeated Sacken's Russian soldiers and compelled them to retreat to the north. Part of Yorck's Prussian I Corps tried to intervene in the struggle but it was also driven off. The battle occurred near Montmirail, France during the Six Days Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. Montmirail is located east of Meaux.
After Napoleon crushed Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev's small isolated corps in the
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Battle of Champaubert on 10 February, he found himself in the midst of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's widely-spread Army of Silesia. Leaving a small force in the east to watch Blücher, Napoleon turned the bulk of his army to the west in an attempt to destroy Sacken. Unaware of the size of Napoleon's army, Sacken tried to smash his way east to join Blücher. The Russians managed to hold their ground for several hours, but were forced back as more and more French soldiers appeared on the battlefield. Yorck's troops belatedly arrived only to be repulsed, but the Prussians distracted the French long enough to allow Sacken's Russians to join them in a withdrawal to the north. The following day would
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see the Battle of Château-Thierry as Napoleon launched an all-out pursuit.
# Background.
On 1 February 1814, Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher commanding 80,000 Allied soldiers from his own Army of Silesia and Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia defeated Napoleon with 45,000 French troops in the Battle of La Rothière. Elated by their triumph, the Allied commanders devised a new plan whereby Schwarzenberg advanced from Troyes toward Paris while Blücher operated on a more northerly axis from Châlons-sur-Marne toward Meaux. The two armies would be linked by Peter Wittgenstein's corps and a scouting force led by Alexander Nikitich Seslavin.
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Within a few days the cautious Schwarzenberg began pulling Wittgenstein's troops to the south. Believing the war was almost over, Blücher pressed rapidly west after a smaller French force under Marshal Jacques MacDonald. Unknown to the Prussian field marshal, on 5 February Schwarzenberg switched Seslavin's force from the right flank to the extreme left flank without informing Blücher. Since he lacked a liaison officer with Seslavin, the Prussian was unaware that a dangerous gap yawned on his left flank.
Until 6 February, Napoleon planned to strike a blow against the Army of Bohemia. But that day the French emperor received intelligence that Blücher was moving on Paris, via Meaux. Since MacDonald
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was too weak to stop Army of Silesia, Napoleon was compelled to deal with Blücher first. While sending out patrols to determine the precise whereabouts of the Prussian field marshal's army, Napoleon sent Marshal Auguste de Marmont with 8,000 troops to Sézanne. On 8 February these were joined by part of the Imperial Guard and a large force of cavalry. On the same day MacDonald's patrols reported that Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg was near Épernay with 18,000 men. When, on the morning of 9 February, Napoleon received news from Marmont that Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken was near Montmirail with about 15,000 troops, the French army lurched into action.
Marshal Claude Perrin Victor with 14,000 men,
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consisting of his own corps, a force under Etienne Maurice Gérard and cavalry, would hold Nogent-sur-Seine. Marshal Nicolas Oudinot with 20,000 men including the newly formed VII Corps, a 5,000-man Young Guard division, National Guards and a cavalry force under Pierre Claude Pajol was instructed to guard the bridges at Bray-sur-Seine, Montereau, Pont-sur-Yonne and Sens. At this time, Napoleon had only 70,000 soldiers to confront about 200,000 Allies. With Victor and Oudinot watching Schwarzenberg, Napoleon decided to act against Blücher who he assumed to have 45,000 troops.
In fact, the Army of Silesia had 57,000 soldiers, including 18,000 under Yorck at Château-Thierry, 20,000 under Sacken
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near La Ferté-sous-Jouarre and 19,000 under Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev, Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich and Friedrich von Kleist at Champaubert, Vertus and Bergères-lès-Vertus. However, Blücher's army was spread across a front of and Napoleon might count on the help of the 10,000 men under MacDonald. Napoleon striking force numbered 30,000 men and 120 guns. It consisted of Marmont's corps, two Young Guard divisions led by Marshal Michel Ney, the I Cavalry Corps, two Old Guard divisions under Marshal Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise, part of the Guard Cavalry and Jean-Marie Defrance's independent cavalry division. Mortier was ordered to bring up the rear.
Fearing that Napoleon would offer battle
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near Nogent, Schwarzenberg asked his colleague Blücher to send Kleist's corps south to help. Obligingly, the Prussian field marshal ordered Kleist, Kaptzevich and Olsufiev to converge on Sézanne on 10 February. Riding with Kleist and Kaptzevich, Blücher led them south from Vertus toward Fère-Champenoise, planning to turn west from there to Sézanne. After days of rain, the roads were swamped, but the French country people assisted the army in dragging Napoleon's cannons through the mud. The French army fell on Olsufiev's small corps with crushing force in the Battle of Champaubert on 10 February. With only 5,000 men and 24 guns, the Russian general unwisely held his ground; Olsufiev ended the
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day as a French prisoner and his corps was nearly destroyed. The 1,500 survivors were formed into three or four "ad hoc" battalions.
# Battle.
## Advance to contact.
Blücher was near Fère-Champenoise when heard that Olsufiev's corps was wrecked; he immediately ordered Kleist and Kaptzevich to undertake a night march back to Vertus. The Prussian field marshal ordered Yorck to march to Montmirail while holding the important bridge over the Marne River at Château-Thierry in case a retreat was necessary. During 10 February, Sacken advanced west to Trilport where there was a bridge over the Marne. Blücher recalled Sacken, instructing him to march east to Montmirail to rendezvous with Yorck, then
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clear the highway between there and Vertus. Blücher neglected to mention anything to Sacken about escaping over the Marne.
Napoleon ordered MacDonald to move east from Trilport. At 7:00 pm, the emperor instructed Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty with two divisions of cavalry to march west to capture Montmirail, followed at 3:00 am by Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard's division of Marmont's corps. Ney's Young Guard divisions would move in their wake at 6:00 am while Mortier's Old Guard would march directly from Sézanne to Montmirail. Jean François Leval's division was detached from Oudinot and ordered to march to Montmirail via La Ferté-Gaucher. Napoleon posted Marmont at Étoges with
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Joseph Lagrange's division and the I Cavalry Corps. Using his central position, Napoleon hoped to smash Sacken and Yorck while they were isolated from Blücher. Accordingly, he ordered MacDonald to retake Château-Thierry and its vital bridge while Marmont kept an eye on Blücher.
Yorck sent a dispatch to Blücher expressing doubt whether he could join Sacken at Montmirail because his soldiers were too worn out to march on the night of 10–11 February. Instead, Yorck promised to move south to Viffort on the road to Montmirail. When he received his orders, Sacken destroyed the bridge at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre and began marching east at 9:00 pm on the 10th. By 9:00 am the following day, Russian corps
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commander's leading elements were clashing with French patrols east of Viels-Maisons. The French had driven Sacken's Cossacks under Akim Akimovich Karpov out of Montmirail early that morning. At 9:00 am Yorck reached Viffort and was skirmishing with French cavalry. With the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre bridge broken to the west and unknown forces looming to the east, Sacken was in serious danger of becoming trapped. Understanding this, Yorck sent a staff officer to his Russian colleague to warn him that his Prussians would be late to the battlefield. Due to the muddy roads, the heavy Prussian field guns and a brigade had to be left behind. Yorck's messenger recommended that Sacken retreat north to
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Château-Thierry.
Sacken would have none of it. Against the advice of his own staff who urged him to move closer to Yorck, the Russian commander deployed his army corps with its main weight to the south. Strictly following his orders, Sacken determined to smash his way east through Montmirail. At the start of the battle Napoleon was significantly outnumbered and could only defend with 5,000 Old Guard infantry, 4,500 cavalry, Ricard's division and 36 guns. Because of the bad condition of the roads and the exhaustion of the soldiers, it was not clear whether French reinforcements or Yorck's Prussians would first arrive on the field. Napoleon was taking a huge risk.
## Deployment.
Sacken's strength
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was variously given as 18,000 men and 90 guns by David G. Chandler, 14,000 soldiers and 80 guns by George Nafziger, and 18,000 soldiers by Francis Loraine Petre. Prussian staff officer Karl Freiherr von Müffling credited the Russians with 20,000 troops while another German officer counted 16,300 men and 90 guns. Sacken led two infantry and one cavalry corps. The foot soldiers belonged to Alexander Ivanovich Tallisin's VI Corps with the 7th and 18th Infantry Divisions and Ivan Andreievich Lieven's XI Corps with the 10th and 27th Infantry Divisions and a brigade from the 16th Division. The cavalry corps included Sergei Nicholaevich Lanskoi's 2nd Hussar Division and Semyon Davydovich Pandschulishev's
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3rd Dragoon Division. Artillery chief Alexey Petrovich Nikitin directed three batteries of 12-pound cannons and four batteries of 6-pounders. Tallisin was acting corps commander in place of Alexei Grigorievich Scherbatov who was ill. The cavalry corps was directed by Ilarion Vasilievich Vasilshikov.
According to Chandler and Petre, Napoleon's greatest strength during the battle was 20,000 men. Nafziger arrived at a larger total of 27,153 soldiers. The cavalry was made up of the 2,582 troopers of the 1st Guard Cavalry Division under Pierre David de Colbert-Chabanais, the 2,164 sabers of the 3rd Guard Cavalry Division under Louis Marie Levesque de Laferrière and the 896 horsemen of Defrance's
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division. The infantry numbered 4,133 men from Claude Marie Meunier's 1st Young Guard Division, 2,840 soldiers from Philibert Jean-Baptiste Curial's 2nd Young Guard Division, 4,796 men from Louis Friant's 1st Old Guard Division, 3,878 soldiers from Claude-Étienne Michel's 2nd Old Guard Division and 2,917 men from Ricard's 8th Infantry Division. Finally, Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes led either 3,535 horsemen from the 2nd Guard Cavalry Division or 4,947 infantry from the 3rd Young Guard Division.
The Petit Morin River flows west on the southern margin of the battlefield, which was mostly rolling terrain covered by several woods. Just north of the Petit Morin there was a forest which anchored
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the French left flank. On the northern fringe of the forest was the village of Marchais-en-Brie with a north-south stream a little to the west. Farther north was the east-west highway. Napoleon placed Ricard's division in columns east of Marchais. Two of Ricard's battalions were detached and posted north of the highway in the Bailly Wood. Behind Ricard were Ney's two Young Guard divisions under Meunier and Curial. In reserve was Friant's division in battalion columns at 100-pace intervals. To keep Sacken and Yorck from linking up, the French emperor deployed Friant's division where the Château-Thierry road met the main east-west highway, with Defrance's cavalry on his right. Farther north, blocking
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the Château-Thierry road was Nansouty who had overall command of the Guard cavalry divisions.
Sacken posted Tallisin's corps to the south with the 7th Division on the right and the 18th Division in the center. On the north, but still south of the highway was Lieven's corps with the 10th Division in the center and the 27th Division on the left. The infantry was arrayed in two lines with each battalion in column. Three lines of skirmishers deployed in front and the light artillery was posted on the flanks of the infantry. The 12-pounders of Battery Nr. 18 were positioned in the center between the 10th and 18th Divisions while the other two heavy batteries were kept in reserve. The Russians massed
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36 guns on the west side of the ravine. According to one account, Lieven's corps was in reserve west of the village of L'Épine-aux-Bois. Vasilshikov's cavalry was arranged to the left of Lieven's infantry near the highway.
## Combat.
Sacken created a 2,360-man task force under General-major Heidenreich that included the Pskov, Vladimir, Kostroma and Tambov Infantry Regiments, two companies of the 11th Jägers, the Lukovkin Cossack Regiment and six guns. Except for the guns which were unable to cross the stream, Heidenreich's troops moved east and seized Marchais at about 11:00 am. More French artillery having arrived in the interval, Napoleon ordered Ricard to attack Marchais at noon. A bitter
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struggle for Marchais raged for two hours, with the Russians retaining control of the village. Napoleon ordered an artillery bombardment while he waited for Michel's Old Guard division to march forward from Montmirail. At 2:00 pm the emperor ordered an attack on Sacken's left flank. Four of Friant's Old Guard battalions marched west along the highway toward Haute-Épine dairy farm, supported on their right by seven squadrons of Gardes d'Honneur. At the same time, Claude-Étienne Guyot led four Guard cavalry squadrons around the Russian left flank. The combined attacks broke Sacken's first line and compelled him to send his second line into action while moving his cavalry to the left to get in
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contact with Yorck's Prussians.
To break the connection with Yorck, Napoleon ordered a new attack straight down the highway by Nansouty with all three of his divisions, Colbert, Desnouettes and Laferrière. This charge broke up some Russian formations, forcing the soldiers to scatter into the Viels-Maisons woods. Vasilshikov's cavalry counterattacked, forcing Nansouty's horsemen back and restoring the link with the Prussians. By this time Meunier's Young Guard division joined Ricard's in the fighting for Marchais on Napoleon's left flank. The French captured Marchais twice before being driven out again when Sacken's 18th Division recaptured the village.
At either 3:00 pm or 3:30 pm Otto Karl
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Lorenz von Pirch's 1st Infantry Brigade and Heinrich Wilhelm von Horn's 7th Infantry Brigade arrived at Fontenelle-en-Brie on the Château-Thierry highway. Because of the poor condition of the roads, the Prussians only had brigade Batteries Nrs. 2 and 3 armed with 6-pounders. The heavier cannons were left behind with the 8th Brigade at Château-Thierry. Fearing the appearance of MacDonald's forces in his right rear, Yorck also sent his remaining infantry brigade back to hold Château-Thierry. The Prussian reserve cavalry deployed near Fontenelle though it lacked its artillery. Pirch deployed his brigade in two lines between Fontenelle and the hamlet of Tourneux farther east. After waiting for Horn's
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