Acquisition of Papal States and Cavour’s reaction

Background information Garibaldi’s army took Sicily and then Naples in September 1860 and he set his sights on the Papal States determined that Rome would be the capital of a new, united Italy.

Defence of Papal states Cavour feared a revolt in Rome would mean the French would declare war (being a catholic country they wanted to keep the Pope’s temporal power) and all previous acquisitions of Northern Italy could potentially be lost. Afraid that Garibaldi would attack Rome, Catholics worldwide sent money and volunteers for the Papal Army.

Cavour acts Cavour decided it was time to act to prevent Garibaldi’s advances and engineered an uprising by ‘The National Society’ on 8th September by arranging for some unrest to take place within Umbria and the Marches as a cover for the movement of a Piedmontese army. Also, he demanded the Papal army be disbanded rather than suppress the uprising.

Piemontese army invade Rome Although the uprising was condemned by D’Azeglio (governor in Piedmont) and the Catholic Spanish and Portuguese governments, on 11th September the Piedmontese army invaded the Papal States through some of the territories of the Church following the refusal of the papal army to disband, voluntarily avoiding Rome.

Battle of Castelfidardo The Papal army were defeated at the Battle of Castelfidardo (18th September) which is remembered for being bloody, and for the highly disparate numbers of troops - less than 10,000 papal soldiers (mainly volunteers) to 60,000 Piedmonts. Meanwhile, Garibaldi was being delayed by the remaining Neapolitan army, finally defeating them at the Battle of Volturno on the 26th October.

Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel The two forces met on the 26th October at Teano in the Kingdom of Naples. Garibaldi effectively surrendered his gains to Victor Emmanuel with a handshake and called upon his men to salute him by declaring him “the first King of Italy."

Cavour’s reaction The nature of the meeting angered Cavour. Although Garibaldi distrusted the pragmatic Cavour, particularly due to the annexation of Garibaldi's birthplace, Nice, he highly respected Victor Emmanuel II. Garibaldi returned to Caprera but promised to return to capture Rome whilst Victor Emmanuel II was left to complete and proclaim the new ‘Kingdom of Italy’.