War in the Tyrol : The History of the 11th Austrian Infantry Regiment During the Campaign of 1866

War in the Tyrol is a translation of part of 'Geschichte des k. k. Infanterie-Regiments Georg Prinz von Sachsen Nr.11', edited by Franz Jaeger.

The account describes what happened in 1866 when Austrians met Italian volunteers under Giuseppe Garibaldi, who had been given the task of freeing Tyrol from Austrian rule.

Previous historical document naturally stresses Austrian victories, despite Garibaldi ultimately proving successful.

Nonetheless, taken in company with general accounts from the Italian side, it provides a key piece of the tactical and strategic puzzle which was the war for South Tyrol in 1866.

The 11th Infantry Regiment was one of the oldest formations in the Austrian army.

Raised as long ago as 1629, when the Thirty Years' War was raging in central Europe, it had served with distinction at the battles of Zenta (1697), Aspern (1809) and Leipzig (1813) and had been praised for its performance in the Hungarian campaign of 1849.

In 1854, it had the headquarters of its recruiting district moved to the town of Pisek, in south Tyrol. During the 1859 conflict with France and Piedmont, the regiment formed part of 8th Corps.

It took part in the battle of Melegnano with some distinction, and at the battle of Solferino was part of the successful defence of San Martino against the Piedmontese army.

After that war the regiment moved garrisons a number of times before in 1862 being transferred to the mountainous city of Trient [Trento], under the command of Major General Franz Baron Kuhn von Kuhnenfeld, one of the more celebrated Austrian commanders of the mid-19th century.

Kuhn accordingly trained the units under his command to not only march but fight in narrow valleys and along ridges, and this training was to serve the 11th well when war broke out with Italy in June 1866.