Battle of Solferino, 1859

Solferino Battlefield

Background

The Battle was one of the key engagements in the 2nd Italian War of Independence, resulting in the final unification of  Italy, which had been split between 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 battle saw the Austrians, on one side, and the French and Piedmontese forces, opposing ther advances.

Dave's scenario was the far right of the Austrian line where Austrians fought against Piedmontese / Sardinian divisions for the control of the village of  Pozzolengo, on the left of the Austrian line,  and vital high ground, near San Martino, at the very right of the Austrian line.

The Game

Battle mat  with figures& Ruless

Run by Dave on 5th-12th Jan '18, as on a 6' x 4' battle mat using 2mm figures, with each base representing a battalion of infantry, cavalry squadron or half an artillery battery. Game rules were Shako!, using the appendix for large scale battles.

What Really Happened

The Sardinian 3rd Div (Steve/MW) actually launched frontal attacks to retake San Martino village and the two fortified farms of Roccolo and Contracania on the hill. They tried several times but were beaten back, especially by an Austrian massed battery. 

The 5th Division (Mark/Phil) attacked on the 3rd's right and swung up onto the side of the hill towards Contracania farm (which was on the right of San Martino from the Sardinian's point of view)., but not as deep as Mark's movement round the rear. 

The Austrian VIII Corps (Mike N/Rupert/John) held on throughout the day. A brief downpour towards late afternoon put a hold on things for about an hour. 

Close-up of the 2mm Units

Reinforcements arrived for the Sardinians in the form of the Aosta Brigade (9 battalions) from the 2nd Division, sent by King Vittorio Emmanuelle to help with the attacks. They arrived 

about 5pm on the road to the right of the 5th Division (roughly where Mark was on the first night). These were the ones on the tray on the window ledge. The game finished before they arrived but they joined in the attacks historically and their numbers began to tell.

Meanwhile, the main Battle of Solferino further south, the French army had now duffed the rest of the 2 Austrian armies up (1st and 2nd) and the Austrians began to retreat back towards their territory of Venetia (they had surprised everyone by launching a massive counter attack earlier). At the southern end of the battlefield, it was much more suitable for cavalry fighting  and there were several glorious charges by both sides.

Ludwig von Benedek

Benedek, commander of the VIII Corps, received orders to retreat but to control it in order not to turn it into a rout. Being one of the better (probably the only decent) General the Austrians had, he managed to pull this off and extricated his command successfully back to Austrian territory. The Sardinians then advanced, took the town of San Martino, the farms and the hill, but at a terrible cost. 

The town town was renamed San Martino Delle Battaglia and there is a tower now there made into an ossary with bones and skulls from the battle.

Next up, Battle of Magenta (which was before San Martino) and the appearance of the French, some Imperial Guard (so more MR's of 5 and 6) and some rifled artillery (gulp). Bigger battle than San Martino but figure (!) scale will change so a 4 base/battalion regiment will be 2 bases to a regiment, 1 base guns to a battery instead of 2. God knows when this will be put on!