main force was far away, and there was no hope of entrapping anything more than the rear of his army.  Moreover, if this were the object, why was not the flank move of the French cavalry above Lodi pushed home earlier in the fight?  This, if supported by infantry, could have outflanked the enemy while the perilous rush was made against the bridge; and such a turning movement would probably have enveloped the Austrian force while it was being shattered in front.  That is the view in which the strategist, Clausewitz, regards this encounter.  Far different was the impression which it created among the soldiers and Frenchmen at large.  They valued a commander more for bravery of the bull-dog type than for any powers of reasoning and subtle combination.  These, it is true, Bonaparte had already shown.  He now enchanted the soldiery by dealing a straight sharp blow.  It had a magical effect on their minds.  On the evening of that day the French soldiers, with antique republican camaraderie, saluted their commander as le petit caporal for his personal bravery in the fray, and this endearing phrase helped to immortalize the affair of the bridge of Lodi.[47] It shot a thrill of exultation through France.  With pardonable exaggeration, men told how he charged at the head of the column, and, with Lannes, was the first to reach the opposite side; and later generations have figured him charging before his tall grenadiers—­a feat that was actually performed by Lannes, Berthier, Massena, Cervoni, and Dallemagne.  It was all one.  Bonaparte alone was the hero of the day.  He reigned supreme in the hearts of the soldiers, and he saw the importance of this conquest.  At St. Helena he confessed to Montholon that it was the victory of Lodi which fanned his ambition into a steady flame.

A desire of stimulating popular enthusiasm throughout Italy impelled the young victor to turn away from his real objective, the fortress of Mantua, to the political capital of Lombardy.  The people of Milan hailed their French liberators with enthusiasm:  they rained flowers on the bronzed soldiers of liberty, and pointed to their tattered uniforms and worn-out shoes as proofs of their triumphant energy:  above all, they gazed with admiration, not unmixed with awe, at the thin pale features of the young commander, whose plain attire bespoke a Spartan activity, whose ardent gaze and decisive gestures proclaimed a born leader of men.  Forthwith he arranged for the investment of the citadel where eighteen hundred Austrians held out:  he then received the chief men of the city with easy Italian grace; and in the evening he gave a sumptuous ball, at which all the dignity, wealth, and beauty of the old Lombard capital shone resplendent.  For a brief space all went well between the Lombards and their liberators.  He received with flattering distinction the chief artists and men of letters, and also sought to quicken the activity of the University of Pavia.  Political clubs and newspapers multiplied throughout Lombardy; and actors, authors, and editors joined in a paean of courtly or fawning praise, to the new Scipio, Caesar, Hannibal, and Jupiter.