THE BATTLE OF SANTA LUCIA

We got sidetracked after Pastrengo with the celebrations of Marengo for the 150th anniversary re-enactment of the battle but now we carry on as if nothing happened.After Pastrengo there was Santa Lucia . The Austrians fell back on Verona: it was a good position, they could come out at any time to harry the Piedmonts and thus keep Rivoli safe (this was vital to supplies from Vienna). The fort at Peschiera was blocked by Charles Albert's troops so Verona was the key. It was too strong for him to take so he decided to fight an action in front of its walls. This was the Battle of Santa Lucia. Santa Lucia was then a village outside the city but is now a suburb of Verona.
It is the saddest battle of all, sad that it revealed the cause of Italy, a united Italy to be useless, hopeless.It showed the widespread ineptitude of Italian senior officers and therefore a waste of manpower in the ranks below.
Verona at the time had 52,ooo people.
It lies on the Adige as if in a loop facing West with both ends resting on the river. It bristled with "guns" on the ramparts but a mile and a quarter outside the walls there was another strong line of defence known as the Rideau. This needs explanation.
To visualise the Rideau let us imagine ourselves to be Piedmontese officers marching towards Verona. When we arrive at 3,000 yards from the City we are confronted by and standing on the edge of a vast quarry, fifty feet deep with a circumference of five miles. When we halt here we look down onto Verona. From where we stand we can rain continuouys fire down into Verona without much comeback. The Rideau is a natural line of attack BUT also defence..
If the Italians occupied these elevated positions Verona was doomed so the great Radetsky put up fortifications in front of it. Verona , it was said, was ready to rise against Radetsky but only if Piedmont attacked

THE ANNIVERSARY OF SOLFERINO SAN MARTINO

The French Foreign legion at Solferino. A piece by Emi in 54mm

1. This is a 54mm French Grenadier of the Second Regiment (by EMi Italy)who fought at Solferino. I'm a bit bemused by the uniform as I've never seen this one before as regards the Solferino battle.




2. On the road very near to Solferino we found this field of sunflowers.They wouldn't have breen there in 1859 I believe
   Nothing is more annoying than readingsilly comments by those not in the knw about history.I say this noit from a position of sage but from that of a humble student:only today an idiot from the colonies wrote that "the French army always look good when they are not fighting a war". Of course if you have ever been to Solferino thats the last thing you'd say.
   This is the story of a day out spent discovering and finding out what really went down at the Battle of Solferino .(to be continued)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

FRENCH INFANTRY IN ITALY 1859

French Cavalry in an Inn ( by the way the original prints below will come out to full size if you click on them)
This Commercial kit shows the Legion at Magenta in white trousers instead of red.

A print of the times

Here again we have the Legion in White trousers But I can find no mention of it in official papers




Metal Modeles.The Legion in Italy 1859.Metal are a superb firm but there stand and look at the camera models are not my cuppa tea.

French Engineer in the period.They would mine then blow.

The Tercios were not Zouaves. They had their own traditions and origins. At Magenta they ran into 600 austrians and gave a great account of themselves.I'm now thinking that the dead attributed to the Foreign Legion in the "Bonery" at Magenta station are wrong.But I'm not sure.I'm thinking the engraver or caster messed the dead role call up. The Turcos lost 31 dead and 144 wounded at Magenta. On the 7th of June the Turcos entered Milan at the head of MacMahons army.

Great model and paint job here in a 54mm figure of the legion at Magenta

This shows the legionin Mexico but surely there was little difference in heat.

Britains piece easily converted to a Legionaaire in Itay1859








this is a diorama made by a group of war gamers of Magenta the pieces are all 20mm and they are all converted from other soldiers.This is by a local gaming group.

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   A print of the New Bridge that was heavily fought over.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   French troops resting in Italy near Verona 1859
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   The Zouaves leave the environs of Paris for Italy
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   The Chasseurs D'Afrique wore this uniform in Italy
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   French troops marching over the mountains to Italy
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   The Imperial Guard go into action at Magenta railway station
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   Napoleon at Magenta
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   Battle for the Cemetery
   

   imperial guardguidestrain imperial guard

MORE MAGENTA

1. The Zouaves were a mix of indigenous Arab and French origin troops.They had three H.Q's in 1852 one in Constantine, another in Oran and a third in Blidhah. The Corps called the African hunters effectively were Chasseurs a Pied, Zouaves and Turcos. They wee a special military corps inserted into the regular army in 1831. They distinquished themselves in Crimea and Italy with particular glory at the battle of Palestro.. It won them the medal of honour on their flag.They used the Carbine mod.1846 and 1853

Italian 15mm dragoons

A painting of the Battle of Magenta

French infantry on the attack

Zouaves MAGENTA 2005 . This time the battle was refought in its real place the City

Austrian artillery at Magenta

Where the Frenchdead lay=The Bonery.

Piedmontese infantry

Again the Piedmonts

Napoleon III Mokarex

Macmahon

Faidherbe above and here Fleury
Faidherbe didn't take part in the Italin wars but his story is interesting all the same.He opposed El Hadj Omar and besieged Medina fort, freeing the city 18 July 1857. He drove out the Moors in the North and annexed the  country of Ouolof (Treaty in may 1858).



The annexation of the Cayor (1861-1865) allowed the French to reach the road between Saint-Louis in the Cape Peninsula.


He took an interest in local dialects, customs and undertook economic development, including the  Dakar-Niger railway which became prosperous.


In 1861, sick, it seeks its return to the metropolis.  then a colonel. He received command of the subdivision of Sidi-bel-Abbès, but restarted for Senegal in 1863 and left in 1865.


With few resources he cast the future French West Africa bases. It expanded  French influence beyond  Senegal,he  worked to develop the local economy, and was the creator of the port of Dakar. he fully assumed its role as "civilisateur". Promoted General in 1863, he was given  a modest command in Algeria.





In 1867 he is general commanding the subdivision of Bône. In 1870 the Declaration of war  surprises  Lille, where he performs a stay of convalescence. Léon Gambetta appointed him General of a division on 23 November and  entrusts the head of the army of the North (45,000 men). It hunted several places Prussiens, won victories at the battle of Pont Noyelles (1870) and the battle of Bapaume (1871).


He was then elected MP for the North. Senator in 1879, he opposed the Georges Boulanger. In 1880 he became grand Chancellor of the Legion of honour.


He also headed a scientific mission to Egypt. He left many ethnography and geography work on West Africa, as well as a directory of Senegal in four languages: French, ouolof, toucouleur and sarra-khollé

magenta by fattori