Battle of Magenta

Battle of Magenta
	Part of the Second Italian War of Independence
	; The Battle of Magenta by Adolphe Yvon
Date	4 June 1859
Location	Magenta, present-day Italy
Result	Franco-Sardinian victory
Belligerents
Second French Empire; Sardinia	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Napoleon III; Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II; Marechal Mac-Mahon	Feldmarschall Ferenc Gyulay
Strength
59,100 infantry; 91 guns	125,000 infantry
Casualties and losses
657 dead; 3,858 wounded	1,368 dead; 4,538 wounded; 4,500 captured

The Battle of Magenta was fought on June 4, 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai.

It took place near the town of Magenta in northern Italy on June 4, 1859. Napoleon III's army crossed the Ticino River and outflanked the Austrian right forcing the Austrian army under General Gyulay to retreat. The close nature of the country, a vast spread of orchards cut up by streams and irrigation canals, precluded elaborate maneuver. The Austrians had turned every house into a miniature fortress. The brunt of the fighting was borne by 5,000 grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard, still in the First Empire style uniform. The battle of Magenta was not particularly large, but it was a decisive victory for the French-Sardinian forces. Patrice Maurice de MacMahon was created Duke of Magenta for his role in this battle, and later served as President of the French Republic.

The Franco-Piedmontese coalition consisted in overwhelming majority of French troops (1,100 Piedmontese and 58,000 French). Their victory can therefore be considered as mostly a French victory.

Aftermath

The colour magenta, discovered in 1859, was named after this battle,^[3] as was the Boulevard de Magenta in Paris.

References

^ Ambès, Intimate Memoirs of Napoleon III: Personal Reminiscences of the Man and the Emperor, 1912, P. 148.
^ Spofford, Ainsworth Rand. The Library of Historic Characters and Famous Events of All Nations and All Ages, P. 77.
^ Cunnington, C. Willett, English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century, Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1990, page 208

External links

The web site of the battle. Template:En icon Template:It icon Template:Fr icon Template:De icon

45°27′22″N 8°48′7″E / 45.45611°N 8.80194°E / 45.45611; 8.80194

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[1] Ambès, Intimate Memoirs of Napoleon III: Personal Reminiscences of the Man and the Emperor, 1912, P. 148.

[2] Spofford, Ainsworth Rand. The Library of Historic Characters and Famous Events of All Nations and All Ages, P. 77.

[3] Cunnington, C. Willett, English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century, Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1990, page 208

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