Timeline 1859
- 20 May, French infantry and Sardinian cavalry defeat the Austrian army, which retreated, near Montebello;
- 26 May, Giuseppe Garibaldi's Hunters of the Alps confront Austrian forces led by Field Marshal-Lieutenant Carl Baron Urban at Varese;
- 27 May, Hunters of the Alps defeat Urban at San Fermo, entering Como.
- 30 May, Sardinians defeat the Austrian army at the Battle of Palestro;
- 4 June, in the Battle of Magenta, French defeat Austrians;
- 21 June/24 June, in the Battle of Solferino, Sardinians and Napoleon III of France defeat an army commanded by Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph himself in northern Italy. The battle inspires Henri Dunant to found the Red Cross;
- 11 July, Franz Joseph, faced with the revolution in Hungary, meets Napoleon III at Villafranca, where they signed an armistice.
Read more about this topic: Second Italian War Of Independence