[1][2] On 21 July 1858, French Emperor Napoleon III and the Prime Minister of Sardinia Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour met in Plombières and reached a secret verbal agreement on a military alliance between the French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrian Empire.

Upon Sardinia's refusal, Austria declared war on 26 April and three days later the Austrians crossed the Ticino river into Piedmont.

A first revolutionary government in Parma was opposed by the dukedom's military and therefore Princess Louise returned for a short time, but after Austria lost the Battle of Magenta on 4 June 1859, Princess Louise left Parma again on 9 June.

[1][3][4][5] After the Armistice of Villafranca, around 20 Hungarian exiles, who had fought in the war on the Italian side, occupied the Palazzo della Pilotta in the center of Parma.

Count Gergely Bethlen insisted that the regiment adopted the Hungarian Hussar uniform in the colors of Hungary and Italy: green pants and dolman with golden epaulettes and bands, red csákós with white bands, red sabretaches embroidered in white with the King's monogram, and a red pelisse over-jacket with white lining, green braids, respectively mixed gold and silver braids for officers and a black fur border.

In 1887, the regiment provided personnel and horses for the formation of the Mounted Hunters Squadron, which fought in the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889.

In 1895–96, the regiment provided two officers and 68 enlisted for units deployed to Italian Eritrea for the First Italo-Ethiopian War.

In August 1916, one of the regiment's squadrons was assigned to a cavalry brigade, which fought in the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo and was the first Italian unit to enter the conquered city ofGorizia.

[1][4] In October 1918, the regiment's 5th and 6th squadrons were assigned to the Assault Corps, which was tasked with crossing the Piave river and breaking through the Austro-Hungarian Army's line in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.

The next day the squadron formed the Italian vanguard on the road to Santa Maria di Feletto.

Around 9:00 in the morning, the five soldiers rode into Vittorio Veneto and found most of the city deserted by Austro-Hungarian forces.

Later in day the 6th Squadron, together with two squadrons of the Regiment "Lancieri di Firenze" (9th), a Bersaglieri cyclists battalion, a motorcycle machine gunners section, and a mountain artillery section, was ordered to move over the Cansiglio plateau to Farra d'Alpago, where the Italian units would block the Austro-Hungarian retreat from Vittorio Veneto to Ponte nelle Alpi.

When the Italian units arrived at Farra d'Alpago they found the road full of discarded Austro-Hungarian equipment and weapons, but with the enemy personnel already gone.

On 24 May 1925, the standard of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Piacenza" (18th) was transferred to the Shrine of the Flags, which at the time was located in Castel Sant'Angelo, for safekeeping.