The affair was bloody.

Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteen thousand, he was only saved by a division sent to his support.

Ott is in full retreat.

The Austrian line is broken.' "'When did the fight take place ?' asked Carnot.
"'On the 8th,' replied Lucien.
"'And this is the 13th,' said the sagacious minister.

'Well, if that is so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment we are speaking.'" (In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.) "'Four days of fatal uncertainty!' said Lucien.
"'Fatal ?' said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly and interrogatively.
"'Four days,' echoed Fouche.
"An eye-witness told me," said de Marsay, continuing the narrative in his own person, "that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothing of this momentous news until after the six personages returned to the salon.