Only a brief mention of the operations in Italy is here necessary.
On the night of the 23d of June, 1866, the Italian army crossed the
Mincio, and encountered the Austrians at Custozza on the next day.
The Italian army, numbering about 120,000 men, was under the nominal
command of King Victor Emmanuel, the real commander being General La
Marmora. The Austrians, numbering about 72,000, were commanded by
Archduke Albrecht. The battle resulted in the defeat of the Italians,
who withdrew across the Mincio. The Austrian commander remained on the
defensive.
Garibaldi, with about 6,000 volunteers, invaded the Tyrol, but was
defeated in two small actions. Though he finally succeeded in gaining a
foothold on Austrian soil, his operations were of no importance.
On the 20th of July the Austrian fleet, under Tegethoff, defeated the
Italian fleet in the great naval battle of Lissa, in which the Italians
lost three iron clads.
Immediately after the battle of Königgrätz, Venetia was offered by
Austria to the French Emperor, and the Vth and IXth Corps were recalled
to the Danube. The Italians, under the command of Cialdini, again
advanced, and the Austrians (now numbering scarcely 30,000) fell
back to the neighborhood of Venice. On the 25th of July all military
operations were stopped by the conclusion of an armistice.
The Italians had everywhere suffered defeat. Yet their alliance was of
the utmost advantage to Prussia; for they neutralized three army corps,
which would have been of priceless value to the Austrians in Bohemia.