10. A BRIDGE TOO FAR?
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10. A BRIDGE TOO FAR?
On April 20th, exactly one month after the start of the war, the Italian-Piedmontese 1st Corps led by Carlo Alberto was wading the Brenta along the Fontaniva bridge. The army had arrived the evening of the day before and sent light units to the other side to secure the passage, while the bulk of the army camped along the shore to cross the next day. Making 45,000 men wade the bridge would not have been a quick feat and according to Bava's calculations it would have taken at least two days to wade the river. However, the troops proceeded quickly that morning, with about 10,000 men who had crossed the bridge by early afternoon.
The king had been among the first to cross the bridge, to symbolically put himself at the head of the army. The town closest to the ford was that of Cittadella, a village surrounded by medieval walls and Carlo Alberto sent General D'Arneaux, together with 6000 men, to the forefront. After all, they were not so far from Castelfranco where, according to the information in the possession of the Piedmontese, the Austrians had camped.
When the 6,000 Piedmontese arrived a kilometer from the city they were greeted by gunshots and cannons: the Austrians were already in the city and had entrenched themselves: D'Arneaux's troops were caught off guard, had not seen an Austrian for weeks, and panicked under enemy fire, preventing the general from rearranging his men and retreating. The arrival of the enemy cavalry that mowed the flanks of the division did not help and the general was forced to retreat not even twenty minutes after first contact. The Piedmontese withdrew in a disorganized way, many leaving backpacks and rifles on the spot, running towards the bridge to save their lives while being chased by the bulk of the Austrian army.
Carlo Alberto had established a command post in Fontaniva from which he could follow the ford of the army, when his attention was captured by the sounds of battle he heard not too far away, followed by the sound of retreat. The king rushed out of his tent to see the smoke on the horizon and the men who ran along the straight road that connects Fontaniva with Cittadella, running for their lives. Horrified, the king took his sword and sent for Bava, ordering him to prepare a defense, but it was too late: the Austrians hit the city like a swollen river and the Piedmontese defenders fought like lions to repel the enemy, while brigade after brigade crossed the bridge to throw bodies to oppose the enemy. At dusk the Italians had been rejected 500 meters from the bridge and would have been driven back over the Brenta if Giovanni Durando and the 8000 papal volunteers had not launched a bayonet charge on the left side of Von Westmeath. Aided by darkness and ferocity, the Austrians believed they were under attack by a wider force and broke the attack, retreating with the favor of darkness towards Lazzaretto.
Durando and his men saved the day by charging the Austrians from the flank and allowing the main army to regroup
Surprised by the ferocity of the attack, Bava decided to transport as many soldiers as possible to the other side by ordering the troops to wade the bridge at night and sleep what they could: it was essential to bring the Piedmontese numerical superiority to the other side in order to use it as an advantage rather than as a disadvantage. Von Westmeath would have driven the Sardinians behind the Brenta if it had not been for Durando. The next day the two armies would face off against each other: the Piedmontese had 30,000 men, another 10,000 were still wading the river, while the Austrians had a similar number, but they were better attested. The second day proved to be inconclusive, if not to inflate the numbers of the losses: the Piedmontese had pushed three times towards Cittadella but had been repulsed all three times, without causing serious damage to the enemy army.
Piedomntese infantry during the three attacks on Cittadella
On the third day, while Bava and Carlo Alberto prepared the men for a new assault, major of Sanfront, head of the cavalry units of the carabinieri, proposed a plan to the king and the general: while the infantry occupied the Austrians by distracting them, the cavalry would have gone down along the river, wading in Carturo and would have gone up again taking the enemy off guard. The king approved the plan and so while the Piedmontese and Tuscan soldiers assaulted the Austrian positions, mowed by cannons and rifles, the carabinieri crossed the river and galloped back, overwhelming the first Austrian line on the south flank and creating disarray between the men who were swept away by the ferocious knights. With the first line broken, the Austrians began to retreat with the Piedmontese infantry galvanized by the success that followed them. The Austrians retreated to Tombolo and Bava decided that for that day it was enough, stopping the army and camping.
The Carabinieri on horseback proved a very efficient cavalry unit during the war taking part in many battles and earning many medals
The fourth day was the decisive one: the Piedmontese had suffered serious losses between dead and wounded, mainly due to the Austrian artillery, but the Austrians had not been able to drive them back beyond the Brenta and had consumed many supplies. Early in the morning a messenger on horseback arrived and informed General Von Westmeath that the 2nd Piedmontese Corps had waded the Brenta further south and was marching towards Mirano to cover Venice. Time was against the Austrians, they had to drive Carlo Alberto back to the other side now otherwise De Sonnaz would have advanced far enough to shut down the escape route. The Austrian plan was simple: resist where they were by inflicting as many casualties as possible on the enemy and then carry out a final assault led by cavalry that would wipe out the exhausted troops, a bit like the Carabinieri did yesterday. Throughout the day, Bava and Carlo Alberto observed the waves of troops in dark blue coats crashing against the white-black rocks that always retreated in order to the next established line, leaving very little equipment but inflicting serious losses. The Bersaglieri of La Marmora had been kept in reserve for a final assault that at the moment seemed impossible. Around 5 o'clock the soldiers were tired and unhappy about being sent to the massacre against the lines, a state of mind that the Austrians noticed and the cavalry was ordered to overwhelm the Piedmontese. The Austrian dragons launched themselves against the Sardinian infantry, defeating it and paving the way for Carlo Alberto's command post. The king said "La Marmora, save us!" to which the colonel replied "I obey!" throwing his bersaglieri at the charge down the hill. The dragons found themselves in front of a flood of screaming men who fearlessly charged the horses. The Charge of Tombolo would enter the history of the Bersaglieri as one of the fundamental moments of the unit. The Bersaglieri routed the dragons and the rest of the army, seeing this feat of great courage, regained confidence and charged one last time following La Marmora with a drawn sword. Unfortunately for the colonel during the clashes an Austrian officer managed to shoot him in the face before being killed by the blade of La Marmora, who was seriously injured in the cheek and taken away, but the position was taken together with thousands of prisoners while Von Westmeath and the half of his men had managed to withdraw.
Led by their fearless commander LaMarmora, the Bersaglieri proved themselves one of the best light infantry units in the world by often being the last line of defense against the Austrians as it happened at Cittadella
With the victory in the battle of Cittadella, the Piedmontese had routed the Austrians who would no longer seek confrontation with the Italian armies now that they were running out of men and supplies. Von Westmeath was fleeing to Treviso and then from there Gorizia where he would meet the reinforcements but during the escape he ordered his men, those who had not deserted at least, to set fire to fields and villages to deny supplies to the enemy, starting the Looting of the Veneto.
Carlo Alberto had won his great battle but at great cost: about 10,000 Piedmontese remained on the field, most as injured but there were also many dead, observers will describe the battle of Cittadella several times as a real massacre in which it came to the melee very often. If it were not for the courage, skill and resourcefulness of Luigi Durando, Alessandro di Sanfont and Alessandro La Marmora, the Piedmontese would have been badly defeated. Cittadella is one of the examples in which a man can make the difference between victory and defeat and these future heroes of Italy will be celebrated by their king.
On April 20th, exactly one month after the start of the war, the Italian-Piedmontese 1st Corps led by Carlo Alberto was wading the Brenta along the Fontaniva bridge. The army had arrived the evening of the day before and sent light units to the other side to secure the passage, while the bulk of the army camped along the shore to cross the next day. Making 45,000 men wade the bridge would not have been a quick feat and according to Bava's calculations it would have taken at least two days to wade the river. However, the troops proceeded quickly that morning, with about 10,000 men who had crossed the bridge by early afternoon.
The king had been among the first to cross the bridge, to symbolically put himself at the head of the army. The town closest to the ford was that of Cittadella, a village surrounded by medieval walls and Carlo Alberto sent General D'Arneaux, together with 6000 men, to the forefront. After all, they were not so far from Castelfranco where, according to the information in the possession of the Piedmontese, the Austrians had camped.
When the 6,000 Piedmontese arrived a kilometer from the city they were greeted by gunshots and cannons: the Austrians were already in the city and had entrenched themselves: D'Arneaux's troops were caught off guard, had not seen an Austrian for weeks, and panicked under enemy fire, preventing the general from rearranging his men and retreating. The arrival of the enemy cavalry that mowed the flanks of the division did not help and the general was forced to retreat not even twenty minutes after first contact. The Piedmontese withdrew in a disorganized way, many leaving backpacks and rifles on the spot, running towards the bridge to save their lives while being chased by the bulk of the Austrian army.
Carlo Alberto had established a command post in Fontaniva from which he could follow the ford of the army, when his attention was captured by the sounds of battle he heard not too far away, followed by the sound of retreat. The king rushed out of his tent to see the smoke on the horizon and the men who ran along the straight road that connects Fontaniva with Cittadella, running for their lives. Horrified, the king took his sword and sent for Bava, ordering him to prepare a defense, but it was too late: the Austrians hit the city like a swollen river and the Piedmontese defenders fought like lions to repel the enemy, while brigade after brigade crossed the bridge to throw bodies to oppose the enemy. At dusk the Italians had been rejected 500 meters from the bridge and would have been driven back over the Brenta if Giovanni Durando and the 8000 papal volunteers had not launched a bayonet charge on the left side of Von Westmeath. Aided by darkness and ferocity, the Austrians believed they were under attack by a wider force and broke the attack, retreating with the favor of darkness towards Lazzaretto.
Durando and his men saved the day by charging the Austrians from the flank and allowing the main army to regroup
Surprised by the ferocity of the attack, Bava decided to transport as many soldiers as possible to the other side by ordering the troops to wade the bridge at night and sleep what they could: it was essential to bring the Piedmontese numerical superiority to the other side in order to use it as an advantage rather than as a disadvantage. Von Westmeath would have driven the Sardinians behind the Brenta if it had not been for Durando. The next day the two armies would face off against each other: the Piedmontese had 30,000 men, another 10,000 were still wading the river, while the Austrians had a similar number, but they were better attested. The second day proved to be inconclusive, if not to inflate the numbers of the losses: the Piedmontese had pushed three times towards Cittadella but had been repulsed all three times, without causing serious damage to the enemy army.
Piedomntese infantry during the three attacks on Cittadella
On the third day, while Bava and Carlo Alberto prepared the men for a new assault, major of Sanfront, head of the cavalry units of the carabinieri, proposed a plan to the king and the general: while the infantry occupied the Austrians by distracting them, the cavalry would have gone down along the river, wading in Carturo and would have gone up again taking the enemy off guard. The king approved the plan and so while the Piedmontese and Tuscan soldiers assaulted the Austrian positions, mowed by cannons and rifles, the carabinieri crossed the river and galloped back, overwhelming the first Austrian line on the south flank and creating disarray between the men who were swept away by the ferocious knights. With the first line broken, the Austrians began to retreat with the Piedmontese infantry galvanized by the success that followed them. The Austrians retreated to Tombolo and Bava decided that for that day it was enough, stopping the army and camping.
The Carabinieri on horseback proved a very efficient cavalry unit during the war taking part in many battles and earning many medals
Led by their fearless commander LaMarmora, the Bersaglieri proved themselves one of the best light infantry units in the world by often being the last line of defense against the Austrians as it happened at Cittadella
With the victory in the battle of Cittadella, the Piedmontese had routed the Austrians who would no longer seek confrontation with the Italian armies now that they were running out of men and supplies. Von Westmeath was fleeing to Treviso and then from there Gorizia where he would meet the reinforcements but during the escape he ordered his men, those who had not deserted at least, to set fire to fields and villages to deny supplies to the enemy, starting the Looting of the Veneto.
Carlo Alberto had won his great battle but at great cost: about 10,000 Piedmontese remained on the field, most as injured but there were also many dead, observers will describe the battle of Cittadella several times as a real massacre in which it came to the melee very often. If it were not for the courage, skill and resourcefulness of Luigi Durando, Alessandro di Sanfont and Alessandro La Marmora, the Piedmontese would have been badly defeated. Cittadella is one of the examples in which a man can make the difference between victory and defeat and these future heroes of Italy will be celebrated by their king.
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