Battle of Solferino
Battle of Solferino | |||||||
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Part of the Second Italian War of Independence | |||||||
The Battle of Solferino, by Adolphe Yvon | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France Sardinia | Austria | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Victor Emmanuel II |
Franz Joseph I | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
82,935 infantry 9,162 cavalry 240 guns 37,174 infantry 1,562 cavalry 80 guns Total: 130,833[1] 320 guns |
119,783 infantry 9,490 cavalry 429 guns Total: 129,273 429 guns[1][2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
France: 3,887 killed Including 117 officers 8,530 wounded 1,518 missing[3] Sardinia: 691 killed Including 49 officers 3,572 wounded 1,258 missing[3] Total: c.28,000 |
7,679 killed Including 216 officers 17,567 wounded 9,290 missing Total: c.40,000[3] |
The Battle of Solferino (referred to in Italy as the Battle of Solferino and San Martino) on 24 June 1859 resulted in the victory of the allied
The battle led the Swiss
Background
On 22 June, the French (96,000 men) and Piedmontese (37,000 men) allied army advanced from the
Battle
The Battle of Solferino was a decisive engagement in the
The confrontation was between the Austrians, on one side, and the French and Piedmontese forces, who opposed their advance. In the morning of 23 June, after the arrival of emperor Franz Joseph, the Austrian army changed direction to counterattack along the river
Opposing forces
The Austrian forces were personally led by Emperor Franz Joseph, consisting of the 1st Army, containing four corps (II, III, IX and XI) under Franz von Wimpffen, and the 2nd Army, containing four corps (I, V, VII and VIII) under Franz von Schlick.[5]
The French army at Solferino, personally led by Napoleon III, was divided in four Corps plus the Imperial Guard. Many of its men and generals were veterans of the French conquest of Algeria and the Crimean War, but its commander-in-chief had very limited military experience of note. The Sardinian army had four divisions on the field.
Although all three combatants were commanded by their monarchs, each was seconded by professional soldiers. Marshal Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant served as Chief of Staff to Napoleon III, while Victor Emmanuel was accompanied by his Minister of War, Lieutenant General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora. The Austrian high command was hindered by the rivalry between the Chief of Staff, Heinrich von Heß, and the Emperor's Adjutant General Karl Ludwig von Grünne.
Battle commences
According to the allied battle plan formulated on 24 June, the Franco-Sardinian army moved east to deploy along the right river banks of the
Battle of Campo di Medole
The battle started at Medole around 4 am. Marching towards Guidizzolo, the 4th Corps encountered an Austrian infantry regiment of the Austrian 1st Army. General Niel immediately decided to engage the enemy and deployed his forces east of Medole. This move prevented the three corps (III, IX and XI) of the Austrian 1st Army from aiding their comrades of the 2nd Army near Solferino, where the main French attacks took place.
The French forces were numerically inferior to the Austrians'. The 4th Corps contained three infantry divisions under de Luzy, Vinoy and Failly and a cavalry brigade. Niel, holding a thin line of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in length, was able to stop the Austrian assaults on his position by ably warding off attacks and counterattacking at opportune moments.
According to Schneid, "By early afternoon, the Austrian attack had failed and Niel pushed beyond Robecco and Casa Nova halfway to Guidizzolo. At 3 PM General Renault's division of CanCanrobert's III Corps arrived at Robecco. Niel, now reinforced, launched a coordinated attack on Guidizzolo." However, the arrival of the Austrian III and XI Korps stopped the French assault, and after two hours, Niel withdrew.[5]
Battle of Solferino
Around 4:30 am the advance guard of the 1st Corps (three infantry divisions under
Around 5 am 2nd Corps under Mac-Mahon (two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade under La Motterouge, Decaen and Gaudin) encountered Hungarian units posted near Ca’Morino (Medole). The Austrian forces were three corps strong (I, V and VII) and positioned on the towns of Solferino, Cavriana and Volta Mantovana. The Austrians were able to hold these positions all day against repeated French attacks.
According to Schneid, "Stadion received reinforcements from Clam Gallas' I Korps but Napoleon III fed the Imperial Guard divisions into the combat and by 2 PM the cemetery and town were surrounded.[5]
Near 3 pm the French reserves, formed by Canrobert's 3rd Corps and the Imperial Guard under Regnaud, attacked Cavriana, which was defended by the Austrian I Corps under Clam-Gallas, finally occupying it at 6 pm and thereby breaking through the Austrian center. This breakthrough forced a general retreat of both Austrian armies.
Battle of San Martino
On the northern side of the battlefield the Sardinians, four divisions strong, encountered the Austrians around 7 am. A long battle erupted over control of Pozzolengo, San Martino and Madonna della Scoperta. The Austrian VIII Corps under Benedek had 39,000 men and 80 guns and was repeatedly attacked by a Sardinian force of 22,000 men with 48 guns.[6] The Austrians were able to ward off three Sardinian attacks, inflicting heavy losses upon the attackers; at the end of the day Benedek was ordered to retreat with the rest of the Austrian army, but ignored the order and kept resisting. At 20:00 a fourth Sardinian assault finally captured the contested hills, and Benedek withdrew.[7] The main Sardinian contribution in the overall battle consisted in keeping Benedek's corps deeply engaged throughout the day and preventing the sending of two brigades as reinforcement to the force attacked by the French in Solferino.[8]
Results
The battle was a particularly gruelling one, lasting over nine hours and resulting in over 2,386 Austrian troops killed with 10,807 wounded and 8,638 missing or captured. The Allied armies also suffered a total of 2,492 killed, 12,512 wounded and 2,922 captured or missing. Reports of wounded and dying soldiers being shot or bayonetted on both sides added to the horror. In the end, the Austrian forces were forced to yield their positions, and the Allied French-Piedmontese armies won a tactical, but costly, victory. The Austrians retreated to the four fortresses of the Quadrilateral, and the campaign essentially ended.
Aftermath
Napoleon III was moved by the losses, as he had argued back in 1852 "the French Empire is peace", and for reasons including the Prussian threat and domestic protests by the Roman Catholics, he decided to put an end to the war with the
This battle would have a long-term effect on the future conduct of military actions.
In 2019, an important memorial event took place on the former battlefield in the presence of Karl von Habsburg, the head of the House of Habsburg, representatives of the Order of St. George and the presidents of the Society of Solferino and San Martino to emphasize the peace of the nations. Wreaths were laid in the cemeteries and the museum was honored. During the event, the battle was re-enacted by hundreds of volunteers.[14][15]
The battlefield today
The area contains a number of memorials to the events surrounding the battles.
There is a circular tower, Tower of San Martino della Battaglia, dominating the area, a memorial to Victor Emmanuel II. It is 70 m high and was built in 1893. In the town there is a museum, with uniforms and weapons of the time, and an ossuary chapel.
At Solferino there is also a museum, displaying arms and mementos of the time, and an ossuary, containing the bones of thousands of victims.
Nearby Castiglione delle Stiviere, where many of the wounded were taken after the battle, is the site of the museum of the International Red Cross, focusing on the events that led to the formation of that organization.
References in popular culture
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "The Forced Recruit at Solferino" commemorates this battle (Last Poems 1862). Joseph Roth's 1932 novel Radetzky March opens at the Battle of Solferino. There, the father of the novel's Trotta dynasty is immortalized as the Hero of Solferino.[16][17]
The Battle of Solferino was depicted also in a 2006 television drama
Footnotes
- ^ a b Brooks 2009, p. 61.
- ^ Fink, Humbert (1994). Auf den Spuren des Doppeladlers. Berlin.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c Osterreichischen Militarischen Zeitschrift: Der Feldzug des Kaisers Napoleon 3. in Italien im Jahre 1859 (1865) (German translation of Campagne de l'Empereur Napoleon III en Italie.)
- ^ Evans, Richard J., The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914, Penguin: London, 2017, p. 242.
- ^ ISBN 9781849087872.
- ^ Vittorio Giglio, Il Risorgimento nelle sue fasi di guerra, Vol. I, Milano, Vallardi, 1948, pp. 320
- ^ Piero Pieri, Storia militare del Risorgimento; guerre e insurrezioni, Turin, Einaudi, 1962, p. 618
- ^ Piero Pieri, Storia militare del Risorgimento; guerre e insurrezioni, Turin, Einaudi, 1962, p. 617.
- ISBN 9781317872061.
- ^ Napoléon III, Pierre Milza, Perrin edition, 2004 Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 9780226680248. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "World Red Cross Red Crescent Day 2009". Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Il Capo della Casa d’Austria a Solferino e San Martino per ricordare i caduti nel 160° della battaglia" In: Gardanotizi, 20.6.2019.
- ^ Guerra e pace sotto la torre di San Martino
- ISBN 9788875062200.
- ISBN 9788875062231.
References
- Brooks, R. (2009). Solferino 1859: The Battle for Italy's freedom. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-385-8.
- Campagne de l'empereur Napoléon III en Italie, 1859, rédigée au dépot de la guerre, d'après les documents officiels (1865)
- Der Feldzug des Kaisers Napoleon 3. in Italien im Jahre 1859 (1865).
External links
- The French Army 1600–1900
- The Battle of Solferino
- (in Russian) Mikhail Dragomirov. (1861) Battle of Solferino. (With two plans) (Сольферинская битва. (с двумя планами)) at Runivers.ru in DjVuformat