Staggered by this terrific blow, Melas and his staff were ready to
accept any terms that were not deeply humiliating; and Bonaparte on
his side was not loth to end the campaign in a blaze of glory. He
consented that the Imperial troops should retire to the east of the
Mincio, except at Peschiera and Mantua, which they were still to
occupy. These terms have been variously criticised: Melas has been
blamed for cowardice in surrendering the many strongholds, including
Genoa, which his men firmly held. Yet it must be remembered that he
now had at Alessandria less than 20,000 effectives, and that 30,000
Austrians in isolated bodies were practically at the mercy of the
French between Savona and Brescia. One and all they could now retire
to the Mincio and there resume the defence of the Imperial
territories. The political designs of the Court of Vienna on Piedmont
were of course shattered; but it now recovered the army which it had
heedlessly sacrificed to territorial greed. Bonaparte has also been
blamed for the lenience of his terms. Severer conditions could
doubtless have been extorted; but he now merged the soldier in the
statesman. He desired peace for the sake of France and for his own
sake. After this brilliant stroke peace would be doubly grateful to a
people that longed for glory but also yearned to heal the wounds of
eight years' warfare. His own position as First Consul was as yet
ill-established; and he desired to be back at Paris so as to curb the
restive Tribunate, overawe Jacobins and royalists, and rebuild the
institutions of France.

Impelled by these motives, he penned to the Emperor Francis an
eloquent appeal for peace, renewing his offer of treating with Austria
on the basis of the treaty of Campo Formio.[146] But Austria was not
as yet so far humbled as to accept such terms; and it needed the
master-stroke of Moreau at the great battle of Hohenlinden (December