Battle of Montebello | |||||||
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Part of Second Italian War of Independence | |||||||
Battle of Montebello | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France Sardinia | Austrian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Elie Frédéric Forey | 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 |
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.
Because of this battle, the Austrian commander-in-chief was obliged to keep troops to cover the southern part of the front.
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]
FML Graf Stadion, commander of V Corps
(9,950 infantry, 230 cavalry and 20 guns)
(6,700 infantry, 225 cavalry and 12 guns)
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]
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]
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