Battle of La Favorite

Overview

The Battle of La Favorita was fought on 15–16 January 1797 between French forces of the Army of Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian troops commanded by Field Marshal Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser and General Giovanni Provera. The engagement took place east of Mantua during the final phase of the Italian campaign of 1796–1797.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

La Favorita was the concluding engagement of the prolonged French effort to capture Mantua during the Italian campaign of 1796–1797. Austrian forces under Wurmser and Provera attempted a relief operation against the besieged fortress of Mantua east of the city, bringing French commanders Napoleon Bonaparte, Masséna, Victor-Perrin, and Sérurier into action against a combined Austrian force of 16,000–19,000 men. The French, fielding approximately 28,000 troops, repulsed the operation at a cost of roughly 1,200 casualties against Austrian losses of around 1,300. By defeating this final relief attempt, French forces foreclosed any remaining Austrian option to relieve Wurmser's garrison, sealing Mantua's fate and effectively ending sustained Austrian resistance in northern Italy during this phase of the campaign.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (6)