On June 24, 1859, in Solferino, the French and Piedmontese armies won an important military victory, which put an end to the war waged against Austria for the independence of Lombardy, preliminary to the creation of a unified Italy.
The battle marks international public opinion:Solferino leaves the memory of fighters from both sides left without care on the battlefield. The Swiss Henri Dunant then proposed the creation of a permanent organization responsible for bringing aid to war wounded, the Red Cross.
Austrians and Franco-Piedmontese face to face
On June 23, with the bulk of their troops, the Franco-Piedmontese, who had been in a victorious position since the start of the conflict, crossed the Chiese and advanced eastward to pursue the Austrians. The latter, who have reinforced their numbers, are now formed into two armies. After several weeks during which orders and counter-orders followed one another, they finally received from the Emperor François-Joseph the order to attack. Coming to meet the French, they cross the Mincio and occupy a line of 12 km on the heights, with the village of Solferino in the center. But, the day before the battle, the two adversaries are unaware of their respective position. Napoleon III certainly orders a reconnaissance in a balloon which reveals the presence of troops on the west bank of the Mincio, but the French think that it is a simple patrol... The Austrians are not better informed, since they believe French Ers on the other bank of the Chiese... The parties therefore do not expect a meeting between Ers two armies, which are each left in marching formation while they are actually advancing towards each other. other.
To the north and in the plain of Medole
meeting, inevitable, occurs in the early hours of June 24. While the Piedmontese occupied the northern shores of Carde Lake, Victor-Emmanuel's army came up against Benedek's 8th Corps. Forced to abandon San Martino, the Piedmontese soon manage to stabilize the front. Benedek resists their repeated assaults, only leaving Pozzolengo around ten o'clock in the evening. The decisive battle is elsewhere. In the plain of Medole, the French vanguards, commanded by General Niel, found themselves facing the units of Nimpffen's First Army. They were practically alone; faced with the Austrian battering. the enemy cavalry were slow to join them. The French infantry resisted, however, and the hand-to-hand combat contributed to weakening the enemy. In the afternoon, finally, the 3 Niel divisions were reinforced by the Trochu and Renault as well as by the hussars and the Chasseurs d'Afrique. On the plain, French and Austrian horsemen clash with sabers.
The spy of Italy
Early in the morning, the French seized Mount Fenile, a promontory opposite Solferino, but the 1st Army Corps came up against the Austrian 2nd Army, and the French force was forced to make a shift. north. The good coordination of the movements reveals the solidarity of the generals and the increased efficiency of the French command. Units of the 2nd army corps of Niel can thus support the attacks of the marshal de Baraguay, who tries to take the tower of Solferino, nicknamed Italy's spy". On the side of the hill, the men fight with bladed weapons. Napoleon III then decides to strike the decisive blow by sinking the enemy center.
Despite the superiority of the French artillery, it was in fact a bypass movement towards Cavriana that proved decisive. It allows the Guard and a division to seize Mount Cypress, where the Austrian batteries that protect the tower are installed.
The Bazaine division breaks through the enemy line of defense and seizes the cemetery.
The Guard seizes the tower and occupies the village, taking 1,500 prisoners, surprised by the French movement. After an interruption caused by a violent storm, the 1st and 2nd army corps and the Guard penetrated the Austrian lines in the direction of the Mincio. Austrian resistance is fierce. In the plain, Wimpffen withdraws his troops.
A bloody victory
On both sides, the number of dead was considerable:
16,000 French and nearly 22,000 Austrians. The conditions of the fight made the battle particularly bloody, with no medical structure being provided to deal with the influx of wounded. Neither the cantinières, who follow their husbands on the battlefield, nor the rare health officers are enough to organize the ambulances. Despite this brilliant victory, Napoleon III gave up pursuing the campaign, which should logically lead to the conquest of Austrian Venetia. He is aware of certain weaknesses in his army:
lack of siege artillery, lack of health service. Above all, he feared an intervention by Prussia, which mobilized on the Rhine. Also he proposes to François-Joseph an armistice, which is signed on July 11 in Villafranca. When the Treaty of Zurich was signed on November 10, 1859, Venice remained Austrian, but Lombardy returned to France, which handed it over to Piedmont. The disappointment, which pushed Cavour to resign, was in fact far from hampering the unitary process:in March 1861, Victor-Emmanuel was proclaimed "King of Italy by the grace of God and the will of the nation".