Napoleon Bonaparte was, seemingly arbitrarily, chosen by the Directory for the position of general of the French Army of Italy. This proved to be a good decision by the Directory, but they had no way of knowing that Napoleon would perform so well. There were generals in Italy with a bigger and better resume than Napoleon at the time, namely Masséna and Augereau. What factors caused the Directory to appoint Napoleon to command the campaign in Italy, rather than someone with a better claim to command? Expanding the question, if the Directory was so confident in Napoleon, why didn't they assign him to one of the two armies along the Rhine?