Battle of Palestro

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Battle of Palestro
Part of: Sardinian War
Palestro Brida 1859 LMI.jpg
date May 31 , 1859
place Palestro
output Sardinian-French victory
Parties to the conflict

Sardinia kingdomKingdom of Sardinia Sardinia

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Austria

Commander

Sardinia kingdomKingdom of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Thomas von Zobel

Troop strength
21,000 infantrymen 14,000 infantrymen
8 guns
losses

1,000 dead

2,500 dead

Battles of the Sardinian War (1859)

In the battle of Palestro on May 31 , 1859 , at the beginning of the war, the Sardinian-Piedmontese army saw its first major victory over troops of the Austrians .

prehistory

After the battle of Montebello , which took place on the southern bank of the Po , the French army shifted its center of gravity to the north. The greater part of the divided army marched towards Novara with the aim of occupying Milan , the capital of Lombardy . The remainder of the army, consisting mainly of Sardinian troops, advanced to Vercelli to protect the southern flank. On May 30, the two armies continued their march to the Sesia River and tried to gain control of the villages of Confienza , Vinzaglio and Palestro there.

The Austrian Commander-in-Chief, Feldzeugmeister Ferenc József Gyulay , ordered the reconnaissance of the Jellačić Division (II Corps) from Castel d'Agogna against Vercelli on May 30th , in order to gain clarity about the enemy. A brigade of the Austrian Lilia division secured in Robbio, a second as an outpost on the Confienza - Vinzaglio - Palestro - Rivoltella line. South of it was the Division Reischach with the brigade Lebzeltern between Candia and Langosco and with the brigade Gablenz at Cozzo in the bivouac . Meanwhile, the bulk of the Piedmontese army at Vercelli had surprisingly crossed the Sesia. In the headquarters of the Austrians in Mortara prevailed in the late evening after the arrival of Feldzeugmeister Gyulay still uncertainty about the strength and intentions of the enemy. The chief of staff of the VII Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Bartels believed that the enemy was trying to divert attention from an attack at Frassinetto.

The battle

Battle of Palestro
Plan of the Battle of Palestro

The General Staff of the Austrian VII Corps had finally received reports of the enemy advance and the commanding General Zobel ordered two of his infantry divisions to attack Palestro on May 31 . The Franco-Sardinian army set about defending the cities they had just won and divided the army. The Italians were commanded by Victor Emanuel , who deployed three of his divisions between Vinzaglio and Palestro:

  • 1st Division (General Castelborgo ) with Brigade Granatieri (General Colliano) and Brigade Savoia (General Perrier)
  • 4th Division (General Cialdini ) with Brigade Regina (General Villamarina) and Brigade Savona (General Broglia ).
  • The allied French troops were under the orders of General Pellé, who had Algerian Zouaves deployed to protect the army's flanks.
  • 1st Division ( Durando ) secured the northern flank at the higher village of Vinzaglio.

The Italians were also able to strengthen themselves directly if necessary through the Renault and Trochu divisions of the French Corps Canrobert . Likewise, just behind the Castelborgo division, the Sardinian 2nd Fanti division was available as a reserve.

The Austrian army consisted of two divisions, one was commanded by Baron Jellačić (with the Szabo and Koudelka brigades) and the second by FML Lilia (with the Weigl and Schmidt von Dondorf brigade).

The Austrians opened the battle with an attack by Baron Jellačić on Robbio, where the Sardinians were camped, and initially pushed them back. The Austrian center planned to attack with the Dondorf and Koudelka brigades (together 5841 men and 14 guns) on the road directly to Palestro. On the left, the Szabo Brigade was to provide cover from Rivoltella to la Bridda to the south, on the right the Weigl Brigade to the north. However, the Sardinians under King Victor Emanuel, who had superior troops, got ahead of their opponents. The Szabo Brigade, which covered the flank on the western bank of the Sartirana, was defeated by the attack of the Zouaves near Rivoltella, and the Austrian troops were pushed back to the river here. The brigade under Major General von Weigl tried to push the opposing Brigade Piedmont (Major General Mollard) out of Confienza and advance against Vinzaglio on the northern section of the combat area at around 11.00 a.m. South of it, still concentrated behind the Roggione Busca, the Aosta Brigade (Major General Enrico Cerale ) was able to carry a successful thrust into Weigl's flank and threatened the flank and back of the Austrians' right wing. FML Baron Zobel, who now saw clarity about the numerical superiority of the enemy, and could only use about 13,000 men for immediate combat, ordered the immediate withdrawal. The battle was decided in favor of the Piedmontese.

consequences

On the western bank of the Sesia, the Franco-Sardinian coalition concentrated up to twelve infantry and one cavalry divisions with over 80,000 men on the following day. Two more infantry divisions and one cavalry division with over 18,000 men remained on the right bank. The victory had so concentrated the Sardinian-French army that the further advance to Milan was immediately possible. At the beginning of June, the crossing on the Ticino was enforced and then the Battle of Magenta was fought .

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