Battle of Palestro

The Battle of Palestro was fought on 30/31 May 1859 between the Austrian Empire and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and France. The Franco-Piedmontese forces were victorious. It was fought just south to Palestro, a town in what is now the province of Pavia in northern Italy.

History

After the battle of Montebello of 20 May 1859, the Franco-Piedmontese army moved towards Novara, aiming to reach Milan, the capital of Lombardy-Venetia, the Austrian puppet state in northern Italy. Part of the Piedmontese forces advanced to Robbio to cover the right flank of the allied army.

On 30 May the Piedmontese crossed the Sesia river and, after a hard fight, managed to take control of Palestro, Vinzaglio and Confienza. The following day, in order to test the enemy's strength, Austrian feld-marshal Friedrich Zobel ordered to attack Palestro to two of his infantry divisions. The 4th Piedmontese Division under general Enrico Cialdini took position between Palestro and the road to Robbio, with the 10th Infantry Regiment on his left, the 9th Regiment to defend Cascina San Pietro, and the 3rd Zouaves Regiment on his right flank, on an island in the river known as Sesietta. The King of Sardinia-Piedmont, Victor Emmanuel II, was in Palestro and followed the early course of the battle from the town's bell tower.

The Austrian attacked first the Piedmontese line at Palestro, but were pushed back to Robbio. The Piedmontese at Cascina San Pietro were also under heavy attack from Austrian troops from Rosasco. The situation was solved by the rushy attack of the 3rd Zouaves Regiment under Colonel Chabron, who attacked the left flank of the Austrian contingents. The Zouaves were able to reach the enemy's artillery, defended by the 7th Tirolese Hunters Regiment. Then they launched a bayonet attack against the four infantry battalions of the 12th Regiment "Archduke William". The positions conquered by the French units were immediately reinforced by Italian troops led personally by Victor Emmanuel, which arrived in time to repel an Austrian counterattack.

After the Franco-Piedmontese troops had strengthened their bridgehead over the Sesia river, Zobel, despite its numerical superiority, retired towards Robbio. His decision was motivated by the fear that French units under general Canrobert, which had just reached the left bank of the Sesia, could cut in two his corps.