First Battle of Custoza

Austrian-Italian history [1848]

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June 25, 2026

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The First Battle of Custoza, fought on July 24, 1848, was a significant defeat for the forces of Charles Albert, king of Sardinia-Piedmont, against the Austrian army led by Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky. This battle was part of the broader Italian Wars of Independence, which aimed to end Austrian control over northern Italy. The defeat at Custoza led to an armistice signed on August 9, 1848. This event was part of the wider Revolutions of 1848, a series of republican uprisings across Europe against monarchies, which ultimately ended in failure and repression.12

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battles of Custoza
The first battle, on July 24, 1848, was a crushing defeat for the forces of Charles Albert, king of Sardinia-Piedmont, at the hands of the 82-year-old Austrian veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky. An armistice was signed August 9.
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The first battle, on July 24, 1848, was a crushing defeat for the forces of Charles Albert, king of Sardinia-Piedmont, at the hands of the 82-year-old Austrian veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky. An armistice was signed August 9.
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Austria
Revolution and counterrevolution, 1848–59
…by defeating the Sardinians at Custoza, a victory that helped restore confidence to the Habsburg government as it faced so many enemies. Radetzky reimposed Habsburg rule in Milan and Venice, and in March 1849 he defeated the Sardinians once again when they invaded Austria’s Italian possessions. (See Custoza, battles of.)
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…by defeating the Sardinians at Custoza, a victory that helped restore confidence to the Habsburg government as it faced so many enemies. Radetzky reimposed Habsburg rule in Milan and Venice, and in March 1849 he defeated the Sardinians once again when they invaded Austria’s Italian possessions. (See Custoza, battles of.)
Read More