Third Battle of Novi (1799)

Third Battle of Novi (1799)
Part of the War of the Second Coalition
Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Date 6 November 1799 Location Novi Ligure, Italy 44°45′42″N 08°47′26″E Result French victory
Belligerents
Republican France	Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
Laurent Saint-Cyr	Paul Kray
Strength
11,000	12,000
Casualties and losses
400	1,000, 5 guns
class=notpageimage| Location within Northern Italy Third Battle of Novi (1799) (Europe)

The Third Battle of Novi (6 November 1799) saw a French Republican corps commanded by Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr defend itself against an attack by a Habsburg Austrian corps led by Paul Kray during the War of the Second Coalition. Saint-Cyr led the right wing of the French Army of Italy which defended Genoa. Saint-Cyr advanced his troops into the lowlands but withdrew into the hills near Novi when Kray appeared with a superior force. Saint-Cyr did not have enough horses to move his artillery, so he tried to lure his Austrian opponents into attacking his four hidden guns. Finally, Kray advanced and fell into the trap; the French guns opened fire and Saint-Cyr's men counterattacked, inflicting serious losses. Wisely, Saint-Cyr did not follow his retreating foes into the plain where the Austrian artillery and cavalry waited.

References

• Dodge, Theodore Ayrault (2011). Warfare in the Age of Napoleon: The Egyptian and Syrian Campaigns & the Wars of the Second and Third Coalitions, 1798-1805. Vol. 2. Leonaur Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85706-600-8.
• Phipps, Ramsay Weston (2011) [1939]. The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I: The Armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt, and the Coup d'Etat of Brumaire (1797-1799). Vol. 5. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908692-28-3.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.