Page:Life of Napoleon Buonaparte.pdf/4

 and soldiers of the army of Italy, he was appointed to the command of that army, and on the recommendation of his friend and patron, Barras, three days before this departure for Nice, in March 1796, he married Josephine Beauharnois, widow of the count de Beauharnois, who suffered under Robespierre. At this time Buonaparte was only in his twenty-six year, and had never seen a regular engagement in his life but such was his own confidence, and the opinion entertained of his ardour, science, and activity, that he inspired universal reliance. His history as a great captain may be said to have commenced from this moment. The army opposed to him consisted of 60,000 Austrians and Sardinians, commanded by the Austrian general Beaulieu. After several skirmishes he wholly outmanoeuvred the enemy, and in the course of April won the battles of Montenotte, Millesino, and Mondovi, which obliged the king of Sardinia to sign a treaty in his own capital. On the 10th May following he gained the battle of Lodi, the first which fully evinced his courage and great military skill. This conflict put him in possession of Piedmont and the Milanese. The Austrians, obtaining reinforcements, now made great exertions to compel the French to raise the siege of Mantua. The activity and ascendancy of Buonaparte however rendered all their exertions fruitless; his central position afforded him the opportunity of engaging and defeating the opposing armies under Wurmser and Alvinzi, one after the other, and Mantua capitulated. In the mean time the pope, the king of Naples, and the minor Italian princes were compelled to make peace with great sacrifices, but the Austrians still persevering, under the able command of archduke Charles, Buonaparte penetrated through Friuli into