Page 106 - 150° Anniversario II Guerra d'Indipendenza - Atti 5-6 novembre 2009

106 150° anniversario della ii Guerra d’indipendenza. atti del conveGno

did not work in a proper way The totally inadequate evacuation system of
casualties and the treatment of the wounded was surely also a problem of the
French and Sardinian troops after the battle of Solferino, but the accumula-
tion of all these problems led to the collapse of the fighting spirit and morale
in many Austrian units. This also led to a high desertion rate, which also
explicates the high number of „missing” soldiers in this campaign, in which
the deserters are included.
The consequences for most of the Austrian protagonists of the war of 1859
were ardous. Emperor Franz Josef never again took over the Supreme com-
mand in the field.
The consequences for Giulay and Grünne were swift and clear: They were
forced to retire as scapegoats for the defeat. The Chief of the General Staff,
FZM Freiherr von Hess, also had to retire in 1860, but he faced an honourable
discharge because of being overruled by Grünne in the campaign of 1859. His
exact warnings about the fast movement and fighting power of the French
Army and his clear analysis of the weaknesses of the Austrian army at the
beginning of the campaign were proven by the outcome.
As many as about a hundred generals of the army also had to retire.
The General-Director of the economic section of the Armeeoberkommando,
Feldmarschallleutnant Freiherr von Eynatten, was accused of corruption and
severe negligence of the logistic problems of the army and ultimately com-
mitted suicide in March 1860.
The commander of the Austrian VIII Army Corps, which fought so val-
iantly at San Martino till the evening of the 24 of June , Feldzeugmeister
th
5
Ludwig Wilhelm von Benedek, rose to the highest ranks in the subsequent
years. Briefly Chief of the General Staff, he would be the commander of the
Austrian Nordarmee in the War against Prussia in 1866.
An anonymous author wrote in the „Österreichische Militärzeitung“ in
October 1860:
(Our Army)… is inadequately led, because too many incompetent person-
6
alities have got into the highest positions.”

5 Dazu Richard Brooks, Solferino. The battle for Italy´s freedom (=Osprey Campaign
207). Oxford 2009.
Beck,
Die
bewaffnete
Staat
in
Macht
Allmayer
und
Zit.
6 Zit. nach Johann Christoph Allmayer Beck, Die bewaffnete Macht in Staat und Gesell--
Gesell
Johann
Christoph
nach
schaft, in: Die Habsburgermonarchie 1848 č 1918. Band V: Die Bewaffnete Macht. Im
Auftrag der Kommission für die Geschichte der Österreichisch-ungarischen Monar-
chie 1914 -1918 herausgegeben von Adam Wandruszka und Peter Urbanitsch. Wien
1987. S.46,