The Battle of San Germano (or the Battle of Mignano) was the final battle in the

Neapolitan War The Neapolitan War, also known as the Austro-Neapolitan War, was a conflict between the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples and the Austrian Empire. It started on 15 March 1815 when King Joachim Murat declared war on Austria and ended on 20 May 1815 ...

between an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

force commanded by

Laval Nugent von Westmeath Laval Graf Nugent von Westmeath (3 November 1777 – 21 August 1862) was a soldier of Irish birth, who fought in the armies of Austria and the Two Sicilies. Biography Born at Ballynacor, Ireland, Nugent was the son of Count Michael Anton N ...

and the King of Naples, Joachim Murat. The battle started on 15 May 1815 and ended on 17 May, after the remaining Neapolitan force was routed at Mignano. Following his defeat at the

Battle of Tolentino The Battle of Tolentino was fought from 2–3 May 1815 near Tolentino, Kingdom of Naples in what is now Marche, Italy: it was the decisive battle in the Neapolitan War, fought by the Napoleonic King of Naples Joachim Murat to keep the throne a ...

, Murat had fallen back to San Germano, now

Cassino Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley. Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rive ...

. There Murat reinforced his battered army with the Army of the Interior, which had been left in reserve to defend Naples during the war. Even so, most of the original Neapolitan force had been killed, wounded or deserted, and Murat's force only totalled 15,000. Meanwhile, General Nugent's force, who had marched from Florence, arrived in Rome on 30 April. From there, he marched towards Ceprano, where there was a minor engagement with a band of local militia. After receiving word of Murat's defeat at Tolentino, Nugent moved to intercept his retreat back to Naples. By 14 May, the Austrians were moving on Murat's position in San Germano. The following day, Murat decided to counterattack and drove back Nugent's vanguard, before attacking the entire Austrian line. However, another Austrian force of 25,000 men under the command of

Frederick Bianchi Frederick Bianchi is an American-born composer and music technologist (born 1954). Central to his work is the integration of acoustic instruments with electronic/computer-generated sound. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors, a ...

, which had followed Murat from Tolentino, were now moving to surround the Neapolitan position. With the attack faltering, and the Neapolitans beginning to sustain substantial casualties, Murat pulled back to San Germano and formed a defensive position. But as soon as Nugent's force approached, the Neapolitans panicked and retreated. Murat fell back to Capua with a small portion of the army, whilst the bulk of the army regrouped and took up a position around Mignano. It was here that a force of about 1,000

hussar A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...

s supported by jägers and

Grenzer Grenz infantry or Grenzers or Granichary (from german: Grenzer "border guard" or "frontiersman"; Serbo-Croatian: graničari, krajišnici, sr-cyr, граничари, крајишници, Russian Cyrillic: граничары) were light infantr ...

s assaulted and routed the remaining 6,000 Neapolitans. The majority of the Neapolitans fled as soon as the battle started, with the Austrians eventually taking over 1,000 prisoners. With the entire Army of the Interior now in disarray, Murat chose to flee Italy altogether on 19 May and the Neapolitans sued for peace, resulting in the

Treaty of Casalanza The Treaty of Casalanza, which ended the Neapolitan War, was signed on 20 May 1815 between the pro-Napoleon Kingdom of Naples on the one hand and the Austrian Empire, as well as the Great Britain, on the other. The signature occurred in a patricia ...

References

*Capt. Batty
''An Historical Sketch of the Campaign of 1815''
London (1820)
Details of battle at Clash of Steel

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:San Germano Conflicts in 1815 Battles of the Neapolitan War Battles involving Austria Battles involving the Kingdom of Naples 1815 in Italy 1815 in the Austrian Empire May 1815 events