Battle of Custozza (1866)
Coordinates: 45 ° 22 ′ 44 ″ N , 10 ° 47 ′ 45 ″ E
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Final attack by the Austrians on Custozza
| date | June 24, 1866 |
|---|---|
| place | near Custozza , near Verona , Italy |
| output | Victory of the Austrians |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 84,000 soldiers | 74,000 soldiers |
| losses | |
|
8,147 dead, wounded and prisoners |
4,650 dead, wounded and prisoners |
During the Third Italian War of Independence , on June 24, 1866, there was the second battle near Custozza between Italy and the Austrian Empire . Italy's army lost this battle, but thanks to a secret agreement with Prussia, after Austria's defeat in the German war, it was still able to incorporate the coveted province of Veneto into its territory.
To the prehistory
The Kingdom of Italy , reunified in 1861, had won Lombardy after the Battle of Solferino and the Armistice of Villafranca in 1859 , and it also wanted to annex the Veneto and Trentino that remained with Austria . The Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck tried to force Austria out of the German Confederation. He was able to win Italy , which was on friendly terms with the French Empire , for his plans. An offer by Austria to voluntarily cede Veneto, submitted under pressure from France, came too late: on April 8, 1866, Bismarck and the Italian General Govone had already concluded a secret attack alliance against Austria, limited to three months . Italy mobilized and declared war on Austria on June 20, 1866.
The march
The base of operations of the Austrian Southern Army was the extremely strong fortress quadrangle Peschiera - Verona - Legnago - Mantua , under whose protection the advance of the far superior enemy was expected. The only hope for the Austrian Commander-in-Chief Archduke Albrecht of Austria-Teschen lay in the separation of the enemy forces. The plan of the imperial chief of staff Franz von John provided for the exploitation of the enemy's Mincio crossing , which was carried out on June 23 at three points over a width of 50 kilometers, to attack the mass of troops that had been divided up by his reinforced right wing, and thereby also to stop the enemy advance on Verona. The Austrian front was directed to the south - that is, against the right flank of the Italians sighted on the approach, who advanced on Villafranca with the right wing without any precautionary measures.
At Custozza on June 24th, 1866, the two armies met suddenly. The left wing of the Austrians , which stood about three kilometers west of Verona, formed the IX. Corps, and this was followed by the Austrian cavalry reserve (General Ludwig Freiherr von Pulz ). The IX. Corps (FML Ernst von Hartung ) was to hold on to Sommacampagna , on whose possession the feasibility of its own attack depended. The VII. Corps (FML Maroicic) was to take up position with 25,000 men behind the center initially as an army reserve at Sona and Casazze and later intervene at Custozza. The northern right wing formed the V Corps (Rodich), the fortress Peschiera on Lake Garda covered the deployment of General Friedrich Rupprecht's reserve division .
Early on June 24th, the Italian Mincio transition was over, the right wing - with the 3rd Corps standing between Villafranca and Sommacampagna, the left wing - the 1st Corps advanced on the heights from Sommacampagna to San Giustina and threatened Verona. The head of the northward advancing Italian columns formed the 1st Corps (General Giovanni Durando ) with the divisions of Generals Sirtori (5th), Cerale (1st) Pianell (2nd) and Brignone (3rd). This association marched between Monzambano and Custozza as the left wing, while the Pianell division on the western bank of the Mincio secured against attacks from Peschiera. The following units via Valeggio and Pozzolo - the 3rd Corps (General Morozzo della Rocca ) with the 16th division of Crown Prince Humbert, the divisions Bixio (7th), Cugia (8th) and Govone (9th) quickly closed against the Line Custozza - Villafranca and formed the right wing. Lieutenant General Sonnaz's Italian cavalry division had already advanced to Villafranca via Mozzecane. The 2nd Corps under General Cucchiari followed as rearguard with a further 36,000 men at a greater distance and was initially held back as a reserve at Goito on the right bank of the Mincio. The 6th Division (Longoni) and the 4th Division (Angioletti) of the 2nd Corps were marching on Goito on the right bank of the Mincio, but did not get beyond Roverbella that day , two more (10th and 19th Divisions) watched the Mantua fortress and Borgoforte square .
Troop strengths
On the side of the Italians under General Alfonso La Marmora , nine divisions with 83,969 men and 246 guns were initially available for the battle. The superiority of the Italians over the imperial troops was about a fifth in number and would have been even greater if La Marmora had not made arrangements that unnecessarily split up its entire army (17 divisions with 174,000 men). The strong 4th Corps (five other divisions) under General Enrico Cialdini was still standing on the Po and was also advancing towards the Adige , another separate corps operated against South Tyrol under Giuseppe Garibaldi . The front of the Austrian Southern Army under Archduke Albrecht that was forming between the Etsch and Mincio consisted of 147 battalions, 36 squadrons and 33 batteries, a total of 138,000 men. After accounting for the fortress garrison, after detachment of a brigade to Padua and after the withdrawal of the protective corps for Tyrol under Major General von Kuhn (13,000 men), only about 74,000 men remained, of which 70,860 men, 2,936 horsemen and 168 cannons for the operating main army.
The battle
The fights took place on the line between Monte Cricol and Monte Vento, in the middle near St. Lucia - Custozza and on the western wing on Monte della Croce and Monte Belvedere.
The Austrian V Corps (FML Rodich) was able to occupy Castelnuovo on the northwestern section of the beginning battle. The Austrian reserve division of General Rupprecht, which had met at Castelnuovo at 7:00 am, continued its advance on Salionze and Oliesi without delay . The Italian 1st Division (Cerale) had just completed the Mincio crossing at Valeggio when it was attacked by the reserve division and thrown back on Oliosi . The Brigade Piret (V. Corps) subsequently tried to get the Mincio crossings at Monzambano into their hands by 9 o'clock and threw the Italian Sirtori division back at Pernisa.
Around 7 o'clock the Uhlan Regiment "Count Trani" No. 13 encountered the division of Crown Prince Humbert. In a loss-making attack that was decisive for the course of the battle, the Trani Uhlans under Maximilian von Rodakowski cut through Humbert's line-up lengthways. This completely shook the Italian left wing - the 1st Division and 5th Division - but could not cut off its retreat behind the Tione over the Mincio. At 8:00 a.m., an imperial hussar brigade under Colonel Bujanovic broke through the Bersaglieri rifle line at Villafranca, behind which the Italian 16th Division (Crown Prince Humbert) and the 7th Division (Bixio) stood with the help of their artillery. In the center, at the beginning of the battle, the Italians were able to occupy the heights of Monte Torre and Monte Croce south of Sommacampagna. FML von Hartung deployed its brigades under Colonel Weckbecker and Böck against these important positions, was able to recapture them by 9.00 a.m., but had to go back to the Staffolo valley an hour later due to the counter-attack of the Italian 8th Division (Cugia).
The Austrian VII Corps, now advancing in the middle, under FML Joseph Freiherr von Maroicic , was able to push the enemy troops on the opposite side under General Brignone (3rd Division) out of Custozza via Monte Belvedere and his Brigade Möhring and throw them back to Valeggio. From there counterattacks by the Italian 8th and 9th Divisions began immediately. General Govone's division was able to drive the Austrian brigade of Colonel Anton von Scudier back to Bogolina, and Monte Belvedere was also lost in the process.
At 9 a.m. FML Hartung attacked again against Monte Croce , which the Italian Brignone division was able to hold, and Prince Amadeus of Savoy was wounded. There was already a threat of a gap in the front between the center and the left wing, but after the troops of the corps under General della Rocca went into defensive position, Archduke Albrecht did not have to withdraw any further forces for this threatened section from his attack wing. The 2nd Division (Pianell) covered the retreat of the 1st and 5th Divisions over the Mincio near Monzambano, their counter-attack even managed to stop the advance of the V Corps (Rodich) on the Salizone - Marzago line.
Around 2 p.m. Archduke Albrecht renewed his attacks on both wings, either his troops were still able to break through successfully or the Austrians would have been forced to go back to their fortress line themselves. At 3:30 p.m. the Austrian Piret Brigade stormed Monte Vento, threatening the Italian line of retreat near Valeggio. In the center, the reserves - the Welsersheimb and Tölpy brigades - intervened in the counterattack of the VII Corps, which had now been reinforced to 25,000 men. These fresh troops pushed 15,000 Italians (3rd and 5th Divisions) down from the ridge on Monte Croce and from the Belvedere. The Italian 9th Division (Govone), which was hard pressed on the left wing, had to give up Custozza again.
Around 4.30 p.m. the successful attack by the right wing brought the Austrians to victory on the entire front. The attack by the Imperial Cavalry Reserve under General Pulz pushed the Italian 16th Division out of Villafranca, and the Bixio Division, which had been holding out until now, was thrown from its positions on the Tione by flank attacks. At around 10:00 p.m. Villafranca was completely evacuated by Italian troops.
On the news of the defeat of La Marmora, General Enrico Cialdini had completed the Po crossing at the Panaro estuary with his 4th Corps and marched helpfully towards the defeated main army on the right bank of the river. The front divisions under Cucchiari covered the retreat of the defeated 3rd Corps (della Rocca) over the Mincio near Goito in the evening.
consequences
The Austrians achieved a lucky victory at Custozza, as the Italians fought in splits and after this failure refrained from another counterattack. For very similar reasons, the Italians also lost the subsequent naval battle of Lissa . The only Italian success in the war of 1866 erfocht Garibaldi at the north-west of Lake Garda, located Bezzecca .
Since Prussia, allied with Italy, defeated Austria shortly afterwards in the Battle of Königgrätz , Austria had to cede Veneto to Italy despite its military successes in the south.
In 1866 the Archduke Albrecht monument was erected on the Albrechtrampe in Vienna in memory of the victorious commander. A year later, Custozzagasse in the 3rd district of Vienna was named after the two battles of Custozza.
Division of War
Austrian Southern Army (Field Marshal Archduke Albrecht of Austria)
- 74,000 men
- V Corps ( FZM Gabriel Freiherr von Rodich )
- Moering Brigade
- Brigade Piret
- Brigade Bauer
- Reserve Division (General Friedrich Rupprecht )
- VII Corps (FZM Joseph Freiherr von Maroicic )
- Scudier Brigade
- Brigade Töply
- Brigade Welsersheimb
- IX. Corps ( FML Ernst Ritter von Hartung )
- Brigade Böck
- Brigade Kirchsberg
- Weckbecker Brigade
- Reserve Cavalry Division (Major General Ludwig Freiherr von Pulz )
- Bujanovics' Hussar Brigade
Italian Mincio Army (General Alfonso La Marmora )
- 124,000 men, 84,000 of them in combat
- I. Corps (General Giovanni Durando )
- 1st Division (General Enrico Cerale )
- 2nd Division (General Giuseppe Salvatore Pianell )
- 3rd Division (General Filippo Brignone )
- 5th Division (General Giuseppe Sirtori )
- III. Corps (General Enrico Morozzo della Rocca )
- 7th Division (General Nino Bixio )
- 8th Division (General Efinio Cugia )
- 9th Division (General Giuseppe Govone )
- 16th Division (General Crown Prince Umberto of Italy )
- Cavalry Division (General Maurizio Sonnaz )
Reserve: (not in combat)
- II Corps (General Domenico Cucchiari )
- 4th Division (General Diego Angioletti )
- 6th Division (General Longoni)
- 10th and 19th division (not in combat)
swell
- Albrecht Friedrich von Austria : First official report on the battle of Custozza on June 24, 1866 , in: Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift, year 1866, no.2.
- Alberto Pollio : Custoza (1866) . Rod. Poligr. per l 'Amministrazione della Guerra, Rome 1923.
literature
- Heinrich Friedjung: Custoza and Lissa . Insel Verlag, Leipzig 1916 ( Austrian Library No. 3)
- Georg Bruce: Lexicon of battles . Styria Publishing House, Graz 1984
- General military encyclopedia . JH Webel Verlag, Leipzig 1869
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Pütz : The history of the last 50 years 1816-1866 , M. Dumont-Schaubergscher Verlag, Cologne 1867, p. 533
