Order of battle for the Battle of Caldiero (1805)

Caldiero 1805 Order of Battle

Archduke Charles and his staff at the Battle of Caldiero
Archduke Charles at the Battle of Caldiero

The armies of the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire fought the Battle of Caldiero from 29 to 31 October 1805 just east of Verona in Italy. Marshal André Masséna led the French Army of Italy while Archduke Charles commanded the Austrian Armee von Italien. Historians variously call the battle a French victory,[1] an Austrian victory,[2] or indecisive.[3] Austrian losses were over 5,500, while the French suffered at least 5,000 casualties. Archduke Charles began a withdrawal from Italy on 1 November.[4] The retreat ended in early December with Archduke Charles' army intact at Kormend in western Hungary. Unfortunately for Austria, by this time, Emperor Napoleon had decisively defeated the Austro-Russian army at the Battle of Austerlitz.[5]

French order of battle

André Masséna
André Masséna

Army of Italy: Marshal André Masséna[6]

Left Wing

Commander: Masséna

Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor
Gabriel Molitor
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
Guillaume Duhesme

Right Wing

Jean-Antoine Verdier
Jean-Antoine Verdier

Commander: General of Division Jean-Antoine Verdier

North of Verona

Commander: General of Division Jean-Mathieu Seras (not engaged)

Austrian Army order of battle

A few months before the outbreak of war, Austrian infantry regiments were reorganized into four line battalions and one grenadier battalion. Each battalion consisted of four companies each of 160 musketeers.[7]

Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles

Armee von Italien: Feldmarschall Archduke Charles[8]

Right Wing

Commander: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Joseph Anton Simbschen

Center

Count Heinrich von Bellegarde
Heinrich von Bellegarde

Commander: General der Kavallerie Count Heinrich von Bellegarde

Left Wing

Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen
Prince Reuss-Plauen

Commander: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen

Far Left Wing

Commander: General-Major Armand von Nordmann

Reserve

Commander: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Eugène-Guillaume Argenteau

Detached Corps

Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
Joseph Radetzky

Commander: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Paul Davidovich (not engaged)[10]

Detached Division

Commander: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Josef Philipp Vukassovich (replaced by Rosenberg) (not engaged)

Footnotes

  1. Alain Pigeard. Dictionnaire des batailles de Napoléon. Tallandier, Bibliotheque Napoléonienne, 2004. ISBN 2-84734-073-4, p. 170.
  2. Rothenberg, Gunther E. (1980). The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press. p. 94. ISBN 0-253-31076-8.
  3. Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805–1815. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-275-96875-8, p. 40.
  4. Schneid, p. 39.
  5. Rothenberg, p. 99.
  6. Schneid, pp 167–169. The entire French order of battle is from Schneid.
  7. Rothenberg, p. 87.
  8. Schneid, p 169-171. The Austrian Caldiero order of battle is from Schneid.
  9. Schneid, p 164. Schneid lists "Michalowich" commanding the Nr. 51 and Nr. 34 IRs in the 18 October order of battle. But for Caldiero, IR Nr. 34 was detached to Lindenau's division and the author lists no commanders for either half-brigade.
  10. Schneid, p 166. This order of battle is from 18 October, and does not include Gavasini's brigade which was transferred to Argentau's Reserve.
  11. Schneid, p 28. After 18 October, Archduke Charles replaced Vukassovich with Rosenberg. It is not known who replaced Rosenberg.

References

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External links

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