№ 339/окр. Series "History of the Armed Forces of Russia". Italian and Swiss campaigns commander Alexander Suvorov

Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1730—1800) is a Russian military leader and the founder of the Russian military theory, duke, prince, and Generalissimo, and field marshal. He had not lost a single battle throughout his military service and multiple times defeated outnumbered enemies.

In 1796, North Italy was occupied by the French army under leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. The anti-French block included Great Britain, Austria, the Kingdom of Naples, the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Suvorov was appointed the commander of the Russian and Austrian armies.

Suvorov’s Italian campaign (March 25 (April 5 ) - August 31 (September 11) 1799) - Suvorov led the Russian and Austrian armies to fight against the French army in North Italy. The Russian army marched across large distances to take over Milan in late April and Turin on May 26. Suvorov thwarted the attempt to tie-in by the French armies led by Moreau and MacDonald in a three-day battle at Trebbia in June 1799 where he defeated MacDonald’s army. Moreau’s army had to retreat and was defeated at Novi in August.

Suvorov’s Swiss campaign (September 10 (21) - September 27 (October 8), 1799) was the march of the Russian and Austrian armies from North Italy to Switzerland to attack France. Suvorov decided to deliver a strike through St. Gotthard Pass but the footpath across the Pass was unavailable for passing by an army of 20 thousand soldiers. The Russian army performed a feat by crossing the Devil’s Bridge across St. Gotthard Pass.

The original stamp features Russian soldiers of different epochs in a fragment from Popov’s picture Suvorov’s Army Marches Across Alps (1904).