Armistice of Treviso

French General Guillaume Brune

Austrian General Heinrich von Bellegarde

The French were engaged in a campaign in northern Italy against the Archduchy of Austria, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Kingdom of Naples as part of the War of the Second Coalition. French General Guillaume Brune won a hard-fought victory over the Austrians, under General Heinrich von Bellegarde, at the Battle of Pozzolo on Christmas Day 1800. This allowed Brune to cautiously advance across the Mincio River.[1]

Brune was able to cross the Adige river unopposed as Bellegarde pulled back, keen to join Josef Philipp Vukassovich and Johann Ludwig Alexius von Loudon whose 20,000 troops were moving down the Brenta river to the plain of Bassano.[1] Bellegarde held his forces at Caldiero, intending to provide time for Laudon and Vukassovich to assemble, but was driven from that position by Brune.[2]

A French force under Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey pursued Laudon and drove him from successive positions at Alta, St Marco and Roveredo to La Pietra. Laudon was isolated there by the capture of Trent from Vukassovich by a force of 9,000 men under French General Jacques MacDonald.[2] Laudon's only line of retreat was a mountain path to Levico, passable only by a single man at a time. He was threatened by Moncey's force who could now be reinforced at short notice by MacDonald. Laudon sent an emissary to Moncey stating falsely that Bellegarde had agreed an armistice with Brune. Moncey did not suspect foul play and allowed Laudon to withdraw via the pass to Levico. In return Laudon granted Moncey un-contested possession of the pass to Trent, Moncey not being aware that that town was already occupied by MacDonald.[3]

Bellegarde was isolated by the retreats of his subordinates and his 35,000 men were outnumbered by the 45,000 under Brune.[4][5] He withdrew to a point in front of Treviso and began to prepare a defensive position. However, before battle was joined the Armistice of Treviso was signed on 16 January 1801.[5]

Brune had on 13 January promised Napoleon that he would not conclude an armistice with the Austrians that didn't hand Mantua, a key objective of Napoleon, to the French.[5] However, with his army weakened by the mountain crossings, combat losses and detachments to blockade towns in the rear, Brune agreed to a treaty that excluded Mantua.[6] His fear was that otherwise the Austrians, reinforced with troops from Tyrol, could attack the French on the open plains near Treviso with fresh cavalry forces.[5] The Armistice of Treviso handed Peschiera, Verona, Legnago, Ancona and Ferrara to France.[5]

The French victory in Germany at the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December and the subsequent capture of Steyr left Jean Victor Marie Moreau's forces only 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the Austrian capital at Vienna. General Joachim Murat also defeated the Neapolitan army in Tuscany. The latter country was saved from occupation by the intervention of the pro-French Russian Tsar, but in the subsequent Armistice of Folgano was forced to withdraw from the coalition and close its ports to British ships. Austria was therefore isolated and under great pressure concluded the Treaty of Lunéville with France on 9 February 1801.[7] This included the ceding of Mantua to France and the withdrawal of Austria from the war of the second coalition.[6] This left the British to continue the war alone until they themselves concluded peace in the 1802 Treaty of Amiens.[7]

Napoleon was displeased with the armistice, which came as a surprise to him. Murat's troops were almost within striking distance of Mantua at the time it was concluded.[5] Napoleon's disapproval was such that he never again granted Brune an important command.[6]