taken. The French made themselves masters of Carcara on the 12th, and also of Cairo. Beaulieu was yet able to send assistance from his right wing to the left of the Austro-Sardinian army. Bonaparte changed his head-quarters to Carcara on the 12th, and ordered General Laharpe to march to Sozello, in order to threaten the eight battalions of the enemy stationed there, and on the day following by a rapid and concealed march, to get to the town of Cairo, while General Massena was to gain the heights of Dego, at the time that the Generals Menaud and Joubert occupied one of the heights of Biestro, and the other the position of St. Marguerite. This movement following the battle of Montonette, placed the French army on the other side of the Alps. General Augereau forced Millesimo, while the Generals Menaud and Joubert drove the allies from all their posts, and surrounded a corps of 1500 Austrian grenadiers, commanded by Lieutenant-General Provera, a knight of the order of Maria Theresa, who gallantly retired to the mountain of Cossaria, and entrenched himself in an old castle extremely strong, on account of its position. Augereau ordered his artillery to advance, when a cannonade was kept up for several hours. In the course of the day Bonaparte, vexed at finding his march checked by a handful of men, ordered General Povera to be summoned to surrender. He requested to speak with the Commander in Chief, but a lively cannonade commencing on the right wing of the French, hindered him from going to Povera, who treated with General Augereau for several hours; Augereau at length formed his men into four columns and advanced against the castle. Joubert entered the enemy's works with seven men, when, being wounded in the head, he was thrown on the ground; his soldiers thinking him dead, his columu relaxed. The second column, under General Banel, advanced in silence, when the General was killed. The third column, under Adjutant-General Quenin, who was also killed, was in like manner disconcerted. Night coming on made Bonaparte fear, that the enemy would attempt to make their way sword in hand: he therefore made dispositions to prevent them. Next morning the hostile armies faced each other; the French left, under Augereau, kept General Provera blockaded; several of the enemy's regiments strove to penetrate the centre of the French, but were repulsed by General Menard, who was then ordered to fall back on the right wing. Before noon General Massena extended his line beyond the enemy's left, which occupied the village of Deffo, strongly entrenched. The French pushed their light troops as far as the road leading from Diego to Spino. General Laharpe's division marched in three close columns; the one on his left, under General Causse, crossed the Bormida, and attacked the right of the enemy's left wing. General Cervoni, with the second column, also passed the Bormida, covered by one of the French batteries, and advanced against the enemy; while the third column, under Aujutant-general Boyer, turned a ravine, and cut off their retreat. The enemy had not time to capitulate; and the French columns, spreading terror and death, put them to the route. General Povera, with the corps he commanded at Cossaria, surrendered prisoners of war. By this victory the French acquired from seven to nine thousand prisoners, and the enemy had near 3,000 killed. On the 15th, Beaulieu, with the flower of his army, attacked the village of Dego, and carried it. Massena, when he had formed part of his troops begun the attack, but was repulsed in three attempts. General Causse was not more fortunate; he attacked the enemy, and was on the point of charging with the bayonet, when he fell mortally wounded. In this situation, observing General Bonaparte, he collected his strength, and asked him if Dego was retaken. The posts are ours,' replied the General. Then,' said Causse,' Vive la Republique! I die content.' The affair, however, was not yet decided, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. Bonaparte, ordered a demi-brigade to form under General Victor, while Adjutant-General Lanus, rallying a demi-brigade of light infantry, threw himself on the enemy's left. These movements carried Dego; the cavalry completed the route of the enemy, who left 600 dead and 1,400 prisoners. General Rusca took the post of San-Giovanni, which commands the valley of Bormida. General Augereau, having drove the enemy from the redoubts of Montezemo, communicated with the valley of the Tanaro, which Serrurier's division had lately occupied. The Directory, in their dispatches to Bonaparte, expressed what they felt, in finding they had chosen him to conduct the army of Italy to victory. To-day, General!' said they, • receive the tribute of national gratitude; merit it more and more, and prove to Europe, that Beaulieu, by changing the scene of action, has not changed his opponent; that, beaten in the north, he shall constantly be defeated by the brave army of Italy; and that, with such defenders, liberty shall triumph over the impotent efforts of the enemies of the Republic.' General Laharpe and the chief of brigade, Rampon, also received honourable testimonies of the regard which the Directory had of their exertions. The movements of Generals Augereau, Bayrand, and Joubert, obliged the enemy to evacuate the entrenched camp during night. General Serrurier entered Ceva, in which was a garrison of between seven and eight hundred men. The heavy artillery had not been able to keep pace with the army in the mountains, and were not yet arrived. The Piedmontese army, driven from Ceva took a position at the confluence of the Cursarglia. On the 20th, Serrurier attacked their right by the village of St. Michael, and, passing the bridge, compelled them after three hours fighting, to evacuate the village; but the Tanaro not being fordable, the division destined to attack their left could harass them only by its riflemen. General Serrurier therefore retreated the enemy's position was formidable; sur rounded by two deep and impetuous rivers, they had destroyed : all the bridges, and erected strong batteries on the banks. Both armies reciprocally sought to deceive each other by false manœuvres, to conceal their real intentions. General Massena crossed the Tanaro near Ceva, and occupied the village of Lezegno, whilst two generals of brigade, took the bridge of the Torra. Bonaparte meant to bear down on Mondovi, and compel the enemy to change the field of battle; but General Colli, dreading the issue of an action, which must have been decisive on so extended a line, retreated. At day-break the two armies were in sight of each other, and the engagement began in the village of Vico. One division bore down on the left of Mondovi, while the two other brigades carried the redoubt which covered the enemy's centre; the Sardinian army abandoned the field of battle, and on that evening the French entered Mondovi. The loss of the allies amounted to 1,800 men, of whom 1,300 were prisoners. The Sardinians crossed the Stura, and took a position between Coni and Chorasco. The French entered the town of Bena. General Serrurier, on the 25th, marched to la Trinite, and cannonaded the town of Fossano, the head-quarters of General Colli. General Massena advanced against Cherasco, and drove in the enemy's grand guard. Bonaparte sent General Dujard, and his own aid-de-camp, Marmont, to reconnoitre the place, and plant howitzers to beat down the palisades. The enemy evacuated the town and repassed the Stura. This victory was of the greatest consequence; for, besides supporting the right wing, it gave an ample supply of subsistence. The French threw bridges of boats across the Stura, and Fossano surrendered to Serrurier. General Augereau marched against Alba, which surrendered, and threw several bridges of boats across the Tanaro, to enable the army to pass the river. The king of Sardinia, shut up in Turin, determined to treat for peace. General Colli, commander in chief of his army, addresed a letter to Bonaparte, stating, that as the king had sent plenipotentiaries to Genoa to treat for peace, under the mediation of the court of Spain; he thought the interests of humanity required, that hostilities should be suspended during the dependence of the negociation. He therefore proposed an armistice, in order to prevent the effusion of human blood. Bonaparte replied, that the Executive Directory preserved the right of treating for peace: it was therefore necessary that the plenipotentiaries of the king should repair to Paris, or wait at Genoa the arrival of those whom the French government should send thither. He further observed that the military position of the two armies prevented every unqualified suspension of arms; and although he was convinced that his government was disposed to grant reasonable conditions of peace to his majesty, yet he could not arrest his march. There was, however, he remarked, a means by which General Colli might attain his purpose, conformably to the true interests of his court, and which would prevent an effusion of blood; and that was to put into his possession two of the three fortresses of Coni, Alexandria, or Tortona; they could then wait the issue of negociation, which probably might be protracted. A peace was granted to the unfortunate monarch he surrendered Exilles, Tortona, Coni, Alexandria, and Chapeau Dauphin, as the pledges of his faith, and relinquished Savoy and the country of Nice for ever. Bonaparte immediately after this addressed his army from his head-quarters at Cherasco; he there stated to them the great things they had done in the short space of fourteen days, and the magnanimity they preserved under the different privations they experienced; that, destitute of every thing, they had supplied every thing, and without shoes, and often without bread, had performed harassing marches; he then promised them the conquest of Italy, but on the express condition that they did not pillage or plunder; that they were coming as friends and brothers, and to dictate a peace that would indemnify their country for what it had sacrificed. He tells them, that those guilty of marauding shall be in |