|
French
Revolutionary Wars Timeline:
1796
Go here for the
French Revolutionary Wars
in a Nutshell.
February 8, 1796
The new French Defense Minister is
Claude Petiet. He succeeds
Jean-Baptiste-Annibal Aubert-Dubayet.
February 12, 1796
Irish revolutionary Wolfe Tone
arrives at Paris, carrying with him a plan to invade Ireland
and intimidate Britain.
March 2, 1796
In the eyes of the
Committee of Public Safety, the
present commander-of-chief of the Army of Italy,
General Barthélemy-Louis-Joseph Schérer,
is too hesitant. Today, the Committee has replaced Scherer.
The new commander-of-chief of the Army
of Italy is
Napoleon Bonaparte.
March 9, 1796
Napoleon Bonaparte
marries
Josephine.
April 8, 1796
British Horatio Nelson is
promoted to temp admiral (acting commodore).
April 10, 1796
Beginning of the
Italian Campaign.
Northern Italy - April 1796
Northern Italy - April-June 1796
April 12, 1796
Battle
of Montenotte.
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the Austrians.
April 13, 1796
Battle
of Millesimo.
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the army from Piedmont.
April 15, 1796
Battle of
Dego
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the Austrians.
April 22, 1796
Battle
of Mondovi.
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the army from Piedmont.
April 28, 1796
Napoleon Bonaparte and the King
of Piedmont-Sardinia, Victor Amadeus III
(Victor-Amédée III), sign the
Armistice of Cherasco. It will be confirmed by the Treaty
of Paris on May 15, 1796.
May 10, 1796
Battle of Lodi
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory.
Apparently, Lodi proved to be an eye-opener
for Bonaparte. In his memoirs, he will write,
"It was only on the evening after Lodi that
I realized that I was a superior being and
conceived the ambition of performing great
things, which hitherto had filled my
thoughts only as a fantastic dream."
May 15, 1796
French
troops, led by Napoleon
Bonaparte, enter
Milan.
Treaty of
Paris. This treaty confirms the
Armistice of Cherasco, signed on April 28, 1796. Piedmont
cedes Savoy and Nice to France. With the packet comes Tende and
Beuil.
June 4, 1796
The Siege of Mantua begins. It
will end on February 2, 1797.
Battle of
Altenkirchen. Kleber's victory over the Austrians.
July 1796
The
Wars of the
Vendee end.
July 2, 1796
France issues a law by which the
confiscation of neutral American merchant ships is declared legal.
The exact words were,
"that
all neutral or allied powers shall, without
delay, be notified that the flag of the
French Republic will treat neutral vessels
either as to confiscation, as to searches or
capture, in the same manner as they shall
suffer the English to treat them."
July 20, 1796
General Lazare Hoche gets a new
assignment, the invasion of Ireland.
August 5, 1796
Battle of
Castiglione.
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the Austrians.
In 1808, and thanks to his performance
in this battle, French soldier Pierre
Francois Charles Augerau became the Duc de Castiglione.
August 19, 1796
Spain switches alliances by signing
the
Treaty of San Ildefonso and
fights now on the French side. Meanwhile, the British abandon
Corsica and withdraw to Gibraltar.
September 3, 1796
Austria defeats France, led by
Jourdan, at the
Battle of Würzburg,
located one car hour southeast from Frankfurt.
September 8, 1796
Battle of
Bassano.
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the Austrians.
September 19, 1796
U.S. President Washington will not
seek a third term. Today, he delivers his Farewell Address. He will
retire on March 4, 1797.
September 21, 1796
French
General Marceau gets shot at Altenkirchen, while on the
job with his troops covering Kleber's retreat after the Battle of
Altenkirchen, which was fought on June 4, 1796. Francois Severin
Marceau was 27 years old.
October 8, 1796
Spain declares war on Britain.
October 16, 1796
Victor
Amadeus III, the king of Piedmont-Sardinia, dies. His
successor is his son, Charles Emmanuel IV.
November 17, 1796
Catherine the Great dies at
Tsarskoye Selo, Russia.
Battle of
Arcole.
Part of the Italian Campaign.
Bonaparte's victory over the Austrians.
Bonaparte on the
Bridge at Arcole on November 17, 1796
Le général Bonaparte au pont d'Arcole
1796 Oil on canvas by Antoine-Jean Gros, who lived 1771-1835
Château de Versailles
November 27, 1796
A Commission, delegated by
the French Republic to the Leeward Islands, resolves that the
captains of French national vessels and privateers are authorized to
stop, and bring into the ports of the colony, American vessels bound
to English ports, or coming from the said ports.
December 15, 1796
French invasion of Ireland.
From Brest in Brittany, the French
send more than 14,000 troops aboard 43 ships direction Ireland to oust the
British. The expedition is led by French
General
Lazare Hoche and newly appointed adjutant
Wolfe Tone, a seasoned Irish
revolutionary, who came up with the idea in the first place (see
February 12, 1796.) Storms
will render this expedition abortive.
Unlike this French invasion, the next
one, on
February 22, 1797, will
actually land troops on
British soil.
December 30, 1796
The
Cispadane Republic is set up.
More History
|
