holding in check
of a garrison. Accordingly he ordered Serurier to raise the siege of
Mantua, and his siege-guns to be spiked and withdrawn. The division
thus rendered available he at once despatched for field operations
toward Brescia. But its numbers were so few as scarcely to relieve the
situation. Accordingly a council of war was summoned to decide whether
the army should stand and fight, or retreat for further concentration.
The commander-in-chief was apparently much excited, and according to
Augereau's account advised the latter course. The enemy being between
the French and the Adda, no other line was open but that southward
through the low country, over the Po; and to follow that implied
something akin to a disorderly rout. Nevertheless, all the generals
were in favor of this suggestion except one, the fiery hotspur who
tells the tale, who disdained the notion of retreat on any line, and
flung out of the room in scorn. Bonaparte walked the floor until late
in the small hours; finally he appeared to have accepted Augereau's
advice, and gave orders for battle. But the opening movements were
badly executed. Bonaparte seemed to feel that the omens were
unfavorable, and again the generals were summoned. Augereau opened the
meeting with a theatrical and declamatory but earnest speech,
encouraging his comrades and urging the expediency of a battle. This
time it was Bonaparte who fled, apparently in despair, leaving the
chief command, and with it the responsibility, to the daring Augereau,
by whose enthusiasm, as he no doubt saw, the other generals had been
affected. The hazardous enterprise succeeded, and on the very plan
already adopted. Augereau gave the orders, and with swift
concentration every available man was hurled against the Austrian
column under Quasdanowich at Lonato. This much may be true; casting
aside Augereau's inconsistencies and braggadocio, it is possible but
unlikely.

The result was an easy victory, the enemy was driven back to a safe
distance, and Brescia was evacuated on August fourth, the defeated
columns retreating behind Lake Garda to join Wurmser on the other
side. Like the regular return of the pendulum, the French moved back
again, and confronted the Austrian center that very night, but now
with every company in line and Bonaparte at their head. A portion of
the enemy, about twenty-five thousand in number, had reached Lonato,
hastening to the support of Quasdanowich. Wurmser had lost a day