The Battle of Montebello was fought on May 20, 1859 at Montebello (in what is now Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

). It was a minor engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence

Second Italian War of Independence

The Second War of Italian Independence, Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War, or Austro-Piedmontese War , was fought by Napoleon III of France and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia against the Austrian Empire in 1859...

, fought between Piedmontese

Kingdom of Sardinia

The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

 cavalry and French infantry against Austrian troops. The Austrian defeat, despite the greater number, was another sign that Austrian troops were inferior to their enemies. Because of this battle, the Austrian commander in chief was obliged to keep some troops to cover the southern part of the front.

Austria

FML Graf Stadion, commander of V Corps

• 2 squadrons of 12th regiment Haller Hussar
  Hussar
  Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
  
  s
• Paumgarten division
  • Gaal brigade
    • 1/1st Liccaner Grenze
      Grenz infantry
      Grenz infantry or Grenzers were light infantry troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier in Habsburg Monarchy . This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the...
      
      
    • Regiment 3 Erzherzog Karl, 4 battalions
  • Prince Alexander von Hessen brigade
    • 4/Kaiser Jager Regt
    • Regiment 31 Culoz, 4 battalions
  • Bils Bde
    • 2/3rd Oguliner Grenze
    • Regiment 47 Kinsky, 3 battalions
  • 20 guns
  • elements Boer brigade (attached)
    • Regiment 49, 2nd battalion
    • Regiment 61, 1 battalion

(9,950 infantry, 230 cavalry and 20 guns)

• Urban independent division (attached)
• 2 squadrons of 12th regiment Haller Hussars
  • Schaffgottsche brigade
    • 3rd Jager Btn
    • Regiment 39 Don Miguel, 1 battalion
    • Grenadier Btn of Regiment 59 Raineri
    • Sluiner Grenz, 2 companies
  • Braum brigade
    • Regiment 40 Rossbach, 3 battalions
  • 12 guns
  • 4 rocket launchers

(6,700 infantry, 225 cavalry and 12 guns)