I have finally found myself back in rainy NW England for a few days after my travels to Italy. Apart from some very hot weather an abundance of mosquitoes and one or two challenges with the van it was a pretty fabulous holiday. Most days included multiple visits to either battlefields, museums or Roman sites. Far too much to share on the blog. In fact unusually for me I worked out a tally this morning and the trip included
14 Battlefields, 24 Museums, 8 Roman Towns (often multiple locations at each) and 10 Cities obviously some of these double up.
I’m sharing this trip to perhaps give some inspiration to others if they are travelling anywhere near these locations I would be happy to discuss in more detail anywhere I visited or places I undoubtedly missed on the way.
This post will be just the Battlefields as befitting the blog I share some of the other stuff at a later date. As a final note blogger seems to have taken yet another turn for the worse since my return and it has taken a real effort to load these photos, it may just be my poor IT skills but if it gets worse I fear the end of my blogging career. We shall see how it develops ?
On a brighter note I’ll share some pictures 🙂
First up Verdun an excellent museum
There are multiple locations to visit in the area this being famous as the command post for Colonel Driant who held up the first German attacks but lost his life doing so in the woods NW of Verdun
Plenty of evidence all around of the trenches and defences
Several of the defensive forts can be visited this is Fort Douaumont the scene of epic resistance and fighting
The front of the original fort heavily damaged in the War re occupied by the French when they had pushed the Germans back
Not so far to the East are the Battlefields of the Franck-Prussian 1870 war. A fantastic museum at Gravelotte
The memorial to the Prussian Guards who lost their lives assaulting St Privat
Behind me the open ground the Guards Assaulted across, these are big battlefields and with my limited knowledge I only visited a couple of key locations
Back down the road a French memorial at Mars La Tour scene of the previous epic battle.
A second famous fort at Verdun, Fort Vaux similar on the outside but fairly recently has had an upgrade to the displays inside which are really well done telling a grim story of the taking of the Fort by the Germans over several days.
Many of the bigger guns at the forts were removed just before the German advance, but they used some of these old Cannons instead !
Inside the fort you can follow in some detail the grim battle which took place as each tunnel was captured
Heading west the Battle of Valmy, one of the pleasures of these tours is I learn so much stuff, I knew nothing about Valmy but there is a lovely small museum (all in French) and you get a good sense of the battle as the landscape has changed little, the windmill is of course a replacement
A suitably impressive statue of the hero of Valmy, Kellerman father of the Kellerman who fought with Napoleon
Taking of which a visit to Brienne-le-Château an the small Napoleon museum at the former artillery school where he was a pupil.
The impressive chateau which you can’t visit unless you are a patient at the hospital.
Outside of the towns and villages I think the landscape has changed very little this is a few miles south and the Battlefield of La Rothiere. Where Blucher gave Napoléon a bloody nose in 1814. Possibly the flattest battlefield in France ?
The village itself is tiny but they at least have a sizeable memorial to the battle
Changing periods completely and on my route South the Battlefield at Alesia. Where Julius Caesar famously defeated the Gauls. There is a grand modern museum on the site, and this shot is take from the viewing platform towards the Gaul position on the hill where the village is now situated.
Looking the other way they have re created a small section of the Roman defences and have some great interactive displays. We apparently know much about the archeology thanks to Napoléon III who was keen to promote their Gallic heritage.
He also built this massive statue to Vercingetorix up on the hill which has become a significant cultural image for the french people.
Changing country and periods the battlefield at Magenta where in 1870 the French curiously under Napoleon III pushed the Austrians back over the river Ticino. This is the Canal bridge at Buffalora which was destroyed in the battle.
The main fighting instead took place around and across this Ponte Nuovo over the canal, strangely Magenta is fairly well setup as a battlefield by a local voluntary group with several well positioned information boards etc.
The town also has a grand statue of General MacMahon who helped win the day with his flanking attack I believe
Moving south the Visconti Castle in Pavia, very grand although the sections in the museum about the battle appear to be under restoration, nobody seemed to know, instead you can tour the art collections and some nice Roman stuff.
We walked up and around the Battlefield which is a large public park, but surprisingly it has no information for the casual visitor and is hard to get an impression of the battle due to the trees. castle Mirabello is somewhere amongst those buildings in the distance. It didn’t help that it was a really HOT humid and buggy day !
Changing periods again the Battlefield at Montebello those hills are where the Austrians sought to take the flank of the advancing french, the Town itself is just to the right. The road the french would have been on is marked by the thin trees in the middle distance.
Just outside the town there is a major monument to the ‘other’ Montebello battle which took place in 1859, the area has so much history it is quite random what has been memorialised and what not ?
A few miles down the road and our main target for the day is Marengo NapolĂ©on great (lucky) victory of 1800. We knew already so weren’t disappointed to find the museum shut for major renovation, no indication of the web site when it might reopen. Despite the ‘extreme’ heat we walked a few key areas of the battlefield largely unchanged. Behind us the farm at Marengo itself
Over my shoulder the Fontanone probably slightly less of an obstacle now than back in 1800. Much serious fighting took place across these fields and to the right the Consular Guard made its name and met its demise.
There is at least one marker for the battlefield
A super insignificant flat field but this according to my maps is where Desaix drove back the Austrian Guards late in the day losing his life in the process but finding eternal fame.
The guides talk about the modern day corps being different to those planted at the time, however in at least one location we found very traditional ‘tall’ corn growing, this is well over 8 foot tall and would seriously hamper visibility even for cavalry !
The Bridge at Lodi, just a quick stop on the way somewhere else, but we stopped in Lodi for a coffee (ps parking in Lodi isn’t great !) the plaque is close to the bridge
The modern bridge replaced the older versions but Napoléon of course was said to have sighted the guns along this bank to drive the Austrians back before his infantry charged the bridge and won the day.
Solferino, the small town below us. This shot taken from the old Castle tower that was a prominent feature on the battlefield. A nice museum in Solferino
We had some heavy rain but here we are at one of the famous gates of the Convent which formed part of the Austrian defences and saw much fighting
Here is the painting whoch I think I photographed in Turin ?
At last a battle field mini diorama in the St Martino musuem
The view from St Martino memorial tower the little bump in the far distance is Solferino
No tanks at Solferino but on my way back through France I went to Chemin des Dames famous for the French assault on the German position in 1917, the first use of French tanks immortalised at a nearby memorial.
The view from the ‘plateau’ the Germans were dug in the french attacking from in the valley.
Some evidence of the trenches etc but the ground is now mostly wooded although they have a spectacular viewing platform over the valley.
The area is also famous for the Battle of Craonne where Napoléon and Ney were chasing the Prussian/Russian army in 1814. A fine statue of Bonaparte although I think he has his back to the main battlefield ? Which was mainly fought over the hills in the background I think, Perhaps he is just letting Ney get on with it like he did on the day ?
You’ve done well if you've got this far. As you can imagine I/we had a great time, this is only the battlefields we visited and I’ll share some of the Roman stuff another day. I also saw some fantastic cities, loads of other history, had some great cycling and ate and drank well đź‘Ť
Matt 🍷
