Battle of Tarvis (1797)

The photo of snow skiers shows the terrain near Tarvisio.

Date	21–23 March 1797
Location	Tarvisio, Italy
Result	French victory

Belligerents

France

Habsburg Austria

Commanders and leaders

Units involved

Strength

11,000

8,000

Casualties and losses

1,200

4,500, 25 guns
400–500 wagons

In the Battle of Tarvis (21–23 March 1797) three divisions of a First French Republic army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte attacked several columns of the retreating Habsburg Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. In three days of confused fighting, French divisions directed by André Masséna, Jean Joseph Guieu, and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier succeeded in blocking the Tarvis Pass and capturing 3,500 Austrians under Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza. The engagement occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Tarvisio today is located in far northeast Italy, 27 kilometres (17 mi) southwest of Villach, Austria.

After his capture of the fortress of Mantua in early February 1797, Bonaparte cleared his south flank by crushing the army of the Papal States. Reinforced from the Rhine front, he determined to drive the Austrian army from northeast Italy. His offensive began in March and consisted of a secondary drive through the County of Tyrol by Barthélemy Catherine Joubert's left wing and an eastward thrust by Bonaparte's main army.

The main French army soon drove the archduke's forces into headlong retreat while Joubert battled Wilhelm Lothar Maria von Kerpen in the Tyrol. Charles tried to hold the Tarvis Pass against the French by sending three columns of reinforcements. They found the pass held by Masséna and many troops fought their way out. However, the last column was trapped between three converging French divisions and compelled to surrender. A subsequent advance brought the French within 75 miles (121 km) of the Austrian capital of Vienna. In mid-April, Bonaparte proposed and the Austrians agreed to the Preliminaries of Leoben. Most of the terms were ratified by the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797, ending the long war.

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