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From Marengo to Turbigo together with 59eme and General Murat

The reenactor group “59eme demi-brigade de ligne” will intervene at the re-enactment set up in Turbigo (18 and 19 June): the invitation to this unprecedented event enhances the excellence recognized by the infantry regiment, recreated by the team of Napoleonic re-enactors placed in Marengo.
The last obstacle knocked down by the French troops directed to Milan concluded the military operation arranged in northern Italy (1800) by the First Consul Napoleon. This action was organized to rescue the Jacobin or ‘sisters’ republics which arose on the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1799. The goal of the battle of Turbigo (May 31, 1800) was to steal the bridge (also called “Napoleonic”) over the “Naviglio Grande” from the Habsburg enemy and to ford the Ticino River. The triumph is the apogee of the strategy already used by the Boudet and Loison divisions handled by General Duhesme and arranged in Trecate and Vigevano. The lieutenant Murat led the army on horseback and the vanguard to Galliate on the Ticino coast in front of the rivals. The French light artillery, facing Napoleon, supported the transit on the shore concluded by the infantry and by the “rentrée” of the Austrian defensive positions. The reinforcement led by the Austrian general Laudon to Turbigo, collapsed under the attack of Monnier division: the Habsburg destruction (three hundred deaths and four hundred inmates) preceded the French capture of Turbigo and Napoleon’s arrival. The forced march started by the French infantry led by General Murat to reach the enemy came to an end at the entry of Milan and predated the peaceful surrender. On 2nd June at 2 pm the carriage left Turbigo to escort Napoleon’s triumphal return to Milan.
“The event – Daniele Solivardi, president of the association “Risorgimento Turbigo” declares – will be embellished by the military field set up at the historic Villa Gray, that already existed during the period of the battle, by the narration on the battle at the “ Mulino del Pericolo”, the exact ford point of the French troops on the Ticino river, by the conference about the project provided by the Ujce (Union of European Journalists and Communicators) and extended to the territories of Piedmont and Lombardy.
The simulation of the battle will be set up on the bridge, that is still intact today. The collaboration of the Municipality of Turbigo and the “Mulino del Pericolo” association, organizer of the restoration of the medieval mill, was invaluable in the process of proposal and realization of this initiative “.