text:  In the autumn of 1799 the Austrians had driven the French out of Lombardy and Piedmont; their last victory of Fossano or Genola had won the fortress of Coni or Cunco close under the Alps and at the very extremity of the plain of the Po; the French clung to Italy only by their hold of the Riviera of Genoa--the narrow strip of coast between the Apennines and the sea which extends from the frontiers of France almost to the mouth of the Arno