[1] After detecting that his Coalition foes were planning an offensive, French commander GD Pierre Jadart Dumerbion launched an operation in mid-September 1794 that took his opponents by surprise.

Using a plan prepared by General of Brigade (GB) Napoleon Bonaparte, the French defeated the Austrians under the Count of Wallis in the First Battle of Dego on 21 September.

As the French troops withdrew to a more defensible position, Bonaparte noted that the road running from the port of Savona to the interior was usable by artillery, a piece of information that would prove useful to him in the April 1796 Montenotte campaign.

The French army took up a defense line running from Ormea east to Colle San Bernardo and then to the Ligurian Sea at Vado.

[5] On 24–26 June 1795, the Coalition commander FZM Joseph Nikolaus De Vins attacked the French positions in the Battle of Monte Settepani.

On 9 July, the French army took up its new defense line from Borghetto Santo Spirito on the coast to Monte Galero, then west to Ormea.

Much of Kellermann's energy was expended trying to feed troops who were often on the brink of starvation because of the British Royal Navy blockade of the coast and the nearly bankrupt French government.

Near Monte Sambucco, the Sardinians gained a momentary success, but the French under Colonel Louis de Saint-Hilaire counterattacked in a fog and drove them off.

[13] Schérer wanted to execute Kellermann's plan to advance up the Tanaro valley, but frequent delays prevented it from being carried out.

Sérurier personally led his soldiers to attack Colle San Bernardo, but the French were repulsed after bitter fighting.

[14][note 2] At 4:00 am on 23 November, Massena's troops began their assault on the Allied field fortifications to the southeast of Colle San Bernardo.

In the melee, Joubert demanded that an enemy officer surrender, and when that man found that the Frenchman was a general, he immediately threw down his sword and asked for mercy.

During the fighting, Lieutenant Colonel Louis-Gabriel Suchet's battalion captured the imposing height of Monte Carmo di Loano.

[17] At dawn, accompanied by Schérer, Augereau attacked the Allied left wing at Loano, supported by the fire of French gunboats offshore.

[19] Augereau's division consisted of four brigades under GBs Pierre Banel, Jean-Baptiste Dominique Rusca, Claude-Victor Perrin, and Elzéar Auguste Cousin de Dommartin.

[20] The French surprised and captured two of the fortified mounds but were repulsed at the Greater Castellaro which was held by GM Mathias Rukavina von Boynograd and 1,200 Austrians.

[20] Augereau summoned Rukavina to surrender the Greater Castellaro, but the Austrian insisted on getting free passage to Wallis' position, which was refused.

[22] Massena left enough troops to hold Bardineto and headed for Monte Settepani and the Colle del Melogno with a small force, hoping to get there before Argenteau.

[23] Massena caught up with Cervoni's brigade at the Colle del Melogno at 11:00 pm, and at midnight he pressed on with 2,000 men to seize what the French called the San Pantaleone heights.

Wallis hoped to continue the battle the next day and sent a message to Argenteau to hold Monte Settepani and the Colle del Melogno, but the courier was captured by Pijon's troops.

With these soldiers, Massena harassed Wallis so that the Austrian commander sent away his artillery by what he assumed was a safe route via the Colle di San Giacomo.

The artillery convoy set out under the command of GM Philipp Pittoni von Dannenfeld and found itself blocked by Joubert's soldiers, who had marched through a hailstorm.

[29] The triumph was not followed-up because of Schérer's caution, a "poorly conducted" pursuit, over-stretched supply lines, and the non-arrival of promised reinforcements.

[18] Edward Cust asserted that the Austrian-Sardinian armies lost 80 guns and abandoned large supply depots at Finale, Vado, and Savona.

[33] The historian Phipps questioned why Schérer authorized Augereau to attack early in the morning, when the plan was for Massena to break through in the center and then strike the inland flank of the Allied left wing.

In the event, Augereau's early attack pushed back Wallis' left wing so that it was out of reach of any possible flanking move by Massena.