The First Italian War of Independence (Italian: Prima guerra d'indipendenza italiana), part of the Risorgimento or unification of Italy, was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conservative states from 23 March 1848 to 22 August 1849 in the Italian Peninsula. The conflict was preceded by the outbreak of the Sicilian revolution of 1848 against the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. It was precipitated by riots in the cities of Milan (Five Days) and Venice, which rebelled against Austria and established governments.
The part of the conflict which was fought by King Charles Albert of Sardinia against Austria in Northern Italy was a royal war and consisted of two campaigns. In both campaigns, Sardinian forces attacked the Austrian Empire and after initial victories, Sardinia was decisively defeated and lost the war. The decisive events of the first and second campaigns were the battles of Custoza and Novara respectively. At the beginning of the royal war, Sardinia was supported by the Papal States and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, though both quickly withdrew from the conflict. However, volunteers from the Papal and Neapolitan armies joined the other Italian volunteers and fought against Austria.
Besides the royal war, revolutionary movements took place in various Italian states (Papal States, Tuscany, etc.), part of the revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states, which could not be reconciled with the liberal ideals of Piedmont. Historiography treats those revolutions and the Sicilian Revolution of 23 March 1848 as a popular war. It also failed, ending in the restoration of traditional institutions and forcing many rebels into exile. In the popular war with the internal revolutionaries, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and the Papal States found themselves on the side opposite to the one they had been on during the royal war when they had initially supported Piedmont. The popular war gave prominence to the military commander Giuseppe Garibaldi. He was defeated, as was King Charles Albert, who abdicated at the war's end in favour of his eldest son, Victor Emmanuel.
The revolutions of 1848
In 1848 revolutionary riots broke out in many parts of Europe, including numerous places in what is now Emilia-Romagna and other parts of Italy. Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies was forced to grant a constitution on 23 January and his example was followed by Leopold II of Tuscany on 17 February, Charles Albert of Sardinia on 17 February (the Albertine Statute), and Pope Pius IX for the Papal States on 14 March (the Fundamental Statute). Charles II, Duke of Parma was ousted. Sicily, excepting Messina, revolted against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
On 23 February, the French Revolution of 1848 broke out against Louis Philippe. In March, the revolts also spread into the Austrian Empire, where Milan (Five Days of Milan) and Venice (Republic of San Marco) rebelled against the House of Habsburg.
The battles were particularly heated in Milan, where the commander of the army of Lombardy–Venetia, Marshal Josef Radetzky, was forced to abandon the city. As a result of this, other revolts broke out in Lombardy–Venetia, such as that at Como. With Vienna itself in revolt, the Austrian Empire was tottering.
On 23 March, one day after the end of the Five Days of Milan, King Charles Albert of Sardinia declared war on Austria. He was probably spurred to this by the desire to avoid a revolution in his own country, which was itself a liberal monarchy, and by the hope that he could use the rebellions in Lombardy–Venetia as an opportunity to expand his own kingdom. Thus began the first Italian war of independence.
Summary of strategic situation and forces
As a result of the revolts of Milan and Venice, from 23 March 1848, the Austrians had to retreat into the Quadrilateral fortresses (Peschiera, Verona, Mantua, and Legnago) which formed the defensive nucleus of the Habsburg army in Lombardy–Venetia. To the east, west, and south of the Quadrilateral, forces of volunteers from the Italian states began to gather in order to fight against the Austrians. The Austrian forces were only able to maintain links to the motherland via a corridor to the north, running through the Adige valley on the eastern coast of Lake Garda.
The Piedmontese army
The army of the Kingdom of Sardinia was mobilized on 1 March 1848, at the beginning of the revolt in Milan, and was at 4/5 strength, with about 65,000 men.
The Piedmontese army was headed by Charles Albert, Minister for War General Antonio Franzini, and General Eusebio Bava. The latter directly commanded the 1st Army Corps, consisting of two divisions under Generals Federico Millet d'Arvillars and Vittorio Garretti di Ferrere. The 2nd Army Corps was directed by Ettore De Sonnaz, with Giovanni Battista Federici and Mario Broglia commanding its two divisions. The 5th Division, containing the reserves, was under the command of Charles Albert's heir Victor Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy. Finally, command of the artillery fell to Ferdinand of Savoy, Duke of Genoa.
Before crossing the Ticino river, which marked the border between the Kingdom of Sardinia and Lombardy–Venetia, Charles Albert decided that the war flag would be the Italian tricolor with the Savoyard arms at the centre.
Other Italian armies and Volunteers
All the other monarchies of the peninsula that had been forced to join the war against Austria due to public sentiment in their respective countries sent military contingents to Lombardy–Venetia, but without conviction.
The first to arrive was the Papal Army, with a contingent of 17–18,000 men (including roughly 900 cavalry soldiers and 22 cannons). It consisted of a regular division (10–11,000 men including 3–4,000 volunteers) under the command of the Piedmontese Giovanni Durando and a second division (around 7,000 men) made up of the Mobile Civic Guard and of volunteers under the republican Andrea Ferrari. The Army Corps entered Lombardy–Venetia from the Apostolic legation of Ferrara. A group of around 130 volunteers, called the Bersaglieri del Po also came from Ferrara.
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany entered the war on 21 March and sent a Corps of around 6,400 men to Mantua, partially regular troops and partially volunteers. The contingent was commanded initially by Ulisse d'Arco Ferrari and subsequently by Cesare de Laugier. These troops had little technical training but were highly enthusiastic, especially the so-called "Battalion of Students", led by Astronomy professor Ottaviano-Fabrizio Mossotti.
In Parma and Modena, the respective dukes, Charles II and Francis V, had abandoned their thrones in the face of popular riots, allowing the formation of provisional governments. A few hundred volunteers set out for Lombardy-Veneto.
The major contribution to the war was to be made by Ferdinand II of Two Sicilies, who promised to send a Corps of 25,000 men. This contingent did not leave on time and when it was sent in March it contained around 11,000 men. King Ferdinand II was politically very far from the Piedmontese liberal ideology and his highest priority was the reconquest of Sicily, which had revolted on 26 March 1848 under the leadership of Ruggero Settimo. Commanded by Guglielmo Pepe, the Neapolitan troops arrived in the theatre of war only in mid-May, when, as they were crossing the Po from the south, they received the order to return home. Only a few units loyal to Guglielmo Pepe entered Veneto and participated in the fighting.
However, the anti-Austrian coalition could rely on other forces. There were Lombard volunteers (4,500 men), Neapolitan volunteers (1,600 men), and Venetian volunteers from the Republic of San Marco. The last group consisted of around 9,000 men, organised as regular units by Daniele Manin and directed principally against the enemy forces which had crossed the Soča from the east in order to reinforce the Habsburg troops in Lombardy–Venetia. They were commanded by generals Carlo Zucchi and Alberto della Marmora.
All these armies were completely uncoordinated with one another and were motivated by very different political ideals, ranging from those who sought to unite with the Kingdom of Sardinia, to those who desired an Italian republic.
The Austrian army
The multiethnic Austrian army in Lombardy–Venetia was commanded by the 81-year-old General Josef Radetzky, a man whose past experience had earned him exceptional autonomy from the Viennese bureaucracy. He had organised the army in Italy according to his own ideas, including the idea that army training was necessary even in times of peace – a theory that few followed in this period. The result was that when the war broke out his soldiers were ready and, in particular, were familiar with the territory in which they would need to fight.
Before the insurrections at Milan and Venice, Radetzky had 70,000 men in two armies: the 1st in Lombardy and the 2nd in Venetia, containing a total of 61 battalions of infantry. After the revolt, as a result of casualties, surrenders, and desertions, this was reduced to 41 effective battalions. There were also 35 squadrons of cavalry and 100 pieces of artillery. Given that the average force of the Austrian battalions was around 1,000 men, Radetzky had a total of around 50,000 men at the start of the war. He further ordered that a reserve force of 20,000 soldiers be gathered in a hurry under the command of Laval Nugent von Westmeath from the Austrian side of the Soča and from Carinthia.
The initial phase of the first campaign (March–May 1848)
Piedmontese advance towards the Quadrilateral (23 March – 7 April 1848)
On 23 March, the Kingdom of Sardinia declared war on the Austrian Empire. On 25 and 26 March, two advance guards crossed the River Ticino, entering enemy territory. The body of the army crossed on 29 March. That same day, the first three divisions entered Pavia, where they were acclaimed by the people.
Charles Albert decided to ignore these and advance towards Cremona on the Po. From there they advanced to Marcaria and crossed the Oglio on 7 April, some twenty kilometres from Mantua, the southernmost fortress of the Quadrilateral.
Only one of the advance guards was sent to Brescia – this consisted of a brigade of infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and a battery of cannons and was commanded by general Michele Giuseppe Bes (1794–1853), who had already crossed the Ticino at Boffalora and entered Milan.
That same day, Radetzky retreated to Peschiera and two days after that to Verona. On 8 April, the majority of his troops (the 1st Army), was stationed in the Quadrilateral at Villafranca. The Piedmontese army, on the other hand, was arrayed along the west bank of the Mincio.
Crossing the Mincio River (8–27 April 1848)
Since all the bridges over the Mincio were still held by the Austrian rear-guard, on 8 April, General Bava ordered the divisions of General d'Arvillars to seize the Bridge at Goito. After sharp clashes, during which the Austrian engineers managed to partially demolish the bridge, Bersaglieri battalions and the Royal Sardinian Navy managed to break through to the other bank. The engagement came to be known as the Battle of Goito Bridge (la Battaglia del Ponte di Goito).Around 4pm the work of the Piedmontese engineers, enabled the passage of another 3 battalions, while the Austrians withdrew to Villafranca. In this first clash of the war, Colonel Alessandro La Marmora, founder of the Bersaglieri, was seriously wounded.
On 9 April, the Piedmontese took control of the bridge at Monzambano to the north. On 11 April, the Austrians finally abandoned the east bank of the Mincio and withdrew to Verona. The Piedmontese occupied Valeggio.
Further east, on 17 April, the new Austrian army under Nugent crossed the Isonzo with two goals: to reinforce Radetzky and to reoccupy Veneto. On 23 April, Nugent entered Udine. Meanwhile, on 26 April, half the Piedmontese army crossed the Mincio. Two days later, another two divisions crossed and the whole army was deployed in an arc to blockade Peschiera, which the Piedmontese began to besiege on 27 April, and to simultaneously threaten Verona. The disposition also threatened the Austrian army, arrayed along the Adige and the main road from Verona to Trento and Austria.
Piedmontese advance towards the Adige (30 April 1848)
In the face of the Piedmontese threat, Radetzky had occupied an advance position at Pastrengo on the west bank of the Adige. On 30 April, the 2nd Army under De Sonnaz advanced to eliminate the enemy bridgehead (14,000 Piedmontese against 8,000 Austrians). For three hours, from 11 am until 2 pm, the advance was slow and difficult. Charles Albert, growing impatient, pushed forward with three squadrons of mounted carabinieri, between the Brigade "Cuneo" and Brigade "Piemonte". At that moment, the Piedmontese advance revived and some carabinieri came under Austrian fire. After a moment of confusion, Major Alessandro Negri di Sanfront spurred on the three squadrons of carabinieri against the enemy, with the King and his bodyguard joining the charge. The Austrian line was broken; the Piedmontese infantry forced the enemy to retreat.
Having reached the Adige, the Piedmontese were stopped by Radetzky, who had responded to the enemy advance with an attack on the centre of the Piedmontese formation. The attack was easily parried but succeeded in diverting Charles Albert from attempting to cross the Adige. The Skirmish of Pastrengo thus ended in a Piedmontese victory which raised the morale of the Savoyard troops, but their success in eliminating the Austrian bridgehead was incomplete since the east bank of the Adige remained firmly under Radetzky's control.