Switzerland Special Union War (b/w photo)

Battle scene from the 1847 Sonderbund War, in which the troops of the Sonderbund cantons and the Tagsatzung troops under the command of General Guillaume-Henri Dufour faced each other. The Sonderbund, a separate alliance of the cantons of Lucerne, Zug, Wallis, Fribourg and the original cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, was formed as a protective association to safeguard their territorial rights after a dispute over the dissolution of a monastery in Aargau and the appointment of the Jesuits to Lucerne had divided Switzerland Politically and denominationally. After a resolution to dissolve the Sonderbund by the united Tagsatzung had shown no effect and all attempts at mediation had failed, the Tagsatzung decided to dissolve the Sonderbund by force on 4 November 1847. Only 25 days later, on 29 November 1847, the surrender of the Valais marked the end of the Sonderbund War.