ors had schemed for the
Ghibelline cause. By a deft mingling of courtesy and firmness the new
conqueror imposed his will on the Government of Florence, and then
sped northward to press on the siege of Mantua.

* * * * *

CHAPTER VI

THE FIGHTS FOR MANTUA

The circumstances which recalled Bonaparte to the banks of the Mincio
were indeed serious. The Emperor Francis was determined at all costs
to retain his hold on Italy by raising the siege of that fortress; and
unless the French commander could speedily compass its fall, he had
the prospect of fighting a greatly superior army while his rear was
threatened by the garrison of Mantua. Austria was making unparalleled
efforts to drive this presumptuous young general from a land which she
regarded as her own political preserve. Military historians have
always been puzzled to account for her persistent efforts in 1796-7 to
re-conquer Lombardy. But, in truth, the reasons are diplomatic, not
military, and need not be detailed here. Suffice it to say that,
though the Hapsburg lands in Swabia were threatened by Moreau's Army
of the Rhine, Francis determined at all costs to recover his Italian
possessions.

To this end the Emperor now replaced the luckless Beaulieu by General
Wuermser, who had gained some reputation in the Rhenish campaigns; and,
detaching 25,000 men from his northern armies to strengthen his army
on the Adige, he bade him carry the double-headed eagle of Austria
victoriously into the plains of Italy. Though too late to relieve the
citadel of Milan, he was to strain every nerve to relieve Mantua; and,
since the latest reports represented the French as widely dispersed
for the plunder of Central Italy, the Emperor indulged the highest
hopes of Wuermser's success.[56]

Possibly this might have been attained had the Austrian Emperor and
staff understood the absolute need of concentration in attacking a
commander who had already demonstrated its supreme importance in
warfare. Yet the difficulties of marching an army of 47,000 men
through the narrow defile carved by the Adige through the Tyrolese
Alps, and the wide extent of the French covering lines, led to the
adoption of a plan which favoured rapidity at the expense of security.
Wuermser was to divide his forces for the difficult march southward
from Tyrol into Italy. In defence of this arrangement much could be
urged. To have cumbered the two roads, which run on either