by H M Hozier
On the 16th July Persano weighed from Ancona. The fleet which accompanied him consisted of twenty-eight vessels, of which eleven were iron-plated, four were screw-frigates, two paddle-wheel corvettes, one a screw corvette, four despatch-boats, four gunboats, one hospital ship, and one store ship. The frigate Garibaldi remained at Ancona on account of necessary repairs. Messages were sent to all vessels at Tarento or Brindisi to sail towards Lissa, especially to the ram, the Affondatore.
On the evening of the 17th, Persano issued orders that Admiral Vacca, with three ironclad vessels and a corvette, should bombard Comisa; that the main force, consisting of eight ironclads, a corvette, and despatch-boat, should assail San Giorgio; and that Admiral Albini, with four wooden frigates and a despatch-boat, should effect a landing at the port of Manego on the south side of the island, in rear of the works of San Giorgio. Two vessels were to cruise on the north and east of Lissa during these operations, in order to give timely warning of the approach of the Austrian fleet.
On the morning of the 18th, Vacca began to bombard the works of Comisa, He soon found, however, that his guns could not attain sufficient elevation to do much damage. He gave up the attack, and sailed for Port Manego. Albini at Manego, for similar reasons as Vacca, could not effect a landing, and Vacca sailed to join Persano. The latter had begun to bombard San Giorgio at eleven in the rooming; by three o’clock, when Vacca arrived, he had blown up two magazines, and silenced several of the Austrian batteries. He could not, however, succeed in sending his ships into the harbour, and the prosecution of the attack was postponed till the next day.
On the evening of the 18th the whole of Persano’s fleet was assembled in front of San Giorgio, and in the night it was joined by the ram Affondatore and three wooden vessels. That evening Persano heard that the Austrian fleet was leaving Fasana to attack him. He calculated, however, that it could not approach Lissa before nightfall on the 19th, and determined to make a second attack upon the island on that day, and issued in consequence the following orders:—
Albini, with the squadron of wooden ships and the gun-boats, was to attempt a landing at Port Carobert, south of San Giorgio. The ironclads, Terribile and Varese, were to bombard Comisa, in order to prevent the garrison there from reinforcing that of San Giorgio. The floating battery, the Formidabile, was to enter the harbour of San Giorgio, and silence the batteries inside.Vacca, with the Principe de Carignano, Castelfidardo, and Ancona, was to support the Formidabile; the Re di Portagallo and the Palestro were to bombard the outside batteries; while Persano himself, with the Re d’Italia, the San Martino, and the Maria Pia, were to prevent opposition being offered to Albini’s landing.
The attack was postponed from hour to hour in case Tegethoff might arrive; but when, in the afternoon, the cruisers signalled that no smoke was to be made out on the horizon, the attack began.
The Formidabile entered the harbour, and, taking post four hundred yards distant from the Austrian batteries at the extreme end, opened fire. A battery on the northern side told severely upon her, and Persano ordered the Affondatore to open upon this battery through the mouth of the harbour. This was done, but without much effect.
Vacca formed his three ironclads in single line, steamed into the harbour, and opened on the batteries inside; but he could not efficiently support the Formidabile, both because she herself covered the Austrian batteries, and on account of the difficulty of manoeuvring in the narrow space within the harbour, which is only about one hundred fathoms wide.
He was soon forced to quit the harbour, and was followed by the Formidabile, which had lost sixty men, and suffered considerably. The latter was sent the same evening to Ancona for repairs.
The landing was equally unsuccessful. The wind blew fresh from the south-east, and the boats could with difficulty approach the beach on account of the surf.
On the night of the 19th, the ironclads were assembled in order of battle outside of the harbour of San Giorgio. Early the next morning the Piemonte joined Persano, who had now in all, thirty-four vessels under his command. On the 20th at daybreak the weather was stormy; yet Persano ordered another attempt to land. The ironclads, Terribile and Varese, bombarded Comisa. Albini and Sandri, with the wooden vessels and the gunboats, supported the landing at Port Carobert. The Re di Portagallo and the Castelfidardo were engaged in some repairs to their machinery; the ironclads remained under steam in front of San Giorgio, awaiting orders.
The surf ran so high that the landing could not be effected, and it was about to be abandoned, when one of the cruisers bore hastily down through the rainy mist, and signalled that the enemy was approaching from the north. Tegethoff with the Austrian fleet was at hand, to raise the attack upon the island.
BATTLE OF LISSA
On the 17th July, Admiral Tegethoff at Fasana heard by telegram of the Italian fleet being near Lissa. He concluded that its appearance there was but a demonstration to draw him away from the coast of Istria. On the 19th, however, fresh telegrams assured him that the attack on the island was serious. He determined to proceed there. His fleet was in three divisions. The first division, consisting of the ironclads Archduke Ferdinand Max, Hapsburg, Kaiser Max, Don Juan d’Austria, Prince Eugene, Salamander, and Drache, was under the immediate command of Tegethoff. The second division, consisting of the large wooden vessels Kaiser Novara, Prince Schwarzenberg, Count Radetzky, Adria, Danube, and Archduke Frederick, was led by Commodore Petz. The third division consisted of the smaller wooden vessels, Hum, Dalmat, Reka, Seahound, Streiter, Velebich, and Wall. Each division of the fleet consisted thus of seven vessels. To it four despatch boats were attached, the Kaiserin Elisabeth, Andreas Hofer, Stadini, and Greif. Tegethoff had with him thus twenty-five vessels, mounting about five hundred guns.
The Austrian admiral left the roads of Fasana about mid-day on the 19th of June. On the morning of the 20th his despatch boats reported a vessel of the enemy in sight The wind was blowing strong from the north-west At first Tegethoff steered a course from the north-west to south-east, parallel to the Istrian coast, but off Zirona and Solta he altered his course to one directly from north to south.
Persano, as soon as he heard of the Austrian approach, ordered his vessels to form line of battle. The Terribile and Varese were in front of Comisa, so that he had only ten ironclads. The Italian wooden vessels never came into action at all, except by firing some long-range shots. About nine o’clock the Italian ironclads, formed in single line, were steering almost from west-south-west to east-north-east in three divisions. The first division consisted of the Maria Pia, the Varese, which arrived about this time, and the Re di Portagallo; it was under the command of Ribotty. The second group consisted of the San Martino, Palestro, Affondatore, and Persano’s flag-ship, the Re d’Italia. The third group, under the command of Vacca, consisted of the Ancona, the Castelfidardo, and Principe di Carignano. The Maria Pia was at the head of the column; the Carignano was the sternmost vessel. When the Austrian fleet came nearer, Persano signalled each ship to go about, so that the Carignano led, and the column took a course from west to east.
Persano, at the same time, moved in person from the Re dTtalia to the Affondatore, which he ordered to take up a position on the flank of the column furthest from the Austrian attack. When Admiral Tegethoff could clearly make out the Italian fleet, it was steering from west to east. He bore down upon it in the following order:—His twenty-one vessels were arranged in three divisions of seven ships each. The first division consisted of ironclads; the two other divisions of wooden vessels. The line of ironclads led, with the admiral’s flag-ship slightly in advance, from which the other vessels, falling a little astern, formed a wedge-like order. The seven heaviest wooden vessels followed the ironclads, and were themselves followed by the lighter vessels in a similar formation.
Tegethoff bore down upon the gap between Vacca’s three vessels and the central Italian group, and drove his own flag-ship, the Ferdinand Max, straight upon the Re d’Italia, which he rammed several times,
and sank. Only a small portion of the crew were saved. The Palestro attempted to aid the Re d’Italia, but Tegethoff turning upon her, ruined her steering apparatus. At the same time she was attacked by other ironclads, and quickly caught fire. She fell away before the wind; the fire could not be got under, and with all her ship’s company, except sixteen men, she blew up. Thus of the Italian central division two vessels were lost, while the Affondatore remained inactive, apart from the battle. The third vessel of this division, attacked by the seven Austrian ironclads, as well as by three wooden vessels, was severely handled, and forced to retreat.
The Italian division under Vacca had, with a north-easterly course, sailed along the flank of the Austrian ironclads as they advanced, and exchanged some broadsides with them. When his leading ship, the Carignano, was clear of Tegethoff’s ironclads, Vacca ordered a change of direction, and brought his three vessels in line between the second and third Austrian divisions. His fire told severely on both, especially on the Kaiser, the flagship of the Austrian second division.
The Italian division under Ribotty, when it saw the central division engaged, altering its course, moved against the Austrian wooden ships, and thus brought them between two fires. Ribotty fiercely attacked the Kaiser, commanded by Commodore Petz. Petz, using his wooden vessel as a ram, ran with full steam against the Re di Portagallo, and lay then alongside of her. At the same time he was attacked by the Maria Pia, and his vessel suffered fearfully.
Tegethoff, by this time, had disposed of the Italian central division, and he brought his ironclads back to aid his wooden vessels. Under their protection the Kaiser got away, and was taken to Lissa. A close and fierce battle began now between the whole of the Austrian vessels and the six Italian ironclads, during which the Italian wooden squadron and the Affondatore looked on from the distance. The smoke was so thick that either side could with difficulty tell their own vessels; and soon the necessity of hauling off was felt.
Tegethoff signalled to his fleet to form in three columns, with a north-easterly course; the ironclads formed the northern-most line, nearest to the Italians. By this manoeuvre the Austrian fleet was brought in front of the strait between Lissa and Lesina. Vacca, under the impression that Persano had gone down in the Re d’Italia, ordered the Italian ironclads to assemble, and with them in a single line steered slowly towards the west, waiting for the Palestro. She soon blew up. It was now about two o’clock, and the action had lasted about four hours. At this time Persano, with the Affondatore, joined Vacca’s squadron, placed her at the head of the line, and ordered the other vessels to follow her movements. These movements appear to have consisted in no more than a steady pursuit of a westerly course to the harbour of Ancona. By the Battle of Lissa the Italians lost two ironclads, the Re d’Italia and the Palestro. The Affondatore sunk at Ancona, after reaching harbour. For three days the Italian people were led to believe that a victory had been won at Lissa. The mortification of the defeat which then became known was thereby increased Persano was summoned before the Senate, and was deprived of all command in the Italian navy.
One remark appears patent, even to those who are quite unskilled in naval matters, that in this sea-fight Tegethoff led his fleet, Persano only directed his. Another, that the Italian admiral, with superior forces at his command, allowed an inferior force of his own vessels to be attacked and defeated at the decisive moment by a smaller force of his adversary.
On the 21st, the Austrian admiral returned, without a missing vessel, to the roads of Fasana.
CHAPTER 3: Peace Between Italy and Austria
The armistice concluded between Austria and Italy was to last from mid-day on the 13th August to the 9th September.
In the meantime, negotiations for peace were opened at Vienna; and on the 3rd October a definite treaty was signed. By it Austria recognised the kingdom of Italy, and the cession to it of Venetia by the Emperor of the French. The ratifications were exchanged as soon as possible. The Austrian commissioner-general, Möring, formally gave over Venetia to the French commissioner, General Leboeuf, when a plebiscite took place. The annexation to the kingdom of Victor Emmanuel was almost unanimously voted by the people of Venetia, and Italy became one great country, united under the sceptre of the House of Piedmont, and free of any foreign dominion, from the Alps to the Adriatic.
Appendix 1
Peace concluded at Vienna on the 30th October, 1864, between Austria (Emperor Francis Joseph I.) and Prussia (King William I.) on the one side, and Denmark (King Christian IX.) on the other.
Introduction.—In the name of the Most Holy and Inseparable Trinity, His Majesty the King of Prussia, His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and His Majesty the King of Denmark, are decided to convert the Preliminaries signed on the 1st August into a definitive Treaty of Peace.
To this end are named as Plenipotentiaries, Baron Charles von Werther, authorised Minister at the Austrian Court, &c., and Mr. Louis von Balen, present Privy Councillor, by His Majesty the King of Prussia; Bernhardt Count von Rechberg, Knight of the Golden Fleece (until 27th October, Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs), and Baron Adolph von Brenner Felsech, Ambassador Extraordinary to the Danish Court, by His Majesty the Emperor of Austria; Mr. Quaade, Minister without Portfolio, &c., and Mr. Theodor von Kaufmann, Colonel in the General Staff, &c., by His Majesty the King of Denmark. These met together at the Vienna Conference, and having exchanged their powers of action, and proved them in due order, are agreed on the following articles:—
Article 1.—May peace and friendship exist from this time forth between their Majesties the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria, and the King of Denmark, and between their heirs and successors, their states and subjects.
Article 2.—All stipulations and agreements which existed between the contracting Powers before the war shall again come into force, in so far as they have not become annulled or modified by the sense of the present treaty.
Article 3.—His Majesty the King of Denmark gives up all rights in the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg, in favour of their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria, and binds himself to acknowledge any arrangements relative to these duchies which their aforenamed Majesties may make.
Article 4.—The abdication of the duchy of Schleswig includes all those islands belonging to it, as well as the territory situate on the continent To facilitate the determination of boundary, and to avoid the inconveniences which arise from the position of the Jutland territories, which are circumscribed with those of Schleswig, His Majesty the King of Denmark gives up to their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria those Jutland possessions lying south of the southern boundary of the Ribe district, as well as the Jutland territory of Mogel-Tondern, the Island of Amrum, the Jutland share of the Tohr, Sylb, and Roms Isles. In exchange, their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria concede an equivalent portion of Schleswig, which includes territories serving to secure the connexion of the above-mentioned district of Ribe, with the remainder of Jutland, and mark the boundary between Jutland and Schleswig, on the Koldnig side, which portion shall be separated from the duchy of Schleswig, and incorporated with the kingdom of Denmark.
Article 5.—The new boundary between the kingdom of Denmark and the duchy of Schleswig will proceed from the centre of the mouth of the Bay of Heilsminde, on the little belt, and after passing this bay, will follow the present southern limits of the Heyl, Weystrup, and Taps parishes, as far as the course of the river, which is on the south of Geylbjerg and Brönore. It will then follow the course of this river from its mouth in the Fövs Aa, the extent of the southern limits of the parishes of Peddis andVandrup, and the west boundary of the latter, as far as Konge Aa, to the norm of Holte. From this point the valley of Konge Aa will represent the limits as far as the eastern boundary of the parish of Hjort-Lund.
From this point the boundary line will follow this east limit and its prolongation, as far as the jutting angle to the north of the valley of Abbekjar, an
d lastly the eastern boundary of the village, on to Gyels Aa. From there the east boundary of Seem parish, and the south borders of the Seem, Ribe, and Wester-Wedstedt parishes, will represent the new limits, which will run in the North Sea, at equal distance between the islands of Mäno and Römo. In consequence of this new determination of boundary, the common title to rights and possessions, as well those which relate to the secular as the ecclesiastical, and which till now have existed on the islands and in the various parishes of die district, will be declared null. Therefore the new sovereign powers will have full right in every relation to the territories separated by the new boundaries.
Article 6.—An international commission, composed of the representatives of these high contracting powers, will, immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, be authorised to undertake the drawing of the new boundaries, according to the stipulations of the above article. This commission will also have to divide the restoration expenses for the new high road from Ribe to Tondern, even to the extension of the mutual territories through which it runs. Lastly, the same commission will lead the presidentship in the division of the institutions and capitals which till this time belonged in common to the districts or parishes now severed by the new boundaries.
Article 7.—The arrangements of the 20th, 21st, and 22nd Articles of the Treaty of the 3rd May, 1815, between Austria and Russia, which represents an essential part of the arrangements relating to mixed possessors, to the rights which these may exert, and neighbourly relations, with regard to the possessions separated by the boundary line, will find their application to the possessors, as well as to the possessions, which are to be found in Schleswig as in Jutland, in the cases given in the above-mentioned arrangements.
Article 8.—To arrive at a just division of the Danish monarch’s public debt, according to the proportion of the population in the kingdom and duchies concerned, and at the same time to ameliorate the insuperable difficulties which a detailed liquidation of the mutual claims and pretensions would call forth, the high contracting powers have fixed the debt of the Danish monarchy with which the duchies will be burdened at the round sum of 20,000,000 thalers (Danish currency).