The Expedition of the Thousand was an invasion of Sicily carried out by the 1,000-strong "Redshirts" volunteer corps of Giuseppe Garibaldi from 1860 to 1861 with the goal of overthrowing the Bourbon monarchs of the Two Sicilies and unifying Italy. While the Redshirts were heavily outnumbered by a professional army, they won the support of the common people due to their promises of land distribution and the end of monarchist oppression. The expedition ultimately succeeded in uniting Sicily, southern Italy, Marche, and Umbria with Sardinia-Piedmont, although the Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel II dashed Garibaldi's hopes of conquering Rome at the Battle of Aspromonte.
Background[]
In March 1860, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Modena, the Duchy of Parma, and the Romagna region were annexed to Sardinia-Piedmont, unifying much of northern Italy under Italian rule. Italian nationalists now set their sight on southern Italy, which was ruled by the oppressive Bourbon monarchy of the Two Sicilies and the reactionary Papal States. In 1860, covertly supported by the United Kingdom, the famous Italian freedom fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi planned an invasion of Sicily from Genoa; Sicilian leaders, among them Francesco Crispi, were discontented with Neapolitan rule over the island, while Britain was concerned that Naples was falling into the Russian orbit and also sought to acquire Neapolitan sulfur.
War[]
Liberation of Sicily[]
By May 1860, Garibaldi had assembled 1,089 volunteers (434 from Lombardy, 194 from Venetia, 156 from Genoa, 78 from Tuscany, 46 from Naples, 45 from Sicily, 14 from Trentino, 11 from Rome, and 4 Hungarians), most of them students and artisans from the lower classes. The volunteers were poorly armed with dated muskets and wore a uniform red shirts and grey trousers, hence their nickname, the "Redshirts". A patriotic seafaring company in Genoa loaned two ships to the volunteers, who, accompanied by the Royal Navy, sailed to Sicily and landed at Marsala on 11 May 1860.
On 14 May 1860, at Salemi, Garibaldi announced that he was assuming dictatorship over Sicily in the name of King Victor Emmanuel II. On 15 May, the Mille won a victory against 2,000 Neapolitan troops at Calatafimi, demoralizing the Neapolitan soldiers (who were often led by corrupt officers). Garibaldi then promised land to every male who volunteered to join him, and his ranks soon swelled to 1,200. On 27 May, helped by a popular insurrection, Garibaldi besieged Palermo, held by 16,000 troops under Ferdinando Lanza (who had been bribed with British money). 2,000 freed prisoners joined the rebels, and Lanza, seeing his troops in retreat, had the city bombarded for three days, killing 600 civilians. On 28 May, Garibaldi declared Bourbon authority deposed, and, a day later, he drove back a Neapolitan counterattack and accepted the garrison's surrender. The Neapolitan fleet then abandoned the port after signing a British-negotiated armistice.
The Bourbon troops were then ordered to retreat eastwards and abandon the island, and, while Nicola Fabrizi's insurrection in Catania was crushed by the local garrison on 31 May, the Neapolitans evacuated the city shortly after to retreat to Messina. At this time, only Syracuse, Augusta, Milazzo, and Messina remained in royal hands. After Garibaldi demanded a levy of 20,000 Sicilians, the locals, upset at the lack of immediate reforms, rebelled against him; Nino Bixio bloodily suppressed one of this revolts with two battalions of Redshirts. Garibaldi also refused Count Cavour's requests to immediately annex Sicily to Sardinia-Piedmont, and he had the first Sardinian envoy expelled; Cavour then sent Agostino Depretis to serve as Garibaldi's pro-dictator. Soon, other Italian volunteers and Sardinian troops disguised as "deserters" joined Garibaldi's ranks to form the 24,000-strong Southern Army, while the Neapolitans mustered an equal number of troops to defend Messina and other fortresses. On 20 July, Garibaldi attacked Milazzo with 5,000 men, taking the city; six days later, Messina surrendered; the remaining 4,000 Neapolitan troops surrendered in September.
Invasion of the mainland[]
On 19 August, Garibaldi's men disembarked in Calabria, a move opposed by Cavour, yet silently approved by King Victor Emmanuel. The Bourbons had 20,000 troops in Calabria, but, apart from Reggio Calabria (which fell at high cost on 21 August), they offered little resistance. Some units spontaneously disbanded, while others defected to defect to Garibaldi's army. The Neapolitan fleet followed suit, removing any major resistance from Garibaldi's path. King Francis II was forced to abandon Naples and flee to the formidable fortress of Gaeta, while a last stand was set up on the Volturno River, north of Naples. On 7 September, Garibaldi and his army entered Naples as liberators. In the meantime, Sardinia invaded the Papal States, defeating them at the Battle of Castelfidardo and conquering central Italy. At the Battle of the Volturno, Garibaldi fought the Neapolitans to a draw, but the arrival of the Sardinian army from the north forced the Neapolitans to retreat to Gaeta. On 21 October, a plebiscite confirmed the annexation of the Two Sicilies to Sardinia, and, on 26 October 1860, the Redshirts met the Sardinian army at Teano; on 7 November, King Victor Emmanuel entered Naples. Francis held out at Gaeta until February 1861, when he was finally forced to surrender. In March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was formally established.
Aftermath[]
Afterwards, Garibaldi asked Victor Emmanuel to let him remain dictator of Two Sicilies for one year and to integrate his army and officers into the Royal Italian Army. Victor Emmanuel rejected the first request, but agreed to the second. Disappointed, Garibaldi returned to Caprera. The following years saw the impoverished region of southern Italy generate local resistance movements ("brigands"), so 140,000 Piedmontese troops were sent to southern Italy to enforce royal authority.