Battle of Montebello (1859)

For other battles with similar names, see Battle of Montebello (disambiguation).

The Battle of Montebello was fought on 20 May 1859 at Montebello (in what is now Lombardy, northern Italy). It was the first major engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence, fought between Austrian troops commanded by Field Marshal Karl von Urban against Piedmontese cavalry and French infantry headed by General Elie Foray.

Battle of Montebello
Part of Second Italian War of Independence
Battle of Montebello
Date 20 May 1859 Location Montebello, present-day Italy Result Franco-Italian victory
Belligerents
France Sardinia	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Elie Frédéric Forey	Karl von Urban Philipp von Stadion und Thannhausen
Strength
6,600 infantry[1]	18,708 infantry[2] 600 cavalry 12 guns 4 rocket launchers
Casualties and losses
France: 81 killed 492 wounded 69 missing Kingdom of Sardinia: 52 killed, wounded or prisoners Total: 694	331 killed 785 wounded 307 missing Total: 1,423

Because of this battle, the Austrian commander-in-chief was obliged to keep troops to cover the southern part of the front.

Prelude to Battle

Feldzeugmeister Ferenc Gyulay, commanding the Austrian 2nd Army, deployed the VII Korps along the Sesia, the II and III Korps at Mortara, VIII Korps at Pavia, and V Korps between Pavia and Mortara.

Gyulay anticipated a Franco-Piedmontese offensive consisting of a flanking maneuver south of the Po. Marshal Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers' I Corps advanced from Voghera, while Garibaldi advanced from the north. Gyulay assumed they were pressuring his flanks in a manoeuvre sur la derriére.^[3]

Austrian order of battle

FML Graf Stadion, commander of V Corps

• 2 squadrons of 12th regiment Haller Hussars
• Paumgarten division
  • Gaal brigade
    • 1/1st Liccaner Grenze
    • Regiment 3 Erzherzog Karl, 4 battalions
  • Prince Alexander von Hessen brigade
    • 4/Kaiser Jager Regt
    • Regiment 31 Culoz, 4 battalions
  • Bils Bde
    • 2/3rd Oguliner Grenze
    • Regiment 47 Kinsky, 3 battalions
  • 20 guns
  • elements Boer brigade (attached)
    • Regiment 49, 2nd battalion
    • Regiment 61, 1 battalion

(9,950 infantry, 230 cavalry and 20 guns)

• Urban independent division (attached)
• 2 squadrons of 12th regiment Haller Hussars
  • Schaffgottsche brigade
    • 3rd Jager Btn
    • Regiment 39 Don Miguel, 1 battalion
    • Grenadier Btn of Regiment 59 Raineri
    • Sluiner Grenz, 2 companies
  • Braum brigade
    • Regiment 40 Rossbach, 3 battalions
  • 12 guns
  • 4 rocket launchers

(6,700 infantry, 225 cavalry and 12 guns)

Battle

Field Marshal-Lieutenant Karl von Urban's IX Korps and Stadion's V Korps moved to stop the French offensive. On 20 May, in the first battle of the war, Forey's division, accompanied by three Piedmontese cavalry regiments commanded by General de Sonnaz, engaged the IX Korps at Montebello. After three hours, failing to stop Forey, Urban withdrew.^[3]

Aftermath

Places of the 1859 Austro-Sardinian War.

On 21 May, Napoleon III received a telegraph stating, "The Austrians have attacked, on the 20th, with approximately 15,000 men the advanced posts of Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers. They have been repulsed by Division Forey, which conducted itself admirably and liberated the village of Montbello, already famous..." Disconcerted, Gyulay deployed his corps further south.^[3]

Footnotes

1. Brooks 2009, p. 29.
2. Brooks 2009, p. 26.
3. Schneid, Frederick (2012). The Second War of Italian Unification 1859-61. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 34–41. ISBN 9781849087872.

References

• Brooks, R. (2009). Solferino 1859: The Battle for Italy's freedom. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-385-8.