Bonaparte Overruns Piedmont
WAR OF THE FIRST COALITION, PART I
Bonaparte's First Offensive, April 1796
With his commission order fresh from Paris, Bonaparte established his HQ at Nice and took command of a front-line force of 35,168 men of the Army of Italy, ordering them across the mountains and heading for a fight at Montenotte. After Beaulieu's 26,697 men of the Army of Italy escaped from harm's way and sprinted for Acqui, the Piedmontese Army became Bonaparte's next target.