Battle of Magenta 1859
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 4 June 1859 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1859 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Italian War of Independence | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 45.4561, 8.8019 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Magenta (Italian pronunciation: [maˈdʒenta]) was fought on 4 June 1859 near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, during the Second Italian War of Independence. It resulted in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferenc Gyulay. Napoleon III's army crossed the Ticino River and outflanked the Austrian right forcing the Austrian army under Gyulay to retreat. The confined nature of the country, a vast spread of orchards cut up by streams and irrigation canals, precluded elaborate manoeuvre. The Austrians turned every house into a miniature fortress. The brunt of the fighting was borne by 5,000 grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard, still mostly in their First Empire style of uniforms. The battle of Magenta was not a particularly large battle, but it was a decisive victory for the Franco-Sardinian alliance. Patrice de MacMahon was created Duke of Magenta for his role in this battle, and would later go on to serve as President of the French Third Republic.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Magenta (revision 1374525364), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Novara (1849) 1849 · 7 km
- Battle of Novara (1821) 1821 · 7 km
- Combat of Turbigo 1800 · 10 km
- Battle of Parabiago 1339 · 11 km
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Other battles of the Second Italian War of Independence
- Battle of Palestro 1859
- Battle of San Fermo 1859
- Battle of Solferino 1859
- Battle of Turbigo 1859
- Battle of Varese 1859
All 6 battles of the Second Italian War of Independence →
Browse more: battles in Italy · Europe · 19th century battles