Battle of Boffalora

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Battle of Boffalora
Part of: Sardinian War
Vajani - presa di Robecchetto durante la battaglia di Magenta nel 1859 - ca.1865.JPG
date June 3, 1859
place Boffalora sopra Ticino , Lombardy in Italy
output Franco-Sardinian victory
Parties to the conflict

Sardinia kingdomKingdom of Sardinia Sardinia France
Second empireSecond empire 

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Austria

Commander

Sardinia kingdomKingdom of Sardinia Victor Emanuel II. Napoleon III.
Second empireSecond empire

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Ferencz Gyulay Eduard Clam-Gallas
Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria

Troop strength
unknown unknown
Battles of the Sardinian War (1859)

The Battle of Boffalora was a skirmish between Austrians and troops from Sardinia-Piedmont during the Second Italian War of Independence and took place on June 3, 1859.

prehistory

Napoleon III and Viktor Emanuel II had made an alliance against the Austrian Empire to occupy Lombardy . During this campaign, an attempt was also made to motivate volunteer Italian soldiers in Lombardy to fight the occupiers.

On May 29, 1859, the French - Sardinian army attacked. After the battle of Palestro and Vinzaglio , the advance into Milan was free for the allies . As a result, the French army was able to concentrate with the Piedmontese at Novara on June 3rd . When the Austrian Commander-in-Chief Ferencz Gyulay found out about it, he withdrew to the left bank of the Ticino and took up a defensive position between Magenta and Abbiategrasso .

On June 3, at the same time as the crossing of the corps under Mac-Mahon , which led to the Battle of Turbigo , a few kilometers upstream, a major battle also broke out at Boffalora sopra Ticino , together the allies attacked the village to force the river to cross .

The battle

On June 3, 1859 , Napoléon III. a division under General La Motte-Rouge cross the Ticino and pushed back the Austrians under Eduard Clam-Gallas . A battle broke out in the village of Boffalora sopra Ticino , the village was located on a bridge over the river Ticino and was therefore also important for the Allied army in order to get further north. When Italian cavalry intervened in the fighting, the holding Austrian brigade under Major General Baltin left the positions and vacated the outposts. However, the river prevented them from a regular retreat, with many trying to reach the other bank by swimming.

consequences

With the capture of the bridge, the French were able to penetrate further to the eastern bank of the river. The next fighting followed on the following day, June 4th, when Napoleon's troops in the Battle of Magenta tried to widen the bridgehead over the following canal, the Naviglio .

literature