Eventually, at about 6 pm, the French prepared for an attack, with Marc Antoine de Beaumont's cavalry being sent to ford the river upstream, and a column consisting of the 2nd battalion of carabiniers (elite light infantry) being readied inside the walls of the town. The carabiniers then stormed out of the gates and onto the bridge. Grenadier memorist Vigo-Roussillon stated that the enemy artillery fired one salvo when the troops were part-way across, causing numerous casualties, at which point the column wavered and stopped, but a number of senior French officers rushed to the head of the column and led it forward again. These officers included André Masséna, Louis Berthier, Jean Lannes, Jean-Baptiste Cervoni, and Claude Dallemagne.
Some of the French climbed down the piles and waded through the water, firing as they went. The Austrian troops were already exhausted from hours of marching and fighting without food, probably demoralised by the French cannonade, and also seem to have been worried about being cut off by the French cavalry. Their morale collapsed as the carabiniers rushed towards them, and a hasty retreat ensued, the fugitives making the most of the gathering dark to make their escape towards Crema, though some brave units discouraged the French from pursuing too closely.
Austrian losses were 21 officers, 2,015 men, and 235 horses, killed, wounded and missing. In addition, 12 cannons, 2 howitzers and 30 ammunition wagons had been lost. French losses are not known with any precision, but are thought to have numbered about 500.
The Battle of Lodi was not a decisive engagement, since the Austrian army had successfully escaped. But it became a central element in the Napoleonic myth and, according to Napoleon himself, convinced him that he was superior to other generals, and that his destiny would lead him to achieve great things.
mediafire.com/download/598937bp815uzvg/Osprey - MAA 257 - Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy.pdf
