[3] The Sonderbund consisted of the cantons of Lucerne, Fribourg, Valais, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Zug,[4] all predominantly Catholic and governed by conservative administrations.

After the Tagsatzung (Federal Diet) declared the Sonderbund unconstitutional (October 1847) and ordered it dissolved by force, General Guillaume Henri Dufour led the federal army of 100,000 and defeated the Sonderbund forces under Johann Ulrich von Salis-Soglio in a campaign that lasted only a few weeks, from November 3 to November 29, and cost about 100 lives.

In addition to the centralization of the Swiss government, the proposed new Constitution also included protections for trade and other progressive reform measures.

[6] The Sonderbund alliance was concluded after the Federal Diet, with the approval of a majority of cantons, had taken measures against the Roman Catholic Church such as the closure of monasteries and convents in Aargau in 1841,[7] and the seizure of their properties.

When Lucerne, in retaliation, recalled the Jesuits to head its education the same year, groups of armed radicals (Freischärler) invaded the canton.

When they finally did agree, Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister of Britain, vetoed any intervention, because he favored the liberal cause and wanted the Jesuits expelled.

The coalition's strong man, Constantin Siegwart-Müller of Lucerne, first considered appointing a foreigner (Dezydery Chłapowski of Poland or Friedrich von Schwarzenberg of Austria were mentioned), but the allied council insisted on a Swiss commander.

The Sonderbund cantons, except for Lucerne and Fribourg, sought and obtained the assent of their popular assemblies (Landsgemeinden) for general conscription.

[12] After publishing a proclamation on October 26, Dufour appointed as division commanders: Peter Ludwig von Donatz (Grisons), Johannes Burckhardt and Eduard Ziegler (Zürich) from among the Conservatives and Louis Rilliet de Constant (Vaud), Dominik Gmür, Giacomo Luvini (Ticino) and Ochsenbein (Bern) from among the Radicals.

On October 30, the Diet ordered the general mobilisation of the army and, on November 4, the military execution of its decree dissolving the Sonderbund.

The cantons of Neuchâtel and Appenzell Innerrhoden, which both had a strong Catholic minority population, officially declared their neutrality in the conflict and refused to provide troops for the Confederation.

King Frederick William IV of Prussia, as Prince of Neuchâtel, eventually settled the issue by declaring the Principality "neutral and inviolate" during the hostilities.

The canton of Basel-Stadt resisted the requests of the Diet for a time, but ultimately provided its contingent of troops by November 6, two days after the opening of hostilities.

But contrary to triumphant proclamations in the Sonderbund newspapers, the action failed to effectively separate the federal troops under Luvini in the Ticino from those in the Grisons under Eduard de Salis-Soglio (the brother of the insurgent commander), because the San Bernardino Pass remained open to the Confederates.

On November 7, Sonderbund forces under direct command of Jean-Ulrich de Salis-Soglio and von Elgger prepared to launch a second offensive into the Freiamt region of Aargau.

After destroying a bridge over the river Reuss, they entered Aargau on November 12 in order to split the federal forces into two halves and relieve Fribourg, which was surrounded by Confederate territory.

The former factor made it easier to confront than the other members of the Sonderbund; the latter meant that it posed a threat to the Federal Diet if it was not neutralized immediately.

By 10 and 11 November, federal troops seized the city of Estavayer-le-Lac, the enclaves of Fribourg in the canton of Vaud, and most of the district of Murten without resistance.

The emissary's message revealed Dufour's forces and plan of attack to the Fribourgeois government, and called on them to surrender in order to prevent a murderous battle.

Nonetheless, on the morning of 14 November, two delegates of the governing Council of State of Fribourg brought Dufour the news of the canton's surrender, decided by majority vote.

The day after, the Vaudois commander, Colonel Rillet-Constant, had to declare a state of siege to prevent federal soldiers from pillaging and sacking the city, against the strict orders of their superiors.

He left the western theatre of operations to Rillet-Constant, who was allowed to shift his headquarters to the Chablais, but was forbidden to take any unilateral action against Valais without Dufour's direct order.

He declined to equip his forces with Congreve rockets offered to him by the local arsenal, writing that he intended to "avoid as far as possible to give this war a violent character which cannot but harm our cause.".

Dufour launched his principal offensive according to plan on November 23: The 4th (Ziegler) and the 5th divisions (Gmür) followed the Reuss valley to the south, each on one side.

After two hours, the battle resulted in a federal victory after von Salis-Soglio, wounded in the head by a mortar detonation, ordered a retreat to Ebikon.

In his report to the Diet of November 23, Dufour wrote with satisfaction that the troops of Schwyz had withdrawn to the other side of Lake Zug and were now cut off from the rest of the Sonderbund army.