The War in the North With Garibaldi

garibaldi

austrian mountain troops

 On May 26, 1859 at Varese (Lombardy).  the Italian   Hunters of the Alps, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi fought against Austrian troops. The Austrian defeat allowed the movement of the Hunters towards Como, and obliged the Austrians to keep troops on the northern part of the front.This helped the Italian troops down in the lowlands of Northern italy.On 26 May, at dawn, Urban arrived at Varese, where Garibaldi had already prepared the defence.
The Italians were deployed as: one battalion (Enrico Cosenz) on the right, two battalions on the left (Giacomo Medici), one battalion in the middle (Nicola Ardoino); two reserve battalions, one at Varese (Nino Bixio), and one at Biumo Superiore.

battle of varese

italian artillery

The Austrians opened fire with the guns, then moved three columns against the enemy. Cosenz's battalion attacked the incoming Austrians, and routed them into the other columns, repulsing the Austrian attack with the help of the Medici battalion.
 Urban, overestimating the enemy forces, retreated on Malnate. Medici and Ardoino attacked the retreating Austrians, causing more losses

austrian jager 1848

HUNTERS OF THE NORTH