Page 105 - 150° Anniversario II Guerra d'Indipendenza - Atti 5-6 novembre 2009

the austrian army in the War of 1859 105

The abolishment of the “Landwehr” (territorial battalions) and the intro-
duction of the “Reserve” in 1852 never met the requirements of a modern
mass army, which was already in existence in Prussia for more than four
decades.
The armament of the infantry consisted of rifled muzzle loader of the
Lorenz System 1854, which began in 1856 to equip the regiments.
The Austrian cavalry consisted of 38 regiments (cuirassiers, dragoons,
hussars and lancers- (in Austria called „Ulanen”).
The field artillery was divided into 12 regiments. Armament of the field
artillery consisted of smoothbore muzzle loaders, which also could fire shrap-
nels since 1840, but these artillery pieces were clearly inferior against the
modern French field artillery with their La Hitte rifled artillery pieces. 3
This Austrian military power looks on the first sight quite impressive, but
after taking a closer look you have more sober picture.
The problems of nationalism, which nearly brought the Habsburg monar-
chy at the brink of dissolution and collapse in the revolutions of 1848 and
1849, were by no means surpassed.
I tried already to explain some aspects of the problems in the Austrian
Supreme command. There was no more Fieldmarshal Wenzel Count Radetzky
in the Austrian land forces. Radetzky had died in January 1858 at the biblical
age of 92 years. Grünne wrote to Giulay at the beginning of the campaign of
1859: „What the old donkey Radetzky had achieved with his eighty years
(relating to his victories at Mortara and Novara the year 1849, the author) you
will also achieve.”
4
nd
Clearly Franz Graf Giulay, the commander of the Austrian 2 Army, was
by no means a ”Radetzky”, who was a brilliant general and called “father of
the soldiers”. Giulay, but an inferior but nevertheless arrogant general, whose
chief of staff Kuhn had superior military qualities than his commander.
Giulay´s instability was disguised in arrogance in peacetime command
and on the negligence on the battlefield.
The logistical problems the Austrian army faced in 1859 were not only
lack of drinkable water and adequate nutrition of the soldiers of the Austrian
army. The Austrian transport system, acquiring local drivers with their carts

3 Der Krieg in Italien 1859. Nach den Feld-Acten und anderen authentischen Quellen
bearbeitet durch das k.k. Generalstabs-Bureau für Kriegsgeschichte. Erster Band. Mit
einer Übersichtskarte und drei Gefechtsplänen. Wien 1872.
4 Zit. Nach Franz Herre, Radetzky. Eine Biographie. Köln 1981. S. 216.