The Battle of Turbigo took place the 3 June 1859 saw the French army secure two crossing points over the

Ticino River The river Ticino ( , ; lmo, Tesín; French and german: Tessin; la, Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows. It is one of the four ...

, allowing them to get a foothold in Austrian

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. Battle of Turbigo
/ref> In 1859 there were two main crossing points over the Ticino near

Magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...

. The main road and rail bridges crossed the river just to the west of Magenta. The road bridge was called the Ponte di Boffolara, after a village a few miles to the north east. On the western bank was the hamlet of San Martino, with an inn, railway station and Piedmontese custom post. Five or six miles further to the north, at Turbigo, there was another river crossing, this time by ferry. In both cases the western bank of the river was higher than the eastern bank, so if the Austrians wanted to defend the river crossings they would have to do it on the west bank. They chose to fortify a bridgehead at San Martino, which by the start of June was defended by troops from

Eduard Clam-Gallas Count Eduard Clam-Gallas (, in Prague – , in Vienna) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian general. He was the eldest son of Count Christian Christoph Clam-Gallas (1771–1838), patron of Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, and Countess Josephine Clary ...

's newly arrived corps. For most of the month May the main armies had been campaigning, with the French and Piedmontese concentrated in the area around

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

and the Austrians to their north. In late May

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

decided to move his entire army to the left and attack the vulnerable Austrian right wing. After the Piedmontese victory at

Palestro Palestro is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pavia. It is located on the banks of the river Sesia. History Although located in area settled by Celts, Etruscans, ancient Rome, Romans and Lombards, Palestro is mentioned for the first time ...

(30-31 May 1859) the Austrians finally realised what was happening, and Feldzeugmeister Franz Count Gyulai decided to retreat east, out of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and back across the Ticino into

. His aim was to defend

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and prevent the Allies from advancing into the Austrian controlled north of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. According to Frederick Schneid, "General Camou with a division of the Guard Voltigeurs, followed by MacMahon's II Corps and Fanti's 2nd Division, arrived at Turbigo, five miles northwest of Magenta, in an attempt to outflank Austrian positions, making the defense of the Naviglio Grande untenable. Camou's division crossed the Ticino by boat between 2 and 3am on June 4. With the right bank secure, the French laid a pontoon bridge."

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Battle of Turbigo
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Turbigo Turbigo (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about west of Milan, along the Naviglio Grande canal. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,486 and an area of . Tur ...

1859 in the Austrian Empire 1859 in France 1859 in Italy May 1859 events