 He rapidly rose through the ranks of the military, seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution and becoming a general at age 24.The French Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed the 13 Vendémiaire revolt against the government by royalist insurgents.At age 26, he began his first military campaign against the Austrians and the Italian monarchs aligned with the Habsburgs—winning virtually every battle, conquering the Italian Peninsula in a year while establishing "sister republics" with local support, and becoming a war hero in France.