Corporal of the 11th Line Infantry Regiment during the Second Italian Independence War from April to July 1859.
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After the first defeat with the Austrian Empire in 1849 during the First War of Independence, the Kingdom of Sardinia reformed its armed forces completely in order to stand a chance with its very powerful and hostile neighbour.
After signing a defensive pact with Napoleon III, emperor of France, the King Victor Emmanuel II mobilized the army.
Fearing for its security, the Austrian Empire took the bait and launched a preemptive attack on the Kingdom of Sardinia thus dragging its Frech ally into the conflict.
After a series of battles won by the Franco-Piedmontese forces, the Austrians retreated behind the Mincio river facing the Chiese river behind which the French and Sardinian army were fortified.
Because of the inexperience of both French and Austrian chiefs of staff, and the general lack of reconnaissance, the two armies began to march towards eachother, unaware of the other's movement.
On June 24th 1859, the Franco-Piedmontese formation and the Austrians clashed near Solferino and San Martino.
The battle ended favorably for the allies, but Napoleon III immediately signed a peace treaty with the Emperor Franz Joseph.
The French Empire gained the control of Lombard-Veneto Kingdom which was traded with the Kingdom of Sardinia in exchange of the territories of Nice and Savoy.
During the Battle of Solferino and San Martino, a young Henry Dunant would attend to the wounded soldiers while visiting Italy on a business trip.
That experience was what inspired him to create the International Red Cross Committee, and to organize the First Geneva Convention which still nowadays protects the lives and rights of the non-combatants in modern conflicts.