When Russian general Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1730-1800) wanted to march with his army from Piemont towards France, he received orders to advance over the Alps to Zurich. There he was to reinforce the Austro-Russian coalition troops. Four main axes were at his disposal: the shortest route led from Asti over the Great St. Bernard into the Lower Valais. Other options included the Gotthard, the Splügen Pass or the San Bernardino. The latter would have been the easiest and safest because joining forces with Hotze's Austrian bands would have become possible. Suvorov would have thus had the entire artillery at his disposal. However, he chose the Gotthard in order to take the most direct route through the interior of Switzerland and into the rear of the French troops under General Masséna. On 21 September 1799, Suvorov set out from Taverne with around 22,000 soldiers.

From 23 to 24 September, he tackled the Gotthard Pass. On the mule track through Airolo, Suvorov soon found himself in the Val Tremola and on the old pass road of the same name. Today's hiking trail, which follows in Suvorov's footsteps, passes under the new pass road after the barracks at Motto Bartola. Along the Foss River, it branches off into the Val Tremola. The valley is famous for its cobblestone-paved serpentine road, considered the longest road construction monument in Switzerland. On its most spectacular section, the road climbs 300 metres in altitude around 24 hairpin bends.

As early as 1799, the Tremola road was an important connection to the north. It was narrow but passable with a width of 10 to 12 feet. At that time, the Tremola was used by carriages and pack horses – including Suvorov's troops. Different accounts exist about the course of the battle in the area. Seemingly, the French, protected by boulders, were already resisting. But the Shveikovski regiment, fighting on the side of the Russians, climbed over rocks into the Val Sorescia and pushed the French back further into the Val Tremola. Here they again faced the frontal attack of the Russians, who are said to have lost 1,200 men. The battle broke out again at the top of the pass, also the destination of the first hiking stage. The French were surprised by the Russian Bagration and his men, who approached from Grasso di Mezzo via the Alpe di Sorescia, and forced back to Hospental.

*Background information and quotations stages 55.1-55.9: Alois Camenzind (1992), Maultiere machen Geschichte oder Suworows Krieg in den Schweizer Alpen im Jahre 1799, Luzern: Verlag Pro Libro Luzern GmbH