The Battle of Solferino (referred to in Italy as the Battle of Solferino and San Martino) on 24 June 1859 was the climactic battle of the Second Italian War of Independence and resulted in the victory of the allied French army under Napoleon III and the Piedmont-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 in which all the armies were under the personal command of their monarchs. There were approximately 300,000 soldiers on both sides in the most important battle, the largest since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The number of soldiers present was about 130,000 Austrian troops and a combined total of 140,000 French and allied Piedmontese troops, but not all were actually involved in the battle. After the battle, the Austrian emperor stopped directly commanding his army.

The battle led the Swiss Henry Dunant to write his book A Memory of Solferino. Although he did not witness the battle (his statement is contained in an "unpublished page" included in the 1939 English edition published by the American Red Cross), he toured the field following the battle and was greatly moved by what he saw. Dunant was staying in Castiglione delle Stiviere at that time in today's House Bondoni Pastorio near the Duomo of Castiglione. It is said that with his carriage he took many wounded soldiers from both sides to the Duomo of Castiglione delle Stiviere where they were cared for by the local women. 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. Today in Castiglione there is a Red Cross museum.

Napoleon III was similarly affected by the carnage he saw after the battle. He decided that the war was not worth the cost in suffering and negotiated an end to the war later in the year.

Background

The early weeks of the war went well for the Piedmontese and French, and they largely pushed Austria out of northern Italy. Pressing their advantage, they took Milan and marched further east to finish off Austria before Prussia could get involved in the war.

On 22 June, the French (96,000 men) and Piedmontese (37,000 men) allied army advanced from the Chiese to the Mincio river in northern Italy. The left wing consisted of four Piedmontese divisions, the right wing consisted of the French III and IV corps, while the center consisted of the I and II corps, with the Imperial Guard held in reserve. On 23 June, Franz Josef moved his 1st Army (57,000 men) and 2nd Army (45,500 men) across the Mincio. Both forces were converging on Medole, Solferino, and San Martino.

Battle

thumb|350px|19th century map of the battle

The Battle of Solferino was a decisive engagement in the Second Italian War of Independence, a crucial step in the Italian Risorgimento. The war's geopolitical context was the nationalist struggle to unify Italy, which had long been divided among France, Austria, Spain and numerous independent Italian states. 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, on one side, and the French and Piedmontese forces, who opposed their advance. In the morning of 23 June, after the arrival of emperor Franz Joseph, the Austrian army 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 to the south of them near Solferino against the main Austrian corps.

Opposing forces

The Austrian forces were personally led by Emperor Franz Joseph, consisting of the 1st Army, containing four corps (II, III, IX and XI) under Franz von Wimpffen, and the 2nd Army, containing four corps (I, V, VII and VIII) under Franz von Schlick. The Austrians were able to ward off three Sardinian attacks, inflicting heavy losses upon the attackers; at the end of the day Benedek was ordered to retreat with the rest of the Austrian army, but ignored the order and kept resisting. At 8:00 pm a fourth Sardinian assault finally captured the contested hills, and Benedek withdrew. The main Sardinian contribution in the overall battle consisted in keeping Benedek's corps deeply engaged throughout the day and preventing the sending of two brigades as reinforcement to the force attacked by the French in Solferino.

Results

The battle was a particularly gruelling one, lasting over nine hours and resulting in 2,386 Austrian troops killed with 10,634 wounded and 9,290 missing. The Allied armies suffered a total of 2,313 killed, 12,102 wounded and 2,776 captured or missing. Reports of wounded and dying soldiers being shot or bayonetted on both sides added to the horror. In the end, the Austrian forces were forced to yield their positions, and the Allied French-Piedmontese armies won a tactical, but costly, victory. The Austrians retreated to the four fortresses of the Quadrilateral, and the campaign essentially ended.

Aftermath

thumb|left|225px|[[Henry Dunant at Solferino]]

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 on 11 July 1859. The Piedmontese won Lombardy but not Venetia. Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, resigned. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861.

This battle would have a long-term effect on the future conduct of military actions. Jean-Henri Dunant, who witnessed the aftermath of 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 23 and 27 June 2009. 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."

In 2019, an important memorial event took place on the former battlefield in the presence of Karl von Habsburg, the head of the House of Habsburg, representatives of the Order of St. George and the presidents of the Society of Solferino and San Martino to emphasize the peace of the nations. Wreaths were laid in the cemeteries and the museum was honored. During the event, the battle was re-enacted by hundreds of volunteers.

The battlefield today

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

There is a circular tower, Tower of San Martino della Battaglia, 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.

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File:OsseariumSolf1.jpg|The ossuary of Solferino

File:OsseariumSolf2.jpg|The ossuary of Solferino

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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.

The 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 the story of the signing of the Geneva Conventions and the founding of the Red Cross.

A Memory of Solferino, the battle, and the town itself are discussed in 2010's Chang-Rae Lee's novel The Surrendered.

Footnotes

References

  • Campagne de l'empereur Napoléon III en Italie, 1859, rédigée au dépot de la guerre, d'après les documents officiels (1865)
  • Der Feldzug des Kaisers Napoleon 3. in Italien im Jahre 1859 (1865).
  • The French Army 1600–1900
  • The Battle of Solferino
  • Mikhail Dragomirov. (1861) Battle of Solferino. (With two plans) (Сольферинская битва. (с двумя планами)) at Runivers.ru in DjVu format