The Archduke Charles being strongly reinforced, en deavoured to oppose the advance of AIoreau ; but not suc ceeding, he crossed the Danube, and attacked Jourdan, leaving part of his army as a check on Moreau. Jourdan was now under the necessity of retreating, till, by the middle of September, he arrived at Coblentz and Dus seldorf, from which places he had advanced at the begin ning of the campaign.
Moreau, in the mean time, endeavoured to drive before him the part of the Austrians which were left to watch him ; hut they, having been reinforced, he could not pene• trate beyond the Iser. His communication with Jourdan was now completely cut off, and for some weeks he was ignorant of his fortune or movements. As soon, however, as he learned that he had been compelled to retreat, he was sensible that it was absolutely necessary for him to retreat also. In order to deceive the general who was opposed to him, he at first moved as if he meant to pene trate further into Austria ; and having thus compelled his adversary to fall back, he began his retreat between the Danube at Uhn, and the Lake of Constance. On his rear the Austrian general hung incessantly : his route through the Black Forest was occupied by numerous bodies of Austrians and armed peasantry, while his right flank was harassed by another army of 24,000 men. Notwithstand ing the extreme difficulties of this critical situation, he continued his retreat in the most excellent order, and actu ally more than once turned upon and defeated the army that was pursuing him. The dreadful passage of the val ley of Hell, overhung with lofty mountains, and in some places only a few fathoms broad, was forced by the centre of his army in a mass, while the wings opposed the Au strian armies that hung on his rear and flanks. On the 15th of October he arrived at Friburg ; but he was soon afterwards forced by the Archduke to abandon all his positions on that side of the Rhine, except Kehl. This place also the Archduke was resolved to reduce ; but not being able to succeed, and•the French, finding their whole frontier exposed, the latter evacuated it in the beginning of 1797.
The first object of the Austrians in 1797, was the relief of Mantua. General Alvingi's army was upwards of 50,000 strong. At first they were so successful against a division of Bonaparte's army, that their immediate cap ture was expected. As soon as that general was inform ed of their ethical situation, he hastened to their relief. On the 14th of January, a most obstinate battle took place at Rivoli. The centre of the French was on the point of giving way, both their flanks were surrounded, and the defeat of Bonaparte seemed certain, when, by a masterly manoeuvre, he completely changed the fortune of the day, penetrated the right wing of the Austrians at various points, and threw them into such disorder, that 4000 of them threw down their arms. On the following day, 6000 more
were surrounded and taken prisoners. Bonaparte now hastened to meet that part of the Austrian army which was threatening the lines of the blockade, and succeeded in cap turing the whole of them. The defence of Mantua being now hopeless, General Wurmser capitulated.
The humiliation of the Pope was the next object of Bonaparte. The forces of his Holiness were soon sub dued, and he was compelled to sign a peace, dictated by the French general.
The French government having failed in their attempt to reduce the Emperor to submission by the campaign on the western side of Germany, resolved to penetrate into his hereditary dominions on the side of Italy. They, there fore, sent strong reinforcements to Bonaparte. On the other hand, the Archduke Charles took the command on the southern frontiers of Austria ; but, instead of waiting for the enemy in the mountains, he was directed by the council of war at Vienna to descend into the plains, and defend the rivers. The consequences of this absurd plan were fatal to the Austrians, who were driven from all their positions, and lost their principal magazines. In fif teen days Bonaparte took 20,000 prisoners, and effected the passage of the Alps. His way to Vienna was now open ; but not insensible of the danger to which even his successful progress had exposed he wrote to the Archduke on the 31st of March, proposing peace. The latter replied, that he had no authority to treat ; and, in the mean time, the inhabitants of the Tyrol rose. en maw. Neither they, however, nor the regular Austrian armies, were able to stop the progress of the French, who, on the 2d of April, forced the strong defiles between Fricsach and Newark. This success, and another defeat which the Austrians sustained on the 4th, induced the Emperor to treat for peace ; and on the 19th a preliminary treaty was signed, by which the French were to retain the Austrian Netherlands ; and the Milanese, Mantua, Modena, and Bologna, were to be formed into one state, and to be called the Cisalpine Republic. This was followed by a definitive treaty at Campo Formic', which confirmed these articles, and gave the French the Venetian islands in the Levant. While these operations were going on in the south of Germany, Generals Roche and Moreau not only prevent ed the Austrians on the Rhine from sending reinforce ments against Bonaparte, but even gained several advan tages over them, and pursued part of them towards the Danube.