Battle of San Martino

Detail of a fresco in the memorial to the battle (1880–1893)

date	June 24, 1859
place	San Martino della Battaglia , Lombardy
output	Victory of Sardinia-Piedmont

Parties to the conflict
Sardinia kingdom Sardinia	Austrian Empire Austria
Commander
Sardinia kingdom Victor Emmanuel II	Austrian Empire Ludwig von Benedek
Troop strength
36,602	28,672
losses
5,572	2,536

The Battle of San Martino on June 24, 1859 was a battle of the Sardinian War and took place at the same time as the Battle of Solferino between the regular troops of Sardinia-Piedmont , Italian volunteers and the troops of the Austrian Empire .

introduction

San Martino (today: San Martino della Battaglia ) is a small Italian town south of Lake Garda , near the A4 motorway ( Milan - Verona ). On June 24, 1859, the combined armies of France and Sardinia-Piedmont defeated the troops of Austria in the Battle of Solferino . While the French fought only a few kilometers to the south of Solferino that day, the Piedmontese and Italian volunteers were mainly deployed in San Martino. The mountain ranges held there by the Austrian VIII Corps (around 28,500 men) under FML Ludwig von Benedek were only able to take the Italians (around 36,500 men) after a fourteen-hour battle.

On the morning of June 24th, Emperor Napoléon III. his subordinate French and Italian troops ordered to march on the Austrian fortress quadrangle Mantua - Peschiera del Garda - Verona - Legnago . Little did he know that the Austrian troops had crossed the Mincio , an outflow from Lake Garda , which also represented the western front of the Austrian fortress square. With the Mincio behind them, they wanted to seek a decision in the plains of Montichiari to the west , where the use of their cavalry seemed more advantageous. The two armies had no information about the movements of their respective opponents at this point. Although San Martino and Solferino are in the immediate vicinity, two separate battles were fought there. Napoleon III received initial information about the Austrian advance on June 24th at 5:30 am during the funeral of a deceased French general . From the tower of the parish church of Castiglione delle Stiviere , he planned the deployment of his associations and then ordered the attack. The two armies met on the mountain ranges between San Martino, Solferino and Cavriana, which stretched from north to south .

Course of the battle

Map of the battles of San Martino (green), Solferino (yellow) and Medole (red)

General Giovanni Durando

The Battle of San Martino began early in the morning when Piedmont reconnaissance units led by Lieutenant Colonel Raffaele Cadorna encountered Austrian troops at the foot of the hill of San Martino. The Sardinian 2nd Division ( Manfredo Fanti ) was in position between Lonato and Esenta, the 1st ( Durando ) and the 5th Division ( Cucchiari ) immediately in front of Lonato and the 3rd Division (General Mollard ) extended the front to Lake Garda Rivoltella.

The Austrian VIII Corps camped with the division under FML Berger (brigades: Reichlin, Waterfliet, Nowy) northwest of Pozzolengo behind the ridge of San Giacomo and Ingrana, the left wing - the division under FML Lang (brigades: Philippovich , Dauber, Lippert) was leaned against the Redonebach. The Austrian units, which were gradually thrown into battle, initially forced the Piedmontese to retreat. In view of the precarious situation, King Victor Emanuel II of Savoy ordered his Brigade Aosta , which was already marching to Solferino , to return to San Martino. The hill of San Martino changed hands seven times during the day.

The heavy fighting in Solferino brought a preliminary decision at around 2 p.m., which took on a definitive character through a battle at Cavriana personally ordered by Napoleon . At about 5:00 p.m., a Piedmontese attack began under heavy Austrian artillery fire , during which the strategically important positions between Cascina and Colombare were captured. The Sardinian 5th Division, advancing on both sides of the road to Pozzolengo, took the villages of Chiodine and Plandro. The Austrian General Benedek had meanwhile received an order to withdraw, but it was proven that he did not obey. At around 6:00 p.m., the Piedmontese attack on the last Austrian positions began during a thunderstorm, which could not be taken until around 9:00 p.m. During the night the Austrian units withdrew to their fortress square. In the evening Napoleon quartered himself in the house in Cavriana where the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I had stayed the day before. The war of 1859 (also called the Sardinian War or Second Italian War of Independence) ended with the Armistice of Villafranca and the cession of Lombardy to France and the Kingdom of Sardinia .

memorial

Memorial tower, 2009

On one of the hills of San Martino there is a monumental tower built between 1880 and 1893, which commemorates the decisive battle. Inside the 64.60 meter high structure (with flagpole: 74 meters) there are busts of the people involved and, spread over seven floors, life-size frescoes with battle scenes. In addition, the building serves as a lighthouse for shipping traffic on Lake Garda. The three beacons shine in the colors of the flag of Italy .

There is also a museum, built in 1939, with weapons, uniforms, flags and other memorabilia, as well as an ossuary chapel in which the bones of 2,619 soldiers are located.

The Solferino and San Martino memorials form a joint monument complex.