Battaglia per il monastero 1859

Yes it has been a long time since I posted.  Just too much other stuff going on around here.  Although, my group and I have gotten in some games over the last month or so.  This battle was at the end of March.
Hopefully I have gotten my Italian correct.  If someone out there can verify it, that would be great.  My Italian is very rusty.

The Battle of the Monastery 1859


After weeks of on again off again skirmishing between the Italians and the Austrians, the Austrian commander decided to force a battle after having gathered what he thought would be enough troops to defeat the Italians.  Italian scouts reported a massing of troops around the old monastery and that there were more troops coming in every day.  Not wanting to fight a battle dictated by the enemy, the Italian commander forced the Austrians into a fight by attacking first.  Hoping it would catch them off guard and claim an easy victory.   He was wrong.

While waiting for the rest of his troops to arrive the Austrian commander built a solid defense around the monastery but never really expected the Italians to attack.

 The Austrians hold the Monastery on the right and one of the Austrian Commanders (Kevin) deploys his troops.

The Austrians built their defense in depth, using the tree line and the monastery itself as protection.  This would prove a tough nut to crack.

 Austrian cavalry waits for the coming battle.

More Austrian troops protecting the flank of the church and holding the high ground.

 The Italians line up, ready to march over the open ground.

 More Italians waiting for the orders to attack.

What the Italians had to go up against.  Doesn't look good.

The Italians move in taking very little causalities but also not causing many.  This fight was going to be fought in very close quarters.

The Italian right did not advance as quickly as the center or left and the Austrian cavalry took advantage of the hole and charged into the flank of the guns and troops after routing some infantry.
What I didn't get a picture of was the unlimbering of the artillery and the effect of canister on the cavalry as the tried to charge home.  It wasn't pretty.

 These poor Italian soldiers didn't stand a chance against the cavalry.

The Italians broke through the first line of defense but the monastery would prove more difficult.

 The Italian left side comes up on more Austrians waiting.

 View of the battle from the Austrian point of view.

The Austrians deployed in depth facing the Italian left.

 The Austrians holding their ground.

The Italian cavalry finds some cover behind the trees.

We called this battle due to time.  Neither side had really broken the other and there was still plenty of morale left on both sides to continue the fight.  I was sorry to see this one end this way.  Again we used Piquet's Hallowed Ground and this was another test battle to familiarize ourselves with the rules and so on for our campaign.
Hope you enjoyed the battle report.