Battle of Lonato

Overview

The Battle of Lonato was fought on 3 and 4 August 1796 between the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte and a corps-sized Austrian column led by Lieutenant General Peter Quasdanovich. A week of hard-fought actions that began on 29 July and ended on 4 August resulted in the retreat of Quasdanovich's badly mauled force. The elimination of Quasdanovich's threat allowed Bonaparte to concentrate against and defeat the main Austrian army at the Battle of Castiglione on 5 August. Lonato del Garda is located near the SP 668 highway and the Brescia-Padua section of Autostrada A4 to the southwest of Lake Garda.

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

Significance

The Battle of Lonato, fought on 3–4 August 1796, was part of a week of actions beginning 29 July in which the French Army of Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte engaged an Austrian corps-sized column led by Lieutenant General Peter Quasdanovich. The engagement resulted in the retreat of Quasdanovich's badly mauled force, with Austrian casualties roughly two and a half times those of the French. By eliminating Quasdanovich's threat, Bonaparte was able to concentrate his forces against the main Austrian army under Wurmser and defeat it at the Battle of Castiglione on 5 August. Lonato thus functioned as a necessary preliminary to Castiglione: neutralizing one Austrian column freed French operational mass for a decisive blow against the other, tying the two engagements into a single, sequenced campaign outcome.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (4)