The Battle of San Fermo, which took place the 27 May 1859 at

a pass Alexander Bagonza, better known by his stage name A Pass (and formerly APassKiller), is a Ugandan musician and songwriter. He was born in Uganda on 21 December 1989. A Pass states that his stage name comes from Alexander his last name and Pass ...

near

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps ...

in the northern part of

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

, was an engagement of the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

in which the Italian volunteers of

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pa ...

Hunters of the Alps The Hunters of the Alps ( it, Cacciatori delle Alpi) were a military corps created by Giuseppe Garibaldi in Cuneo on 20 February 1859 to help the regular Sardinian army to free the northern part of Italy in the Second Italian War of Independe ...

defeated an Austrian force, forcing the Austrians to abandon Como.

Battle

On 27 May through 28 May, Garibaldi moved from San Fermo and took

. On the morning of the 27 May 1859 Garibaldi left

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label=Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the ca ...

and advanced towards Camerlata (nowadays a borough of Como). Through the use of a screening force at Olgiate (on the main road from Varese to Camerlata) Garibaldi was able to distract the attention of the Austrians as he led the main force of his army northwards in the direction of the mountains. After attracting the Austrian's attention he left a screening force at Olgiate (on the main road from Varese to Camerlata), while he led the main force north towards the mountains. This force then turned east and approached the San Fermo pass. The Austrians were caught out and the pass was only defended by the small force of Hungarians. The Hungarian troops took up defensive positions in the church of San Fermo and a nearby inn, from where they could command the valley approaches. Garibaldi deciding to outflank the Hungarian position and so divided his army into three groups. One flanking party was sent out on each side, one to outflank the church and the other the inn. When the flanking forces attacked the third group, in the centre, launched a full frontal assault on the Hungarian positions in the church and the inn. This group was under the command of Captain , who was one of the first Italians to be killed in the battle. Despite a number of losses the Hungarian positions were quickly captured by the Italians. During the course of the Battle of San Fermo fourteen Italians were killed and sixty were wounded.San Fermo to Como
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Aftermath

General Urban now realised that the pass was in Italian hands, and sent reinforcements up the steep road from Como. Garibaldi's men held off the Austrian attacks, and eventually Urban's army fell back into Como. The Austrians still outnumbered Garibaldi's men, but the defeat on the San Fermo pass had badly affected Urban's morale. While Garibaldi decided if he should risk an attack on the strong Austrian forces he could see in Como, Urban decided to retreat. When Garibaldi's men reached the town after the slow descent from the pass they discovered that it was undefended.

Notes

References

External links

Conflicts in 1859 Battles involving Austria San Fermo 1859 in Italy May 1859 events Giuseppe Garibaldi {{Italy-hist-stub