Battle of Montebello (1859)

Battle of Montebello
	Part of Second Italian War of Independence
	; Battle of Montebello
Date	20 May 1859
Location	Montebello, present-day Italy
Result	Franco-Sardinian victory
Belligerents
France; Sardinia	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Elie Frédéric Forey	Philipp von Stadion und Thannhausen
Strength
6,600 infantry	18,708 infantry; 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

Places of the 1859 Austro-Sardinian War.

The Battle of Montebello was fought on 20 May 1859 at Montebello (in what is now Lombardy, northern Italy). It was a minor engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence, fought between Piedmontese cavalry and French infantry against Austrian troops. Because of this battle, the Austrian commander-in-chief was obliged to keep some troops to cover the southern part of the front.

Prelude

Feldzeugmeister Ferenc Gyulay, commanding the Austrian 2nd Army, deployed 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. Gyulai assumed they were pressuring his flanks in a manoeuvre sur la derriére.^[3]

Battle

General 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

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, Gyulai deployed his corps further south.^[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)

Footnotes

^ Brooks 2009, p. 29.
^ Brooks 2009, p. 26.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.

[FOOTNOTEBrooks200929-1] Brooks 2009, p. 29.

[FOOTNOTEBrooks200926-2] Brooks 2009, p. 26.

[FS-3] Schneid, Frederick (2012). The Second War of Italian Unification 1859-61. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 34–41. ISBN 9781849087872.

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