Undeterred by this setback and believing he enjoyed a numerical superiority over his opponents, Eugène attacked the Austrians east of Sacile the following day.

Though the two sides were equal in numbers of foot soldiers, the Austrians possessed a two-to-one advantage in cavalry, and this turned out to be a key factor in their victory.

By the end of April, news of French victories in the Danube valley caused John to fall back to the east, with Eugène in pursuit.

[3] Regarded as "incompetent" by historian David G. Chandler,[4] Archduke John had seen his first army utterly smashed by French General of Division Jean Moreau at the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800.

In Moreau's subsequent pursuit, John's army became so demoralized that it was scarcely able to defend itself and suffered huge losses in prisoners and weapons.

Unfortunately for Austria, Napoleon's crushing victory at the Battle of Austerlitz ended the war before Charles and John could intervene in the Danube valley.

General-major Andreas Stoichevich with 10,000 troops faced General of Division Auguste Marmont's XI Corps in Dalmatia, a French possession since 1806.

Desiring to aid the rebellion, Charles ordered John to send Chasteler and 10,000 Austrian troops to help the Tyrolese.

[10] Aware that Austria probably intended to make war, Napoleon reinforced the Army of Italy under Eugène de Beauharnais, building the French component up to a strength of six infantry and three cavalry divisions.

After unusually rapid marching for an Austrian army, Albert Gyulay's column captured Udine on 12 April, with Ignaz Gyulai's forces not far behind.

Planning on concentrating his army behind the Tagliamento river, Eugène directed Seras and Broussier to slow down the Austrians.

Even so, Eugène believed his army was strong enough to beat the archduke in battle, so he ordered his divisions to assemble at Sacile on the Livenza River.

At this time, the Italian Guard, Durutte's infantry, and General of Division Emmanuel Grouchy's dragoons were still assembling on the Adige.

Because of this, Eugène army fought the coming battle as a collection of divisions, which had a detrimental effect on command control.

Meanwhile, John used small forces to mask the fortresses of Osoppo on the upper Tagliamento and Palmanova south of Udine.

Meanwhile, General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc's rear guard consisting of light cavalry and the 35th Line Infantry Regiment deployed 12 km to the east of Sacile near Pordenone.

Sahuc's patrols brought word that Archduke John's troops were across the Tagliamento,[19] but because Seras and Broussier had not kept a close watch on the advancing Austrians during their withdrawal, Eugène was unsure of his enemy's strength.

General-major Joseph von Wetzel's Grenz brigade attacked across the Noncello (Foncello) stream on the east side of the town, attracting the attention of the defending infantry.

In addition to the three battalions of the 35th Line, the 6th Hussar and the 6th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments were engaged on the French side.

[23] Aware of the French buildup at Tamai to the southeast of his positions, Archduke John posted Albert Gyulai's VIII Armeekorps and Frimont's Advance Guard to defend Pordenone and Porcia.

[21] While his left flank held off the expected Franco-Italian attacks on Porcia, John planned to send Ignaz Gyulai first to Roveredo in Piano then southwest in a lunge at Fontanafredda and Ranzano.

This bought time for John to send VIII Armeekorps in a counterattack against the Franco-Italians in which Severoli was wounded and his division nearly broken.

At this moment, Barbou joined the battle and his division first checked the Austrians, then drove Frimont's troops out of Porcia.

[24] Meanwhile, Ignaz Gyulai began his maneuver, leaving General-major Johann Kleinmayer's grenadier reserve to help defend the left flank.

Reaching Roveredo around noon, he veered to the southwest, launching three infantry brigades at Eugène's thinned-out center about 1:30 pm.

With General-major Anton Gajoli's brigade holding Grenier's division near Ronche, the IX Armeekorps threatened to overwhelm Broussier.

[28] On the evening of the battle, Lamarque and Pully reached Conegliano after being delayed by wet weather and bad roads.

The Franco-Italian army held the line of the Piave for four days, but fell back toward the Brenta River on 21 April.

When the Army of Inner Austria arrived near Verona on 28 April, it found Eugène in a strong defensive position behind the Adige.

[2] Napoleon was enraged at his stepson's fumbling and he proposed to replace him with Marshal Joachim Murat who was King of Naples at the time.