A photograph of Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860.

The Expedition of the Thousand (Italian Spedizione dei Mille) was a military campaign led by the revolutionary general Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860, in which a force of volunteers defeated the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, leading to its dissolution and annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (484x620, 195 KB) fr: Portrait de Giuseppe Garibaldi. Par Gustave Le Gray, Palerme, juillet 1860. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (484x620, 195 KB) fr: Portrait de Giuseppe Garibaldi. Par Gustave Le Gray, Palerme, juillet 1860. ... Garibaldi in 1866. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... The Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was the new name that the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV of Naples gave to his domain (including Southern Italy and Sicily) after the end of the Napoleonic Era and the full restoration of his power in 1816. ... Kingdom of Sardinia, in 1839: Mainland Piedmont, with Savoia upper left (pink) and Nizza (Nice) lower left (brown) both now French, and Sardinia in the inset. ...

Background

After the annexation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchies of Modena and Parma and the Romagna to Piedmont in March 1860, Italian nationalists set their sights on the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which comprised all of southern Italy and Sicily, as the next step in the eventual unification of Italy. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a state in central Italy which came into existence in 1569, replacing the Duchy of Florence, which had been created out of the old Republic of Florence in 1532, and which annexed the Republic of Siena in 1557. ... The Duchy of Modena (in full, the Duchies of Modena and Reggio) was a small Italian state that existed (with a break between 1796 and 1814) from 1452 to 1859. ... The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul IIIs illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, centered around the city of Parma. ... Emilia-Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. ... Kingdom of Sardinia, in 1839: Mainland Piedmont, with Savoia upper left (pink) and Nizza (Nice) lower left (brown) both now French, and Sardinia in the inset. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Italian unification, also known as Risorgimento (resurrection), was a historical process by which the Kingdom of Sardinia (ruled by the Savoy dynasty with Turin as its capital) gradually conquered the Italian peninsula, including the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Duchy of Modena, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy...

In 1860 Garibaldi, already the most famous Italian revolutionary leader, was in Genoa planning an expedition against Sicily and Naples, with the covert support of Great Britain. The latter was worried by the approaches of the Neapolitans towards the Russian Empire in the latter's attempt to open its way in the Mediterranean Sea; the strategic importance of the Sicilian ports was also to be dramtically increased by the opening of the Suez Canal. It has been also suggested that the British support for Garibaldi's expedition was spurred by the necessity to obtain more favourable economic conditions for Sicilian sulfur, which was needed in great quantities for the new steamers. Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... Anthem: God Save the Tsar! The Russian Empire in 1914 Capital Saint Petersburg Language(s) Russian Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1721-1725 Peter the Great (first)  - 1894-1917 Nicholas II (last) History  - Established 22 October, 1721  - February Revolution 2 April, 1917 Area  - 1897 22,400,000 km2 8,648,688 sq... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ... Ships moored at El Ballah during transit Egypt: Site of Suez Canal (top). ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Standard atomic weight 32. ...

The beginning of the expedition at Quarto.

Image File history File links Partenza_da_Quarto. ... Image File history File links Partenza_da_Quarto. ...

The expedition

Landing on Sicily

The expedition set sail on May 6, 1860 from a rock in Quarto, a district of Genoa, on the ships Il Piemonte and Il Lombardo^[1] steamers, acquired from G.B. Fauché, a fellow freemason of Garibaldi. The corps was formed by some thousand volunteers (Italian: Mille, whence the name), including a woman^[2] After a short stop at the promontory of Talamone (May 7), near the city of Orbetello in southern Tuscany, for a supply of water and weapons from Piedmontese troops, they directed the vessels to Sicily. May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ... Talamone from the sea. ... Grosseto is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Grosseto province. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ...

The ships landed at Marsala, on the westernmost point of Sicily, on May 11, with the help of British ships present in the harbour to deter the Bourbon ships^[3]. The Lombardo was attacked and sunk only after the disembarkment had been completed, while the Piemontese was captured. The landing had been preceded by the arrival of Francesco Crispi and others, who had the task of gain the support of the local gangsters for the volunteers. Marsala is a seaport city located in the province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy, of 77,784 inhabitants (2001). ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (132nd in leap years). ... Also see:  Early Modern France The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house. ... Francesco Crispi (October 4, 1819 – August 12, 1901) was a 19th century Italian politician. ... The Mafia (also referred to as Cosa Nostra or the Mob), is a criminal secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. ...

On May 14, at Salemi, Garibaldi announced that he assumed the dictatorship over Sicily in the name of King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia. May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (135th in leap years). ... Country Italy Region Sicily Province Trapani (TP) Mayor Biagio Mastrantoni (since June 10, 2003) Elevation 446 m Area 181 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 11,436  - Density 64/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Salemitani Dialing code 0924 Postal code 91018 Patron St. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by a dictator. ... King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. ...

Calatafimi and Palermo

Main article: Battle of Calatafimi

The Mille won a first battle at Calatafimi against around 2,000 Neapolitan troops on May 15. The battle was inconclusive, but boosted the morale of the Mille and, at the same time, depressed the Neapolitans who started to feel themselves abandoned. In the meantime the ranks enlarged to 1,200 with local men joining. With the help of a popular insurrection, on May 27 they laid siege to Palermo, the island's capital. The city was defended by some 16,000 men, but these were under the confused and timid direction of general Ferdinando Lanza, aged 75 (probably one of the Neapolitan officers bribed with the English-freemason money, see Evaluation section). May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... For other uses, see Palermo (disambiguation). ...

While two columns of Garibaldines attacked the external perimeter, part of the population, strengthened by 2,000 prisoners liberated from the local jails, rose against the garrison. When his troops were driven back from most of their positions, Lanza ordered them to bombard the city for three days, provoking the deaths of 600 civilians. By May 28 Garibaldi controlled much of the city and declared the Bourbon authority deposed. The following day a desperate Neapolitan counteroffensive was driven back, and Lanza asked for a truce. However, when a reinforcement party of well equipped and well trained troops arrived in the city, the situation became very serious for Garibaldi, who was saved only by Lanza's decision to surrender. Through the mediation of a British admiral, an armistice was signed and the Neapolitan fleet abandoned the port. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ...

Neapolitan retreat and Battle of Milazzo

Stone Lithograph of Garibaldi and his Red Shirts at the Battle of MIlazzo. Titled, 'COMBATTIMENTO DI MILAZZO'(20 Luglio 1860).

Main article: Battle of Milazzo

The Bourbon troops were ordered to push eastwards and evacuate the island. An insurrection that had broken out in Catania on May 31, led by Nicola Fabrizi, was crushed by the local garrison, but the order to leave for Messina meant that this Neapolitan tactical success would have no practical results. Catania is the second-largest city of Sicily, southern Italy, and is the capital of the province which bears its name. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ... Nicola Fabrizi (4 April 1804 - 31 March 1885), Italian patriot, was born at Modena. ... Messina, Italy Strait of Messina, Italy. ...

At the time only Syracuse, Augusta, Milazzo and Messina remained in royal hands in Sicily. In the meantime the dictator Garibaldi issued his first law. A levy failed to muster more than 20,000 troops, while the peasants, who hoped to an immediate relief from the grevious conditions to which they were forced by the landowners, revolted in several localities. At Bronte, on August 4, 1860, Garibaldi's friend Nino Bixio bloodily repressed one of these revolts with two battalions of Redshirts. Syracuse (Italian, Siracusa, ancient Syracusa - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse, Italy. ... // Augusta as a place name Augusta, derived from Augustus the emperor, is also part of the original Latin names of many ancient places. ... Milazzo is a town of 50. ... Messina, Italy Strait of Messina, Italy. ... Categories: Stub | Bront sisters ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Nino Bixio (2 October 1821-1873) was an Italian soldier born on the 2nd of October 1821. ...

The pace of Garibaldi's victories had worried Cavour, who in early July sent him a proposal of immediate annexation of Sicily to Piedmont. Garibaldi, however, refused vehemently to allow such a move until the end of the war. Cavour's envoy, La Farina, was arrested and expelled from the island. He was replaced by the more malleable Agostino Depretis, who gained Garibaldi's trust and was appointed as pro-dictator. Agostino Depretis (January 31, 1813 _ July 29, 1887), Italian statesman, was born at Mezzana Corte near Stradella. ...

On June 25, 1860, King Francis II of the Two Sicilies had issued a constitution. However, this late attempt to conciliate his moderate subjects failed to rouse them to defend the regime, while liberals and revolutionaries were eager to welcome Garibaldi. June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Francis II (Francesco dAssisi Maria Leopoldo, January 16, 1836 – December 27, 1894), was King of the Two Sicilies from 1859 to 1861. ...

At the time, Garibaldi had created the Esercito Meridionale ("Southern Army"), reinforced by other volunteers from Italy and some Piedmontese regular soldier disguised as "deserters". The Neapolitans had mustered some 24,000 men for the defence of Messina and the other fortresses.

On July 20 Garibaldi attacked Milazzo with 5,000 men. The Neapolitan defence was gallant, but again the absence of coordination and the refusal of Marshal Clary, commander-in-chief of the army in the island, to send reinforces from Messina granted the Mille another victory. Six days later Clary surrendered the city of Messina to Garibaldi, leaving only 4,000 in the citadel and other forts. The other strongholds surrendered by the end of September. July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 164 days remaining. ...

Landing and conquest in Calabria

On August 19 Garibaldi's men disembarked in Calabria, a move opposed by Cavour, who had written the Dictator a letter urging to not cross the strait. Garibaldi, however, disobeyed, an act which received the silent approvation of King Victor Emmanuel. August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... View in Calabria. ... Satellite photo of the Strait of Messina, taken June 2002. ...

The Bourbons had some 20,000 men in Calabria, but, apart some episodes like that of Reggio Calabria, which was conquered by Bixio on August 21 but at a high cost, they offered insignificant resistance, as numerous units of the Bourbon army disbanded spontaneously or even joined Garibaldi's ranks. On August 30 a conspicuous Sicilian army, led by general Ghio, was officially disbanded at Soveria Mannelli, while only minor and dispersed units continued the fight. The Neapolitan fleet behaved in similar way. Location within Italy Map of Italy showing Reggio Calabria in the south Reggio Calabria (officially Reggio di Calabria, Rìggiu in calabrian dialect, Righi in Greek-Calabrian), is the largest and the oldest city in Calabria, Italy. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... Soveria Mannelli is a comune and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy. ...

Scene from the Battle of Volturno.

Image File history File linksMetadata Battaglia_del_Volturno_-_combattimento_di_Porta_Romana,_verso_Santa_Maria_Maggiore_-_Perrin_-_litografia_-_1861_(01). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Battaglia_del_Volturno_-_combattimento_di_Porta_Romana,_verso_Santa_Maria_Maggiore_-_Perrin_-_litografia_-_1861_(01). ...

The end

Main article: Battle of Volturnus (1860)

King Francis II was thus forced to abandon Naples and entrench himself in the formidable fortress of Gaeta, while a last stand was set up on the Volturno river, north of Naples. On September 7 Garibaldi entered the Kingdom's capital with little harm, hailed as a liberator by the population. Naples (Italian: , Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis New City) Capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. ... Gaeta (ancient Latin name Caieta) is a city in Province of Latina, in Lazio, Italy. ... The Volturno is a river in south-central Italy. ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ...

In the decisive Battle of the Volturno (1 and 2 October^[4]), Garibaldi, now supported by a Piedmontese army which had, with French approval, crossed through the Papal territories of the Marche and Umbria, decisively defeated the last organized Bourbon force of some 50,000 men. // The Marche (plural, originally le marche de Ancona = the Marches of Ancona) are a region of Central Italy, bordering Emilia-Romagna north, Tuscany to the north-west, Umbria to west, Abruzzo and Latium to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the east. ... Umbria is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany to the west, the Marche to the east and Lazio to the south. ...

A few days later (October 21) a popular plebiscite confirmed the annexion of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to the Kingdom of Sardinia by an overwhelming majority. October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

The end of the expedition is traditionally set with the famous meeting in Teano^[5] (northern Campania) between Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi (October 26, 1860). Others assign instead the end of the campaign to the King's entrance in Naples on November 7. Teano (Roman Teanum Sidicinum), a town of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, 21 miles north-west of that town on the main line to Rome from Naples, forming conjointly with Calvi an episcopal see. ... Campania is a region of Southern Italy, bordering on Lazio to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east, Basilicata to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

Garibaldi asked the King to remain in the former Two Sicilies for a year as dictator. He also asked that his officers were integrated in the new Italian Army. When Victor Emmanuel refused to accept his requests, he returned to Caprera. Caprera is a small island of 6 square miles (15. ...

However, the military campaign was not yet fully completed, as Francis II held out in Gaeta until February of the next year, when he finally surrendered and left for exile in Austria. Shortly thereafter, in March 1861, the new Kingdom of Italy was formally established. There have been several entities known as the Kingdom of Italy. ...

Evaluation

Carte De Visite of a Garibaldino and member of the Thousand Red Shirts. He wears the rare 'Medal of the Thousand' or 'Marsala Medal', issued by the city of Palermo in 1865.

The Thousand Expedition has been traditionally one of the most celebrated events of the Italian Risorgimento, the process of the unification of Italy. However, recent studies have pointed out that the whole event was later turned in somewhat a hagiographic one, and that its effective relevance, in particular the extent of the military campaign, was overesteemed by the traditional historiography.

In particular, the rise of the so-called brigantaggio (brigandage), referring to the suppression of the local resistance by Piedmontese troops in the following years, needed at one point the presence of some 140,000 soldiers to maintain control of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Traditionally, the brigantaggio has received a negative judgement by Italian historians, in stricly contrast with the heroism attributed to Garibaldi and his followers; the English historian Denis Mack Smith^[6], for example, puts forward the lacks and the reticence of the sources available for the period.

The expedition, moreover, obtained the support of the powerful great landowners of southern Italy, in exchange of the promise that their property were left unscathed under the upcoming new political settlement. Numerous Sicilian peasants joined the Mille hoping instead for a redistribution of the lands to the people working it. The consequences of this misunderstanding became evident at Bronte.

Modern Bourbon supporters have also pointed out the appalling state of Piedmontese finances, depleted by unceasing wars, while the Kingdom of Two Sicilies was instead in a flourishing moment, with the increasing presence of industries testified to by the construction of the first Italian railway; from this point of view, the conquest of southern Italy proved providential for the Savoy treasury.

The ease with which 1,000 men crushed an organized army of some size had been recently explained again with a British secret intervention, in the form of a sum 3 millions of French francs of the times, which were used to bribe most of the Bourbon commanders.

See also

• Risorgimento
• Conte di Cavour
• Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
• Siege of Gaeta

Italian unification, also known as Risorgimento (resurrection), was a historical process by which the Kingdom of Sardinia (ruled by the Savoy dynasty with Turin as its capital) gradually conquered the Italian peninsula, including the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Duchy of Modena, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy... Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour (or Camillo di Cavour; August 10, 1810 – June 6, 1861) was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification. ... King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. ... now. ...

Notes

King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. ... Count Camilio Benso di Cavour (August 10, 1810 _ June 6, 1861) was a statesman who was a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification and the first Prime Minister of the new Kingdom of Italy. ... Lombardy-Venetia was a kingdom created by the 1815 Congress of Vienna to combine the territories of Lombardy (ruled by Austria in 1713-96) and Venetia (under Austrian rule since 1797) under the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. ... In Italy, the comune, (plural comuni) is the basic administrative unit of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality. ... Country Italy Region Campania Province Province of Caserta (CE) Mayor Elevation m Area 43. ...

Sources

• Abba, Giuseppe Cesare (1880). Da Quarto al Volturno. Noterelle di uno dei Mille. 
• Banti, Anna (1967). Noi credevamo. 
• Bianciardi, Luciano (1969). Daghela avanti un passo. Bietti. 
• Del Boca, Lorenzo (1998). Maledetti Savoia. Piemme. 
• Mack Smith, Denis (1990). Italy and Its Monarchy. 
• Zitara, Nicola (1971). L'unità d’Italia. Nascita di una colonia. 

Giuseppe Cesare Abba (October 6, 1838-November 6, 1910), was an Italian patriot and writer. ...

External links

• Names of all 1,089 Mille (Italian)