Bonaparte's Over Confidence

Napoleon believed he had good intelligence indicating the austrians would take the latter course of action. He interviewed locals who informed him von melas was preparing a retreat. Bonaparte should have worked harder to double check his intelligence because his scouts were mistaken or those italian peasants had misled him. In fact, von melas had no intention of retreating, nor would he stand and fight at genoa. The austrians were concentrating much further north, looking for an opportunity to attack the french. Von melos wrote to vienna qote, i do not intend to reduce my forces by isolated actions, but to attack the enemy with a concentrated force.