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Capture of Brescia
	Part of the Italian campaigns in the War of the Second Coalition
	; Brescia City Plan; Bibliothèque nationale de France
Date	21 April 1799
Location	Brescia, Northern Italy
Result	Allied victory
Territorial; changes	Capture of Brescia by Suvorov's forces
Belligerents
Russian Empire; Habsburg Empire	French Republic
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Suvorov; Pyotr Bagration; Philipp Vukassovich; Paul Kray; Johann Zopf	Barthélemy Schérer; Gen. Bouzet
Strength
>20,000	1,100
Casualties and losses
Absent	The entire garrison and 46 cannon captured

The capture of Brescia took place on 21 April 1799,^[a] during the Second Coalition war: General Field Marshal Count A. V. Suvorov's Russian and Habsburg troops took the fortress city of Brescia, having captivated the French garrison of General Bouzet.^[2]

Alexander Suvorov-Rymniksky, realising the importance of the impression of his first encounter with the French, sent here the vanguard of Kray and the division of Zopf, a total of 15,000 men assembled, and ordered Vukassovich to descend from the mountains also to Brescia; in all, more than 20,000 men. Field Marshal Suvorov ordered to assault the fortress, and not to conclude with the commandant of the honourable capitulation: "otherwise, — he said, — the enemy will hold in every blockhouse, and we will lose both time and men".^[1]

The Austrians, approaching the town, opened artillery fire and occupied the dominant heights on the north side; Bagration positioned himself on the west side and blocked the French possible escape routes. Bouzet would not have been able to defend a vast city with a small force, so he retreated to the citadel. Perhaps because the inhabitants were annoyed by French extortions and force, they opened the city gates to the Russo-Austrian coalition and rushed to chop down the arbres de la liberté^[fr]. Bouzet responded to an offer to surrender by firing shots. However, the French did not endure.^[2] Suvorov was right: after a harmless skirmish commandant, frightened by the active preparations for the assault, agreed to send him a firm offer of unconditional surrender; 46 cannons were taken; losses killed and wounded were not. The capture of Brescia provided the Allies with a good foundry, ensured communication with Tyrol, opened a better road for communication with the Mincio and further with the Adige, made a strong moral impression on the country (the anti-Republican party raised its head) and on the troops: "the army demanded to be led to new victories".^[1]^[2]

The Allied army would further clash with Schérer's army at Lecco.

Notes

^ Old Style: 10 Apr. 1799

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Orlov 1892, p. 69.
^ ^a ^b ^c Petrushevsky 1884, p. 47.

Sources

Petrushevsky, Alexander (1884). "Итальянская кампания: Адда; 1799" [Italian Campaign: Adda; 1799]. Генералиссимус князь Суворов [Generalissimo Prince Suvorov] (in Russian). Vol. 3 (1st ed.). St. Petersburg: Типография М. М. Стасюлевича. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
Orlov, Nikolay Aleksandrovich (1892). Разбор военных действий Суворова в Италии в 1799 году [Analysis of Suvorov's military actions in Italy in 1799] (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Типография Тренке и Фюсно. ISBN 9785998994289.