The Battle of Solferino Paul D. Raffenello

"The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here today."

That line from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has not come to pass over the years: we do remember the deeds of the brave men who fought, and the speech that was given to honor them. As today's interest grows in America's greatest land battle, Gettysburg has eclipsed a battle fought just four years before in Northern Italy, the Battle of Solferino. Solferino has slipped from the stage of great 19th Century battles. In our portrayals of foreign observers and associated Americans, however, we should have some knowledge of the battle, as would our 19th Century counterparts, since it was covered in all the newspapers and periodicals of the day. For example, in Harper's Weekly, there were seven articles about the French Zouaves alone during 1859. I hope this article will give you a brief overview of this battle and its aftermath.

Fought in 1859, the Battle of Solferino was the greatest land battle since the Battle of Austerlitz during the Napoleonic War sixty years before. At Solferino, three reigning monarchs were in command of the armies involved. Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia (later the King of all Italy) and Napoleon III, Emperor of France joined forces to face the young Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph. The armies of all three nations numbered 270,000 men. In a battle lasting 16 hours, waged on a 15-mile front, there were 40,000 casualties. Like the Yankees at Gettysburg, the Italian army was on home turf. This was also, like Gettysburg, a grudge match between France and Austria. The Yankees, severely beaten at Fredericksburg the previous December, chanted "Fredericksburg!" at the approaching Rebels during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. In like manner, for the French, Solferino was payback against the Austrians who caused Napoleon The Great's downfall.

The fighting was some of the most savage seen in Europe to that date. During the Battle of Solferino, as the armies along the Italian sector advanced and retreated repeatedly across the field, the wounded and dying were shot and bayoneted by both sides. The Austrians had held Lombardy and Venetia for over five generations and over these years. Italians had received reports of Austrian brutality to the resident Italians throughout the years, including rape, executions of whole villages, and even the nailing of a six-year-old to the door of a church. Whether true or not, the Italians were out for revenge, bent on repaying the Austrians for their repression in Lombardy and Venetia.

The aftermath was so horrific that a young Swiss businessman, Henri Dunant, who witnessed the battle and carnage left on the field, was moved to write a pamphlet, "A Memory of Solferino." He and his story laid the ground work for the International Red Cross. By 1864, the Red Cross Society was formed, and the Geneva Convention was signed by 14 nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The Convention laid down the rules for the care of wounded and prisoners. The United States sent delegates to the Convention, but they did not sign the agreement at that time. The United States signed the Geneva Convention in the 1880s, and Clara Barton, who had worked diligently in this cause during the Civil War, received her charter to organize the American Red Cross in 1881.

Italy had begun its movement toward unification in 1848. In Northern Italy, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia tried to push the Austrians out of Lombardy and Venetia to begin unification, but the Austrians defeated the Italians at Novara, ending the first war for Italian unification. Piedmont waited for another chance, and under the great statesman Count Cavour, Piedmont modernized its army, railways, and communications to make it the model modem Italian state. By the spring of 1859, Cavour was able to enlist the help of Napoleon III to force the Austrians out of Northern Italy. Cavour had made a secret deal with Napoleon: France would give Lombardy and Venetia to Piedmont under King Victor Emmanuel II, and Piedmont would cede Savoy and Nice to France. By April, Cavour had coerced Austria to declare war on tiny Piedmont. French troops were rushed to the front by railways in France and Piedmont. Austria also used its railways to reinforce its troops in Lombardy. Count Cavour was kept informed by telegraph of the needs and movements of the French and Italian allied troops.

After a few small battles, the French and Italian forces moved into Lombardy, and on June 4th fought the Battle of Magenta. The tide of battle flowed back and forth with the French winning the day. Total losses on both sides were 15,000 dead, missing, and wounded. On June 24th, 1859, the Austrians, about fifteen miles west of Verona with their backs against the Mincio River, turned to face the allied army once again, and the stage was set for a major battle: Solferino.

Like Gettysburg, both sides stumbled into a large battle, and both armies showed remarkable endurance. From 4:00 am, when the French left their camps, until 7:00 pm, when the Austrian troops abandoned their fortifications, the Battle of Solferino raged under a hot Italian sky. The commanders of both armies could only hope that the men would continue to attack and repulse constant counterattacks. In the end, the French claimed victory, but after Napoleon M visited the field, he became so horror-stricken by the carnage, he felt he could not continue the war. An armistice was signed on July 7th, and the Treaty of Villafranca was signed between Napoleon and Franz Joseph on July 11, 1859, ending the war.

Napoleon gave Lombardy to Piedmont, but Austria kept Venetia. When Count Cavour received the news, he went immediately to see King Victor Emmanuel II, who confirmed that Venetia would remain in Austrian hands. Cavour shouted, "Italy is betrayed!", and resigned as Prime Minister. Italy would have to fight another war with Austria in 1866 to finally gain Venetia into the kingdom.

I hope that this article has not only whetted your appetite for more stories about the Second War for Italian Independence, but has also served to illustrate how a battle in Europe had international ramifications, not only in the observations by other nations around the world, but also in the formation of the International Red Cross. Solferino served as a preview to modem warfare and technologies, such as the use of rail, telegraph, and other new communication systems, and also illustrated how modem technology outdated traditional tactics, making weapons all the more devastating with the advent of rifling, minie balls, and other innovations that brought much improved accuracy and its resulting wholesale destruction.

For more information, you might like to read the books listed under "Battle of Solferino" on the Book List page

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