Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-1870 (1)

Advertised as the first of a two-part series covering the three Italian Wars of Unification, I awaited the release of Osprey's MAA's 512 Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-70 (1) with anticipation.  While my interest is primarily focused on the second unification war of 1859-1860, the first and third wars would hold interest as well.  What topics and uniforms would be included in Volume 1?  I enjoy Giuseppe Rava's artwork so there was much for which to look forward.  Over several months leading up to its release, several versions of the cover artwork were shown.  Which illustrations would make the cover?  

Upon announcement of the book's release, I quickly ordered a copy.  With quick Amazon shipping, the book arrived in two days.

While Rava's illustrations are colorful and first rate works of art, the textual content is a disappointment.  The text consists almost entirely of describing organization and weapons.  For a proper uniform guide, I expect some historical background and army organization, no doubt, but details on uniforms worn are paramount.  "Details" in the sense of providing enough information to make the book a valuable addition to the body of uniformology.  Ideally, the book should offer a uniform guide first and foremost.

Some uniform details are present.  However, uniform specifics are tucked away in the back of the book in the Plate Commentaries as well as in captions accompanying black & white illustrations.  Having uniform details accompanying period black & white illustrations is an odd choice.    Still not enough information from which to paint the Piedmont, Neapolitan, and Sicilian armies.  With a wealth of uniform information readily available on the internet, gathering these sources and incorporating into a booklet could provide a foundation for a uniform guide.

For a few, useful uniform guides on the Risorgimento, see my earlier post on Risorgimento Uniform Guides.

While this is not the book I would have written, all is not lost.  Looking at the B&W illustrations and Rava's full color uniform plates, the 1848 Neapolitan uniforms have a striking similarity in style to uniforms worn by the Mexican Army during the Mexican-American War.  That is a useful bit of information!  If fielding a Neapolitan army for the 1848-1849 conflict is troublesome with respect to figures, Mexican regulars (including Grenadier Guards of the Supreme Power) could stand in for Neapolitans with only minimal differences especially in 15mm.  Well, that may be my approach if I work in that direction. 

Canon de Campagne de 4 - Modèle 1858 La Hitte.

The French Model 1858 La Hitte 4 "pounder" remained a puzzle for me since the days of fielding French guns on the tabletop Mexican battlefield during the French Intervention.  Why would the French field such a comparatively small caliber gun in such large numbers?  During the French Intervention and the earlier Franco-Austrian War, Orders of Battle were dominated by these 4 "pounders."  I always wondered why until recently.

Recently, that is until re-reading Richard Brooke's Solferino 1859 book.  Therein he mentioned the French pieces de quartre fired a 4kg shell.  A 4 kg shell rather than a 4 pound shell?  Maybe there was some confusion?  Providing even more confusion was Luigi Casali's, The Second Italian War of Independence listing the French as having 37 batteries of 4 inch rifled muzzle loading guns.  Even Dr. Stephen Summerfield's recent The Italian Campaign of 1859 describes the French as having a 4 pound rifled muzzle loading gun.  Pounds, kilograms, and inches all given as units of measure for the French pieces de quartre.  What is going on?  Many game rules also list a French 4 pounder as the dominate gun platform.  Bruce Weigle in his excellent 1859 rulebook lists the French as having a 4 pounder but later clarifies that it, indeed, fired a 4 kg shell.

After investigation into this seeming anomaly, evidence points to the French Canon de Campagne de 4 - Modèle 1858 La Hitte as firing a 4 kg conical shell.  Actually the weight of the projectile is listed as 3.7 kg.  Could the confusion stem from the caliber or bore of the gun?  Firing solid shot, this caliber tube fired a 4 pound projectile.  With the introduction of rifling and conical shells, the weight of the projectile could almost be doubled.  Thus a "four pound" gun firing a four pound shot could now fire a four kg elongated shell.  Even though that same bore could now fire a four kg projectile, perhaps the old nomenclature was hard to drive out.  Or, like the French name of the gun, itself, no mention to the unit of measure was made.  The gun was simply the Canon de Campagne de 4 - Modèle 1858 La Hitte.  

    

Italian Campaign of 1859 - A Review

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859:
The Campaign, Battles and Equipment
Stephen Summerfield (2016) 

Having recently seen the announcement of this forthcoming book on Warfare in the Age of Steam blog, an order was quickly placed with Ken Trotman Books.  The reply I received from Richard Brown was that the book was still undergoing final preparations before publication.  A few weeks later the book arrived in the post mid-November with handsome cover art.  As I read, I wished more care had been taken during the final pre-publication editorial and content review. 

While the quality of the paperback book, itself, is high (glossy cardstock cover, quality paper), the contents are a discordant mish-mash of articles seemingly thrown together without focus.  Add to that a lack of proofreading and I nearly gave up after reading the first page of Chapter One.  Giving up after only one page?  Hardly a fair trial, you say.  Well, an example from the first page of Chapter One on page 9 reads,

"The troops were condemned to live of the country, the need got clothing and shoes became urgent."

What?

Chapter One begins with an overview of the Austrian Army. Following the first page of Chapter One are two pages of Orders of Battle for the Austrians during the campaign.  No introduction announcing the upcoming OB.  Turn the page and there it is.  Following that interruption, text returns to discussing the composition of the Austrian Army.  Much of the outline in Chapter One focuses on Austrian equipment with a level of detail that left me scratching my head.  In a brief overview of the 1859 campaign, is it necessary to highlight that,

"The limber...had the pintle placed 35cm behind the axletree...?"

This detail seems at odds with the description of Austrian uniforms which simply states that,

"The uniform was introduced in 1852."

Chapters Two and Three follow the outline of Chapter One by providing a similar overview of the French and Piedmont-Sardinian Armies. While Austrian artillery is given a section within the Austrian chapter, the French chapter focuses almost exclusively on artillery.  The Sardinian overview spends three pages devoted to tables showing composition and strength by branch of service.  Such detail was not present for either Austria or France.

The next three chapters (4-6) present Major Miller's 1861 works entitled, "The Italian Campaign of 1859: Parts 1 and 2: General Account."  Chapter Four provides brief recaps of the battles of Montebello, Palestro, Magenta, and Solferino.  Chapter Five provides a brief analysis and critique of the strategy and war operations and then performs the same for each of the individual battles.  Chapter Six finishes off Miller's lectures with a look at why the Austrians failed in the campaign.  I found these three chapters interesting.

The final five chapters reprint translations of W.J. Fiedler as compiled by Ralph Weaver of the Continental Wars Society.  Many of the translations focus on Montebello.  Since one of my current scenario development interests encompasses the Battle of Montebello, I read these short works with interest.

Scattered throughout the text are uniform plates, illustrations, and maps from a variety of sources.  The same map of Solferino is given a one page treatment followed immediately by a two page spread of the same map.  No need for both.  Proofreading should have culled one of these duplicates.  Given that the book is an aggregation of disparate topics on the 1859 campaign, it is easy to understand why the book lacks a common thesis. Perhaps the book's best use might be as a primer on the 1859 campaign.  At GBP21 post-paid, it represents a fair value but did not meet my expectations.  I had much higher hopes.

L'Esercito Piemontese Cavalry 1849-1859

I recently picked up a copy of Melani and Riccardi's second volume of Sardinian uniforms from the Risorgimento 1849-1859 published by Soldiershop (see Soldiershop website).  While Volume 1 focused on the infantry, Volume 2 tackles Sardinian cavalry during the Italian Wars of Independence and the Crimean War.

The cavalry book is much thinner than its sister book on the infantry but still a useful addition to the library.  While the book is written in Italian, the dozen color plates have translations in the back of the book.  In addition, all of the black and white photos, illustrations, and line drawings have captions in both Italian and English.  The color plates are handsomely rendered.  Colors are vibrant and the plates are first rate.  Besides cavalry uniforms, color plates are also included illustrating the weaponry (firearms and sabers), webbing, and horse furniture of the Sardinian horsemen.  Very good to see detail of the saddlery and firearms utilized by the trooper.  Since the plates below are presented on the Soldiershop's website, I provide the samples below to illustrate the quality of the artworks:    

Melani and Ricciardi provide a listing of the cavalry regiments present for each of the campaigns in 1849, Crimean War, and 1859.  At 79 pages, it is slightly more lengthy than an Osprey MAA and the artwork is as good as artwork found in most MAA's booklets.  At Euro 16.00, it offers good value for a glimpse of Sardinian cavalry uniforms from the mid-19th Century. 

Another useful reference for Sardinian uniforms is Chris Flaherty's Ottoman Uniform website (see Ottoman Uniforms).  The relevant uniform plates Chris includes are Sardinian uniforms from the Crimean War.  As in the above, these plates are handsomely executed and a terrific resource for those wishing to field Sardinians for either the Crimea or Italy.  A sample of Chris' colorful plates is below:

Chris has created a tremendous reference for Ottoman uniforms and the reader is treated with a fine collection of Sardinian uniforms too.  The desire to paint and field Turks will be hard to repress after investigating Chris' website.  Give his site a browse.

Finally,  Osprey is getting in on the Italian Unification Wars with an upcoming MAA of Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-70 (1): Piedmont and the Two Sicilies.  This will be a two volume series.  The book is scheduled for a 2017 release and I have found two potential covers for the book.  I wonder which will see publication?

To end, two photos of Sardinian cavalry bronzes from the flag museum inside of the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument in Rome.  Of course, more such photos from my recent Italian visit will be appearing to break up the painting routine.

  

Risorgimento Uniform Guides

Obscure projects can lead to challenges in painting and fielding combatants.  Such is the situation with the 1859 Risorgimento / Second Italian War of Independence / Franco-Austrian War (or whatever you might call it) conflict.

While Osprey Publishing provides a handful of useful booklets for the Austrians and French, information on the Sardinian Army is difficult to obtain.  A number of resources are available on the Internet (I must have several score of images captured from the web) but uniform booklets are much more rare.  That is, until recently.

Soldiershop Publishing in Italy has produced two very useful books for the Sardinian forces present in this war.  In 2012, Soldiershop published Volume 14 in their Soldiers & Weapons series focusing on the foot forces.  Melani and Ricciardi's book is 159 pages packed with useful information.  Included are unit organizations, uniform plates, tables of unit regimental facing colors, and more.  Comprehensive.  The uniform plates are brilliantly executed in color including equipment, rank distinctions, saddle clothes, and armaments.  The downside for native English readers is that the text is in Italian.  Photo and illustration captions are bilingual in both Italian and English.    

When I first saw Volume 014, I wondered if the concentration on infantry and artillery suggested that a separate book covering the cavalry might be forthcoming.   That was indeed the case as a second volume highlighting the cavalry arm was recently published.  Volume #2 has been added to my Wish List while I wait for my favorite international book vendor to get the book in stock.

In addition to the resources shown above, Historica publishes a one volume book on the Austrian army for the 1859 conflict.  Like the Soldiershop series, this book is similar to Osprey in size and scope.  At 88 pages, it carries a little more heft than an Osprey and contains similar content.  As similar to the Soldiershop series, L'esercito Austriaco ne 1859 is printed in Italian.  Fortunately, all captions, illustrations, and uniform plates have English descriptions.  In the back of the book are English translations of the Italian text.  Another very useful resource for studying the 1859 conflict.

Of course, no mention of Sardinian forces during this conflict can be complete without mentioning my long time reference.  That reference is Campaign Booklet #8 of Casali's The Second Italian War of Independence 1859 published (at the time) by Freikorps 15s.
In Casali is a brief history of the campaign,unit organization, painting guides for each of the major combatants, and orders of battle.  Great little resource!

My well worn copy of Casali

Battle of San Martino - Battlefield Walk

Nancy and I visited northern Italy in 2009.  One of the stops included two nights at Desenzano on Lake Garda.  Although there were Roman ruins, villas and fortified towns to see, my main objective in a Desenzano stay was a visit to the battlefield of San Martino just a few miles outside of town.  We missed the 150th anniversary celebration of the Franco-Italian victories at the twin battles of Solferino and San Martino in June but a September visit would suffice.  One benefit of a September visit was that we enjoyed the walk nearly alone.

Without renting a car, we relied on public transportation.  With help from the hotel desk clerk and fortified by breakfast, we made it onto a bus that she assured us would get us "close to the battlefield."  Actually, "close" meant getting off the bus at the end of the line and trying to cover the remaining distance on foot.  Well, the bus deposited us near a little tavern at the end of the bus line.  Not knowing exactly where we were, we sought aid from the tavern owners and patrons.  The tavern patrons, while animated and wanting to help, spoke no English and we spoke not much more than very basic, tourist-phrase Italian.  We stood in the parking lot with two gentlemen waving and pointing in various directions when we asked about the location of the battlefield.  Finally, I uttered the key word "torres" and both gentlemen knew how to help in providing directions.  Again, the directions given were a combination of pointing, hand gestures, and relaying compass points in Italian.  Nancy caught part of the message that we would need to head southeast over the freeway.  We thanked them and struck out in search of the battlefield.

After gaining a bit of elevation as we climbed onto the highway overpass, we caught sight of the tower.  Walking south on the Strada Provinciale 13 towards Pozzolengo we reached the road leading west onto the San Martino heights.  The southern approaches to the heights are now dominated by vineyards.  The view from the Strada looking east shows the Ortaglia farm with the tower in the background.  Now, the tower wasn't present at the time of the battle but built later as a memorial.

After paying a modest entrance fee, we entered the grounds of the tower and museum.  The museum contains a number of artifacts from the war including a couple of cannon, uniforms, and flags.

Museo della Battaglia

Austrian uniforms

French uniform plates

Italian uniform plates

After a quick look around the museum, we exited and made our way towards the tower.

Inside the rotunda are a number of plaques listing the units engaged, officers present, and casualties sustained on the day of battle.

Murals cover the inside walls of the tower and paint a picture of the conflict in a seemingly never-ending spiral all the way to the top.  Samples of the murals are included below.

Sardinian infantry fend off an Austrian cavalry attack

Garibaldi's "Red Shirts"

Bersaglieri in action

Reaching the top of the tower, the visitor is greeted by vast, sweeping vistas.  In the first photo, the Monte Cipressi tower at Solferino can be seen in the distance to the south.

Looking west, the road from Lonato (off picture to the right) to Madonna della Scorperta (off picture to the left) follows the heights.  The Columbara farm can be seen in the foreground.  Pinerolo would have attacked from the west towards Columbara.

Looking north, Lake Garda, Rivoltella, Desenzano, and Sirmione can be seen in the distance.  In the foreground is the Roccolo farm with the Monata farm in the center.  The main Sardinian effort advanced on the heights, deployed on either side of the road in the center of the photo.

A closer inspection of the Monata farm.

Ossuary 

Inside Ossuary with stacks of skulls