Battle of Magenta

Background. Napoleon III signed a treaty of alliance with Piedmont-Sardinia on 26 January 1859. On 23 April 1859 he sent an ultimatum to the government of Piedmont-Sardinia demanding that it stop its military preparations and disband its army. Part of the French army crossed over the Alps, while the other part, with the Emperor, landed in Genoa on 18 May 1859. The first great battle of the war was then fought on 4 June 1859 at the town of Magenta.

Outcome. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the French and Sardinian forces. The engagement took place near the town of Magenta, a location within the Austrian crown land of Lombardy–Venetia. The victory was achieved under the command of Napoleon III against the Austrian army led by Marshal Ferenc Gyulay.

Legacy. A dye producing the colour magenta was discovered in 1859 and named after this battle, apocryphally because it matched the colour of the blood-stained red trousers of the French soldiers' uniforms; the Boulevard de Magenta in Paris was also named after the battle. Napoleon later presented a proposed treaty of alliance on 4 June 1869, the anniversary of the joint French-Italian victory at Magenta. A formal treaty ending the war was signed on 11 July 1859.