Napoleon Wins Marengo

June 14, 1800

Crossing the Alps with cannon dragged over snowfields, Bonaparte surprised the Austrians in the Piedmont and nearly lost - until Desaix rode up at dusk and died turning the rout into triumph. Marengo confirmed Napoleon's power at home and his grip on northern Italy. David's painting of Napoleon on a rearing horse at the pass has become one of the most iconic images in Western art.