The Battle of Turbigo took place on 3 June 1859 saw the French army secure two crossing points over the Ticino River, allowing them to get a foothold in Austrian Lombardy.

They chose to fortify a bridgehead at San Martino, which by the start of June was defended by troops from Eduard Clam-Gallas's newly arrived corps.

For most of the month May the main armies had been campaigning, with the French and Piedmontese concentrated in the area around Alessandria and the Austrians to their north.

In late May Napoleon III decided to move his entire army to the left and attack the vulnerable Austrian right wing.

After the Piedmontese victory at Palestro (30-31 May 1859) the Austrians finally realised what was happening, and Feldzeugmeister Franz Count Gyulai decided to retreat east, out of Piedmont and back across the Ticino into Lombardy.