In the Battle of Ceva on 16 April 1796, troops of the First French Republic under Pierre Augereau fought against part of the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by General Giuseppe Felice, Count Vital. Augereau assaulted the strong defensive position without success. At the direction of the Sardinian army commander, Feldmarschal-Leutnant Michelangelo Colli, Vital withdrew on the 17th in order to avoid being trapped by a second French division. Campaign Operations The Montenotte Campaign began on 10 April when Feldzeugmeister Johann Beaulieu's Austrian army attacked the extreme right flank of General of Division (MG) Napoleon Bonaparte's army near Genoa. Bonaparte launched a successful counterattack on 12 April at the Battle of Montenotte. On 13 April, MG Augereau's reinforced division defeated part of Colli's Sardinian army at the Battle of Millesimo. In the Second Battle of Dego on 14 and 15 April, the Austrians were defeated again. While Beaulieu reorganized his badly shaken army at Acqui Terme to the northeast, Bonaparte prepared to increase the separation between the Piedmontese from their Austrian allies by driving Colli farther to the west. On 15 April, Colli assembled a force on high ground at Montezemolo in order to cover the fortress of Ceva. Meanwhile, MG Jean Sérurier's division advanced from Ormea north toward Ceva along the Tanaro River valley. Fearing he might be cut off from Ceva, the Piedmontese commander fell back to the fortress. Marching from the east, Augereau occupied Montezemolo early on 16 April, then his division moved north and west in an attempt to outflank Ceva. Forces See the Montenotte 1796 Campaign Order of Battle for a list of French, Austrian, and Sardinian units and organizations. Battle In 1796, the fortress loomed over the north side of Ceva. The Sardinians deployed atop a ridge that runs from the fortress north about seven kilometers to the hamlet of La Pedaggera, where the modern SP 661 and SP 32 intersect. Sardinian and Austrian engineers had fortified the ridge, which overlooks the Bovina stream, with a series of redoubts. General Brempt held the north end of the line with several Piedmontese battalions plus the Austrian Belgioso Infantry Regiment # 44. Vital defended the south end of the line with nine battalions, and General Count di Tornaforte commanded the three battalions in the fortress. Augereau's division formed several columns under General of Brigade (BG) Martial Beyrand and BG Barthélemy Joubert. Two French columns