Battle of Lodi
On 10 May 1796, the Austrian rearguard under General Sebottendorf held the stone bridge over the Adda River at Lodi with massed artillery, covering the main Austrian withdrawal. Napoleon brought up his own artillery and, after an exchange of fire, ordered a frontal assault across the bridge — a narrow crossing raked by grapeshot. The grenadiers hesitated; Napoleon led from the front, and the assault carried the bridge in a rush, though Austrian losses were modest since most of their army had already escaped. Lodi was strategically less decisive than it appeared — the main Austrian force withdrew intact — but psychologically transformative. Napoleon's soldiers celebrated by calling him 'le petit caporal,' and Napoleon himself would later say at Saint Helena that it was at Lodi that he first conceived of himself as a man of destiny. The battle opened the road to Milan, which fell three days later, and gave Napoleon's young reputation a mythic quality that preceded him across Europe.
- Year: 1796 CE
- Category: Military
