The weather in the Swiss mountains is unpredictable. Either a thick fog hides the outlines of a majestic landscape, then a fine rain pours incessantly. But if for a moment the natural veil recedes, a grandiose spectacle opens up. A huge cross is carved right in the steep cliff facing Teufelsbrücke, also known as "Devil's Bridge". Under it there is an inscription: "TO THE VALORABLE ADVANCERS OF GENERALISSIMO FELDMARSHAL COUNT SUVOROV OF THE RYMNIK PRINCE OF ITALY WAS PASSED WHEN MOVING THROUGH THE ALPS IN 1799".
The story that happened here is still interpreted from the point of view of opposite sides in different ways. Some are convinced that the actions of the Russian troops led by Suvorov were his fatal mistake. Others - that they were the only true ones and, with a fortunate coincidence, could generally change the further course of history.
One way or another, but what happened happened, and everyone is free to draw conclusions himself. In the meantime, let's try to understand what happened in the Alps at the very end of the 18th century?
In 1789, France from a centuries-old, well-established and influential monarchy turns into a republic that is barely taking shape and striving for freedom. Sensing the growing danger, the European monarchs' courts began to unite their efforts in attempts to pacify the rebellious France. The first of the military alliances created against it, which in 1792 included Austria, Prussia and Great Britain, without bringing any results, disintegrated after 5 years. But less than a year later, Austria, Great Britain, Turkey, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and Russia, which joined them, in 1798, even more worried about the current situation, formed a second anti-French coalition. At the same time, the French army, led by the young General Bonaparte, had already invaded Egypt, capturing the Ionian Islands and the island of Malta, which was of great strategic importance, along the way.
The Russian squadron under the command of Admiral Ushakov approached the Ionian Islands and blocked the island of Corfu, which was the key to the entire Adriatic. An attack from the sea for the fortified fortress of the island forced the French garrison to surrender on March 2, 1799. On land, the Austrians, having an army twice the size of the French, managed to push back the army of General Jourdan across the Rhine, but suffered a serious defeat on the border with Tyrol. The coalition is in a very difficult position.
At the insistent demand of the allies, Field Marshal A. V. Suvorov. He, who was suspended from service because of his disagreement with Emperor Paul I about the reforms he was carrying out in the army, was actually under house arrest on his own estate. However, this did not mean at all that the commander was not aware of the events that were taking place. He closely followed the actions carried out in Europe by the young French generals, analyzed the new that they brought into the practice of waging war. So, as soon as he received the Imperial Rescript of the appointment from the Emperor, Suvorov began to act. I must say that, being a convinced monarchist, he attached particular importance to the war with France, although for all his many years of practice he had to command the combined forces for the first time.
The Russian army was formed from three corps: the corps of Lieutenant General A. M. Rimsky-Korsakov, a corps of French emigrants serving in the Russian army, under the command of Prince L.-J. De Conde, and the corps, headed by Suvorov himself.
On the way, the commander undertook a number of measures aimed at preserving the troops, which were to cross a thousand kilometers, - from providing them with the necessary amount of materiel and food to organizing rest on the march. The main task of the commander was to train the troops, and first of all the Austrian troops, who were prone to insufficiently active actions.
On April 15, in Valejo, Suvorov began to lead the coalition troops. His decisive actions quickly ensured a series of victories for the Allies. In close cooperation with Ushakov's squadron, Suvorov cleared almost all of Italy of the French within a few months. Despite Vienna's repeated attempts to intervene in the commander's actions, he, given the current situation, continued to adhere to his plan. However, three more major victories of the allied armies that followed soon caused an even more ambiguous reaction. Now the commander was obliged to report to Vienna on each of his decisions, and only after their approval by the Austrian Military Council did he get the opportunity to act. This situation fettered the actions of the commander. In one of the letters to Count Razumovsky, Suvorov wrote: "Fortune has a bare nape and long hanging hair on her forehead, her flight is lightning, without grabbing her hair - she does not return."
The victory over the enemy troops on the Adda River (April 26-28, 1799) gave the Allies the opportunity to capture Milan and Turin. The next battle, near the Trebbia River, took place on June 6, when Suvorov, at the head of a 30-thousandth army, was forced to hastily come to the aid of the Austrians, who were attacked by the French army of General J. MacDonald. In the summer heat, the Russian army, when walking, and when running, having overcome 60 km along Trebbia in 38 hours, arrived at the place just in time and without any respite entered the battle, striking the enemy with the swiftness and surprise of the onslaught. After 2 days of fierce fighting, MacDonald gave the order to retreat. Suvorov was determined to finish off the exhausted enemy, who had lost half of his army, and to start an invasion of France. But the leadership of Austria had its own opinion on this matter, and the Russian commander, to the depths of his soul outraged by the "ineradicable habit of being beaten," was forced to back down. The French, who had the opportunity to regroup and gather new forces, moved their troops, led by a talented young general Joubert, to Alessandria - to the location of the allied forces. The last battle of the Italian campaign took place near the town of Nevi. Started in the early morning of August 4, it ended with the complete defeat of the French. But again, according to the position of the Vienna Court, the decisive blow to the enemy was never delivered. As a result, Russian troops were sent to Switzerland to join the corps of General Rimsky-Korsakov for the subsequent joint offensive from there to France.
According to the plan developed by the Austrians, the Russian troops were to replace the allies there, who, in turn, moved to the regions of the Middle and Lower Rhine - Austria intended to regain them in the first place. The organizers of this movement, however, did not consider it necessary to involve direct performers in the development. In addition, the Austrians did not want the Russians to stay in Italy for a long time. The reason was simple: Suvorov in the liberated territories actually restored local municipal authority, and this did not suit the Austrians, who already considered Italy their own.
According to the originally developed plan, Suvorov's army was to leave the city of Asti on September 8 and move in two columns: the corps of General V. Kh. von Derfelden and the corps of General A. G. Rosenberg, who were ordered, having united on September 11 in Novara, continue to march together towards the city of Airolo. The artillery and the convoy were supposed to be moved separately, through Italy and the province of Tyrol to Switzerland.
Meanwhile, having received an order for the complete withdrawal of troops from Switzerland, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian troops, Archduke Karl, began to immediately implement it. Suvorov, who learned about this on September 3, was forced to immediately, without waiting for the surrender of the garrison of the fortress of Tartona, to march to Switzerland. But it was at this moment that the French made a desperate attempt to unblock the besieged citadel, while Suvorov had to return and force the garrison to capitulate. The loss of two days in this situation could lead to the most serious consequences.
The army, numbering about 20 thousand people, having overcome more than 150 km of the way, arrived in the town of Tavern not after 8 days, as planned, but after 6. Suvorov needed to reach the Saint-Gotthard pass as soon as possible. While still in Asti, he instructed the Austrian field marshal M. Melas to prepare and concentrate the pack train needed for further advancement before the arrival of the army in the Tavern (in total, the allies had to provide 1,500 mules with fodder and provisions by September 15). But upon arriving at the Tavern, Suvorov did not find either one or the other, and only on September 18, about 650 animals with a part of the fodder stock arrived at the place. Having partially used the Cossack horses to fill the missing ones and having completed preparations for the march, on September 20, Suvorov begins to advance to Saint Gotthard. Time is compressed inexorably. The "general attack plan" developed by Suvorov's headquarters in Tavern in the changed situation and recommended for implementation by the Austrian commanders F. Hotze and G. Strauch, assumed the offensive of all allied forces on a 250 km front along the right bank of the Reuss River, from the place of its confluence with Aare, to Lucerne.
Suvorov attached particular importance to the capture of Saint Gotthard. In this regard, he made sure that the rumor was spread that the offensive should begin no earlier than October 1 (in the plan it was originally listed on September 19, but due to a delay in the Tavern it took place on September 24). The French in Switzerland had several advantages over the advancing allies: a more advantageous strategic position, significant experience in waging war in mountainous terrain and a good knowledge of it. Suvorov, while interacting with Strauch's detachment, had to knock out the French from these positions, led by the most experienced General K. Zh. Lecurb. For the French, the Russian offensive, which began in the early morning of September 24, came as a complete surprise to this pass.
The numerical superiority of the allied forces at the time of the offensive, according to some researchers, was 5: 1, but, despite this, the French skillfully repulsed the first attacks. However, the attackers, using the tactics of a roundabout maneuver, constantly forced them to retreat. By noon, after heavy fighting, Suvorov climbed to Saint Gotthard. Then the slightly rested troops began to descend, and by midnight the pass was taken - the French retreated to Ursern. The next day, at 6 am, the columns of the allies moved to Geshenen through the so-called "Uriy hole" - a tunnel about 65 m long, about 3 m in diameter, made in the mountains, which was 7 kilometers from Urzern. Immediately after the exit from it, the road, overhanging a huge cornice over the abyss, abruptly descended to the Devil's Bridge. This bridge, thrown over the deep Schellenen gorge, in fact, connected the north of Italy and the southern borders of the German lands with a thin thread.
The Devil's Stone hung over the gorge from the opposite side, from which both the exit from the tunnel and the bridge itself could be seen. That is why the advance-guard of the attackers, which emerged from the "Hole", immediately fell under heavy enemy fire.
By the beginning of the battle, the French sappers could not completely destroy such an important crossing, and during the battle the bridge consisted, as it were, of two halves - the left-bank arcade was partially blown up, while the right one remained unharmed. The Russians, having dismantled a nearby wooden structure under enemy fire, tied up the logs and hastily restored the bridge, rushed along it to the opposite bank. The French, sensing that they were beginning to be flanked, retreated, but their pursuit was postponed until the bridge was fully restored.
After 4 hours of work, the movement of troops was resumed.
Meanwhile, in the area of Zurich, where the Allied army was supposed to leave as a result, the following was happening. After the withdrawal of the Austrian formations to Germany, the army of Rimsky-Korsakov and the Hotze corps became a tasty morsel for the commander-in-chief of the French troops in Switzerland, Massena. Only a water barrier did not allow him to attack immediately. Having learned from his spy at the headquarters of the Russian army, Giacomo Casanova, that the Russians planned to go on the offensive for September 26, Massena struck a decisive blow with lightning speed. On the night of September 25, 15 km from Zurich, at Dietikon, a group of daredevils, having crossed by swimming only with melee weapons and removing Russian patrols, ensured the crossing of the main part of Massena's troops. In a two-day battle, the armies of Rimsky-Korsakov and Hotse were defeated. Hotse himself was ambushed and killed in the first minutes of the battle. This news so strongly affected the morale of the allies that almost all of them surrendered. As a result, the total losses of the allies amounted to about nine thousand people, and the remnants of the Russian troops withdrew to the Rhine. Such a catastrophic defeat could not but affect the further course of the entire campaign.
ANDRE MASSENA at the time of the Swiss campaign, he was perhaps the most outstanding French general.
He was born on May 6, 1758 in Nice in the family of an Italian winemaker and was the third of five children. When Andre was 6 years old, his father died, and his mother soon remarried. At the age of 13, he ran away from home and hired a cabin boy on one of the merchant ships. After 5 years of marine life, Massena entered the army. Having risen to the rank of non-commissioned officer in 1789, he realized that further promotion was hardly foreseen for a man of his origin, and retired. Soon Massena got married and started a grocery business. Judging by how quickly he got rich, he was clearly involved in smuggling. One way or another, but the knowledge of every trail in the Alpes-Maritimes later served him well. When the French Revolution reached the boondocks where Massena lived with his family, he, realizing all the advantages of serving in the Republican army, joined the National Guard and began to quickly move up the career ladder. In 1792, he was already in the rank of brigadier general, and a year later Massena took part in the famous Battle of Toulon. In his subordination at that time served an unknown captain Bonaparte, who commanded artillery in this battle. After the capture of Toulon, each of them received a new rank: Massena became a divisional, and Bonaparte became a brigadier general.
Being a resolute man, Massena was not just distinguished in battles by courage. So, in one of them, he made his way on horseback through the enemy's pickets to his encircled detachment and, in front of the Austrians amazed by such impudence, brought him out of the encirclement, without losing a single person. And yet he had two great weaknesses - fame and money. The thirst for money-grubbing almost caused the uprising of the hungry and ragged Roman garrison, of which he became the commander in 1798.
In 1799, Massena was appointed chief of the Helvetic Army in Switzerland. In 1804, he received the marshal's baton from Bonaparte's hands, in 1808 he was awarded the title of Duke of Rivoli, two years later - Prince of Esling, and in 1814 he betrayed his emperor by going over to the side of the Bourbons. This act would be appreciated "at its true worth" - in 1815 Massena became a peer of France and two years later he died.
On September 26, having restored all the crossings on the Reuss, Suvorov's troops continued to move. Approaching the city of Altdorf, Suvorov unexpectedly learned that the road to Schwyz, which was 15 km away, did not exist. Instead, there is a narrow path along which either a single person or a wild beast can pass. Undoubtedly, it was necessary to turn back and go the other way, but Suvorov, for whom the concept of "retreat" did not exist, decided to move along the "hunting path". At this time, Massena, who learned about Suvorov's advance to Schwyz, immediately strengthened all the local garrisons, and Suvorov, who still did not know anything about the defeat at Zurich, went into a trap set for him. On September 27, at 5 o'clock in the morning, the advance guard of Bagration began to move. This 18-kilometer hike turned out to be incredibly difficult.
More than half of the beasts of burden were lost, and the army was still short of food.
Having entered Muotatal on September 28, Suvorov finally learns from the local population about the defeat of Rimsky-Korsakov and Hotse. Almost in an instant, the balance of forces changed almost 4 times in favor of the enemy. In addition, now Massena directly opposed Suvorov, eager to capture the Russian commander. Arriving in Lucerne, Massena studied in detail the relief plan of Switzerland, and then on a ship reached Seedorf along Lake Lucerne, where General Lecourbe was waiting for him. Having studied the situation in detail, Massena decided to conduct a reconnaissance in the Shehen Valley. And after making sure that the enemy really went to the Muoten Valley, he gave the order to block the retreat to Altdorf.
Suvorov, on September 29, having made sure of the defeat at Zurich, decided to go to join with the remaining parts of the allies. As a result, the Russian army began to withdraw from the valley, and the French began to pursue it. On September 30, the first battle took place in the Muoten Valley, unsuccessful for the latter. Frustrated by this outcome of the case, Massena decides to personally direct the next attack. On the morning of October 1, moving to the bridge and quickly rebuilding it, the Republicans attacked the Russian pickets. Those, having an order not to engage in battle, began to retreat. Meanwhile, General A. G. Rosenberg, anticipating such a turn of events, lined up his battle formations in three lines. Seeing the Russians retreating, the French rushed into pursuit. At that moment, the retreating parties parted to the sides along the flanks. And then an unexpected picture appeared to the French. Rosenberg's entire battle formation was revealed in front of them. The French, inspired by the presence of the commander, confidently rushed to the position of the Russians. The Russians, closing their bayonets, went on the attack. With lightning-fast flanking maneuvers, they captured three guns and a large number of prisoners. The encircled French rearguard was finally overturned and in complete disarray rushed to the Schengen bridge. Massena was forced to withdraw the remnants of his troops to Schwyz, which the French managed to keep, although the Second Battle of Muoten proved to be a very difficult defeat for them. Massena himself almost fell into captivity. In the confusion of the battle, non-commissioned officer Makhotin began to fight his way to the enemy general. Approaching close, he, grabbing his epaulette, tried to pull Massena off the horse. The French officer who came to the rescue managed to overturn Makhotin, but the general's golden epaulette remained in his hand. This fact was later confirmed by the captured Adjutant General Guyot de Lacour.
Now, in order to break out of the encirclement, Suvorov had to break through to Glarus and then go to join the remnants of Rimsky-Korsakov's army. The Russians took Glarus, but the French managed to close the shortest route for connecting Suvorov and Rimsky-Korsakov. To get out of the encirclement, the Russian troops had to overcome another pass - through the Paniks mountain with a height of 2,407 meters. This transition turned out to be, perhaps, the most difficult for Suvorov's army. For those soldiers and officers who survived all his hardships, he remained in the memory as the most terrible test of will and physical strength. And nevertheless, the hungry and immensely tired army overcame it. The first, on October 6, was the vanguard of General M. A. Miloradovich. The appearance of the Russian army was deplorable - most of the officers did not have soles on their boots, the uniforms of the soldiers were practically torn to shreds. On October 8, Suvorov's entire army reached the city of Chur, where Aufenberg's Austrian brigade was already stationed. Here all the prisoners in the amount of 1,418 people were handed over to the Austrians.
After a two-day rest, Russian troops moved along the Rhine and on October 12 they camped near the village of Altenstadt. For two days the soldiers rested, washed and ate, and by the end of the second they were again ready for the march. However, this did not take place. In his "Note with general comments on the campaign of 1799" dated March 7, 1800, Suvorov, as it were, drew a line under everything that happened: "So, the mountain gave birth to a mouse … - Approx. Author), mired in cunning and deceit, instead of France, he forced us to drop everything and go home."
The campaign was lost, and meanwhile Suvorov, granted for it by Emperor Paul I in 1799 with the title of Prince of Italy and the rank of Generalissimo, did not suffer a single defeat. Despite all these circumstances, the glory of the Russian arms in this campaign was not desecrated. No wonder the same André Massena, who managed to defend France, later said that he would give all his 48 campaigns in 17 days of Suvorov's Swiss campaign.
After a short time, Suvorov drew up a new campaign plan against the French, where it was supposed to use now only Russian troops, but he was not destined to come true - on May 6, 1800, the old commander died.