2-688-041 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Rampon's Soldiers Taking The Oath Never To Surrender', 1796, (1896). 'Rampon, with 1500 soldiers, was charged with the defense of a redoubt at Montenotte, which was attacked by an Austrian corps. He made his soldiers swear to perish rather than surrender, and repulsed three attacks of the Austrians, who were overwhelmed on the following day by superior forces'. French general Antoine-Guillaume Rampon (1759-1842) rallied his troops by making them swear to conquer or die during the Battle of Montenotte, 12 April 1796. The French won the battle, which was fought near the village of Cairo Montenotte in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, now in Liguria, Italy. Engraving after the aquarelle by F De Myrbach. From Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume I, by William Milligan Sloane. [The Century Co., New York, 1896]