Battle of Solferino

Battle of Solferino
Part of the Second Italian War of Independence
Napoleon III at the Battle of Solferino by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier. Oil on canvas, 1863.
Date 24 June 1859 Location Solferino, present-day Italy Result Franco-Sardinian victory Armistice of Villafranca (July 12, 1859)
Belligerents
Second French Empire Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia	Austrian Empire
Commanders
Emperor Napoleon III King Victor Emmanuel II	Emperor Franz Joseph
Strength
118,600[citation needed]	about 100,000[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
17,000 killed, wounded and missing[1]	20,000 killed, wounded and missing [1]

The Battle of Solferino, (referred to in Italian as the Battle of Solferino and San Martino), was fought on June 24, 1859 and resulted in the victory of the allied French Army under Napoleon III and Sardinian Army under Victor Emmanuel II (together known as the Franco-Sardinian Alliance) against the Austrian Army under Emperor Franz Joseph I; it was the last major battle in world history where all the involved armies were under the personal command of their monarchs. Over 200,000 soldiers fought in this important battle, the largest since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. There were about 100,000 Austrian troops and a combined total of 118,600 French and allied Piedmontese troops. After this battle, the Austrian Emperor refrained from further direct command of the army.

The battle is especially notable for being witnessed by the Swiss Jean-Henri Dunant. Horrified by the suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield, Dunant set about a process that led to the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross.

The battle

The Battle of Solferino was a decisive engagement in the Second Italian War of Independence or Second Independence War, a crucial step in the Italian Risorgimento. The war's geopolitical context was the nationalist struggle to unify Italy, long divided between France, Austria, Spain and numerous small Italian principalities. The battle took place near the villages of Solferino and San Martino, Italy, south of Lake Garda between Milan and Verona.

The confrontation was between the Austrians and the French and Piedmontese forces who opposed their advance. The Austrians were retreating eastwards after their defeat at the Battle of Magenta. In the morning of 23 June, after the arrival of emperor Franz Joseph, they changed direction to counterattack along the river Chiese. At the same time, Napoleon III ordered his troops to advance, causing the battle to occur in an unpredicted location. While the Piedmontese fought the Austrian right wing near San Martino, the French battled south to them near Solferino against the main Austrian corps.

The clash was chaotic, on a front stretching for 15 kilometers. In the early afternoon, the French broke through the Austrian center. The fightings continued later in the villages near Solferino, Cavriana and Guidizzolo, until a violent rainstorm halted them; they however continued at San Martino till night.

The battle was a particularly gruelling one, lasting over nine hours and resulting in over 3,000 Austrian troops killed with 10,807 wounded and 8,638 missing or captured. The Allied armies also suffered a total of 2,492 killed, 12,512 wounded and 2,922 captured or missing. Reports of wounded and dying soldiers being shot or bayoneted on both sides added to the horror. In the end, the Austrian forces were forced to yield their positions, and the Allied French-Italian armies won a tactical, but costly, victory.

Aftermath

Napoleon III was moved by the losses, as he had argued back in 1852 "the French Empire is peace", and for reasons including the Prussian threat and domestic protests by the Roman Catholics, he decided to put an end to the war with the Armistice of Villafranca (July 12, 1859). The Italians won Lombardy but not the Venetia. In polemics (an argumentative way) with Napoleon III's behaviour, Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour resigned.^[2] The Kingdom of Italy was created in 1860.

This battle would have a long-term effect on the future conduct of military actions. Jean-Henri Dunant, who witnessed the battle in person, was motivated by the horrific suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield to begin a campaign that would eventually result in the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross.

The Movement organized the 150th anniversary commemoration of the battle between the 23rd and 27th of June 2009^[3]. The Presidency of the European Union adopted a declaration on the occasion stating that "This battle was also the grounds on which the international community of States has developed and adopted instruments of International Humanitarian Law, the international law rules relevant in times of armed conflict, in particular the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the 60th anniversary of which will be celebrated this year."^[4].

The battlefield today

The area contains a number of memorials to the events surrounding the battles.

At San Martino (now San Martino della Battaglia) there is a circular tower dominating the area, a memorial to Victor Emmanuel II. It is 70 m high and was built in 1893. In the town there is a museum, with uniforms and weapons of the time, and an ossuary chapel.

At Solferino there is also a museum, displaying arms and mementos of the time, and an ossuary, containing the bones of thousands of victims.

Nearby Castiglione delle Stiviere, where many of the wounded were taken after the battle, is the site of the museum of the International Red Cross, focusing on the events that led to the formation of that organization.

References in popular culture

Map of the battle

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "The Forced Recruit at Solferino" commemorates this battle (Last Poems 1862). Joseph Roth's 1932 novel Radetzky March opens at the Battle of Solferino. There, the father of the novel's Trotta dynasty is immortalized as the Hero of Solferino.

Battle of Solferino was depicted also in a 2006 television drama Henry Dunant: Du rouge sur la croix (English title: "Henry Dunant: Red on the Cross"), which tells a story of signing Geneva Conventions and founding Red Cross.

References

External links

• The French Army 1600-1900
• The Battle of Solferino

Coordinates: 45°22′2″N 10°33′59″E / 45.36722°N 10.56639°E / 45.36722; 10.56639