Battle of Varese

Overview

The Battle of Varese was fought on 26 May 1859 at Varese (Lombardy). It was an engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence, fought between the Italian volunteers formation of the Hunters of the Alps, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, against Austrian troops led by Karl von Urban. 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.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

At Varese in Lombardy, Garibaldi's Hunters of the Alps, numbering roughly 3,000 volunteers, defeated an Austrian force of around 4,000 troops under Karl von Urban. The outcome carried operational consequences beyond the local engagement: the Austrian defeat opened the route toward Como for the Hunters and, critically, compelled the Austrians to retain troops along the northern sector of the front. By tying down Austrian forces in that sector, the engagement contributed to the broader pressure the Franco-Sardinian campaign was exerting across Lombardy during the Second Italian War of Independence.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)