left flank was unsuitable for mounted action, he determined to move against it. He appointed Seras to command both his own and Severoli's divisions in the attack. Eugène ordered Barbou's division to cooperate in the assault while Grenier pushed forward near Fontanafredda. Broussier held the left flank with Sahuc's troopers between him and Grenier. A four-battalion task force watched for an envelopment on the far left flank. Covered by an artillery barrage, Seras moved out at 9:00 am with his two divisions. They quickly seized Palse and began assaulting Porcia. Frimont unleashed the Ott Hussars, forcing Seras to pause in his advance. 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. Seeing his attack having trouble overcoming the Austrian left flank, Eugène ordered Grenier to leave Fontanafredda and throw his division into the battle on the right flank. Sahuc and Broussier shifted to the right to fill the gap in the Franco-Italian center. 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. Grenier rapidly disengaged most of his troops and sent them back to defend Fontanafredda, while Broussier counterattacked near Vignovo. In the center, there was bitter fighting near Ronche as the French repelled one attack only to have the Austrian mount a second one. Eugène refused to commit Sahuc's cavalry in the face of the Austrian superiority in cavalry. During this crisis, Seras lost Porcia to an Austrian attack. Seeing that his main attack failed, Eugène ordered a withdrawal at 5:00 pm. On the right flank, Severoli and Barbou's troops covered the withdrawal. Historian Frederick C. Schneid believed that a mass cavalry attack "could have smashed" Grenier and Broussier, but Ignaz Gyulai kept Wolfskeel's cavalry behind his infantry. Instead, Sahuc's threatened attack pinned the IX Armeekorps long enough for Broussier and Grenier to get away. The two divisions retreated in square, each division lending support to the other. They finally reached the Livenza after numerous clashes