Liechtenstein: Part III

Link to Part I, Part II and my initial post over at a blog I used to contribute to here.

Uniforms of the 1866 Campaign

The following are from a 1991 series of stamps: The Last Action of the Royal Military Contingents of Liechtenstein 1866. 

Sharpshooters, Officer & Private

Uniform tunic and trunk

Non commissioned officer and private.

Italian Uniforms during this time period

Route of March from Liechtenstein to Italy

In this German language article, historian Peter Geiger describes the campaign and details the route of march:

"It took six weeks to complete the mission. But the walk over the Arlbergpass, the Reschenpass, the Stelvio over the Wormserjoch to Santa Maria was exhausting. The cold, wet and snow hindered the soldiers."

The article continues: "In Bormio, the Liechtensteiners faced the enemy: "Despite the troops in sight, it was unexpectedly not to fight," said Geiger. Without losses, the soldiers returned. But there were still one or two injured: a horse had missed a hoof stroke. "

The troops initially head east, into Austria and do not take the shorter route south then south east through Switzerland. Geiger mentions an exhausting march to Santa Maria but that town is located north of the passes and deep in Switzerland.  A guess is that after the war the Swiss let the Liechtensteiners take a direct route home.

Above is the approximate route of the Liechtensteiner troops. I used Bing maps and the hiking direction feature. I'm afraid the route follows modern highways as the blue route marker travels along the ridge lines and not through valleys and over passes. After creating this view,  I'm not sure if they passed through Santa Maria on the way to or back from the Stelivo Pass.

End Notes

I'll continue research on Liechtenstein and new research for a "Microstate Military History Series".  Next up: San Marino.

Interesting article on Field Marshal Joseph Wenzel Liechtenstein's efforts to modernize Austrian artillery found at Weaponsandwarfare.