The battle of Arcola (15-17 November 1796) was the decisive battle during Napoleon's defeat of the third Austrian attempt to raise the siege of Mantua, and saw Napoleon extricate himself from a very dangerous position. By November 1796 Napoleon's field army was only 28,000 strong. Thousands of soldiers were ill, and reinforcements were scarce. Two previous Austrian attempts to raise the siege had failed, but a new army of 28,000-30,000 men under the command of General Alvinczy was taking shape around Friuli, and 20,000 men were still present in the Tirol.
The Austrian campaign began at the start of November. While General Davidovich advanced down the Adige valley, Alvinczy pushed the French away from the Brenta valley, past Vicenza and into Verona. Napoleon attempted a frontal attack on the Austrians on 12 November (battle of Caldiero), where he suffered a rare defeat. Only the slowness of Davidovich's advance down the Adige saved the French from a total disaster, but by 13 November Napoleon was in real danger, caught between two larger Austrian armies.
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