RivoliJanuary 14, 1797

After marked success on the Rhine front, Austria decided to make one final attempt to relieve Feldmarshall Wurmser's army caught up in the Italian fortress of Mantua. Feldmarshall Alvintzi divided his now reinforced Army of Italy into three columns for the march over the Alps. Accompanying the main column of 28,000 men, Alvintzi ran into General Joubert's French Division defending the heights around the Italian town of Rivoli.