The Battle of Campo Tenese (9 March 1806) saw two divisions of the Imperial French Army of Naples led by Jean Reynier attack the left wing of the Royal Neapolitan Army under Roger de Damas. Though the defenders were protected by field fortifications, a French frontal attack combined with a turning movement rapidly overran the position and routed the Neapolitans with heavy losses. The action occurred at Campotenese, a little mountain village in the municipality of Morano Calabro in the north of Calabria. The battle was fought during the War of the Third Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
Following the decision by King Ferdinand IV of Naples to ally himself with the Austrian Empire, Russian Empire, and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Napoleon's decisive victory over the Allies at the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon declared Bourbon rule of southern Italy at an end. In the second week of February 1806 the Imperial French armies poured across the border in the Invasion of Naples. The Neapolitan army, split into two wings, retreated before the superior forces of their opponents. At Campo Tenese, Damas attempted to make a stand with the left wing in order to give the right wing time to join him.
After the defeat, the Neapolitan army disintegrated away from desertion, and only a few thousand soldiers outlasted to be evacuated to Sicily by the British Royal Navy. However, the conflict was far from over. The siege of Gaeta, the British victory at Maida, and a bitter insurrection in Calabria proved to be obstacles to the French victory.
Background
In early 1806, French Emperor Napoleon prepared to defend his possessions in Italy against the Austrian Empire. To this end, he deployed 68,000 troops under Marshal André Masséna in the north, 18,000 soldiers led by General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr in central Italy, and 8,000 men from the satellite Kingdom of Italy. For its part, the Austrian army in Italy under Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen numbered 90,000 men. King Ferdinand's Neapolitan army added only 22,000 soldiers. Afraid that Saint-Cyr's corps might overrun his lands, the king concluded a treaty with Napoleon to remain neutral during the War of the Third Coalition.
As soon as Saint-Cyr's army marched north, Ferdinand and Queen Maria Carolina violated the agreement and invited the British and Russians to land expeditionary forces in their kingdom. Napoleon had been double-crossed. Lieutenant General James Henry Craig's 6,000 British and General Maurice Lacy of Grodno's 7,350 Russians landed at Naples on 20 November 1805. However, Napoleon's firm victory at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 resulted in the demise of the Third Coalition. As a result, both expeditionary forces were ordered by their governments to withdraw and they were gone by mid-January. This left Ferdinand alone to face the fury of Napoleon, who had determined to conquer the Kingdom of Naples and hand the crown to his brother Joseph Bonaparte.
Saint-Cyr's corps was renamed the Army of Naples in January 1806 and placed under the command of Masséna, though Joseph was the nominal leader. Annoyed at being demoted, Saint-Cyr clashed with Masséna and was recalled early in the campaign. The army was divided into three wings. General of Division Jean Reynier commanded 7,500 soldiers of the right wing assembled at Rome. Masséna led the 17,500 troops of the center, also concentrated at Rome. The 5,000 men of the left wing under General of Division Giuseppe Lechi massed at Ancona on the Adriatic Sea. General of Division Guillaume Philibert Duhesme was marching from Austria with an additional 7,500-man division and 3,500 more troops from northern Italy were destined for the campaign. In total, Masséna's army numbered more than 41,000 men. While the Imperial French army's combat effectiveness was high, it suffered from maladministration. Its troops were poorly paid, clothed, and fed, leading the soldiers to rob the local people as a matter of course. This habit would have evil consequences.