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The Battle of the Volturno refers to a series of military clashes between Giuseppe Garibaldi's volunteers and the troops of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies occurring around the River Volturno, between the cities of Capua and Caserta in northern Campania, in September and October 1860. The main battle took place on 1 October 1860 between 30,000 Garibaldines (mostly defected Sicilians, including from Calabria) and 25,000 Bourbon troops (Neapolitans).
Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand had conquered Sicily and much of southern Italy with a startling speed, entering Naples on the 7 September while King Francis II of the Two Sicilies took refuge in the strong fortress of Gaeta, midway between Rome and Naples. In the meantime the Neapolitan army was rebuilt in Capua under Marshal Giosuè Ritucci, the first skirmishes with Garibaldi's volunteers occurring on the 26 and 29 September.
On 30 September a Neapolitan corps crossed the River Volturno at Triflisco, marching towards Santa Maria a Vologno, but was halted by two Garibaldine brigades. The following day Ritucci then decided on a frontal attack with two divisions against Garibaldi's centre, which occupied a line running from Sant'Angelo in Formis and Santa Maria a Vico. After defeating the enemy, Ritucci was to reach Caserta and then Naples itself.
Garibaldi wanted to cross the Volturno, keeping the Neapolitan Army against Capua, while he prevented King Francis II from reaching Gaeta. However, the Neapolitan Army attempted a double-envelopment of Garibaldi between their Capua forces, and those of Mechel and Ruia at Dugenta.[3]
Battle
Early on October 1, 1860, the Matese Legion convened in the central plaza of Caserta, as the Battle of Volturno progressed. Major De Blasiis, their commander, departed for Naples on September 30, and did not return, so Captain Giuliano Iannotta and the other senior captains were temporarily in command.[4] While waiting for official orders, a horseman, Major Guadagno Guadagni, an officer from Florence, rode up at full speed from Santa Maria, looking very tired and very pale. He had been sent by Garibaldi, and had the authority to command any units he encountered. The Officers of the Matese Legion accepted him immediately and followed him towards the hills outside the town.[5]
The Legion passed several small communities on the lower slopes of the mountains, where Guadagni confronted a local priest who was apparently instigating the local population to commit acts of violence against Garibaldi's troops, before he once again joined the march. From the ridge that overlooked the valley, the volunteers could hear many hours of fighting taking place in the towns of Capua, Ponti della Valle, and Sant’Angelo in Formis. With the Officers of the Matese Legion gathered around him, Major Guadagni explained the seriousness of the day; Garibaldi had discovered that a new Bourbon Reserve Force, estimated at nearly 6,000, had hidden itself away in the hills surrounding them.[3]
Consequences
A scene from the battle
According to Schneid, "Garibaldi narrowly won the Battle of Volturno. The Southern Army placed Capua under siege, and the Piedmontese forces marched on Gaeta where the erstwhile Neapolitan king had taken refuge."[3]
The cost for Garibaldi in men was higher: 306 killed and 1,327 wounded, but the Neapolitan forces had lost almost 1,000 in killed and wounded themselves and over 2,000 taken prisoner. The Bourbon army was unable to use its victory to capture Caserta. Both armies showed bravery, except perhaps for the Royal Guards and troops of Ruiz de Ballesteros, who were the largest cause of the defeat.
Garibaldi was forced to request troops from the Royal Sardinian Army. Yet while Francis II wished to use the impasse for the Garibaldi forces, to attack again, his generals recommended that the troops be reorganised. Thus he left Capua for Gaeta, and was unable to retake his throne. Soon Piedmontese reinforcements arrived, defeating the royal troops at Gaeta, and causing the King to depart after a long siege.[6]
Cerino Badone Giovanni, Volturno 1860. L'ultima battaglia, in Commissione Italiana di Storia Militare, Società Italiana di Storia Militare, L'anno di Teano, Atti del Convegno Nazione CISM-SISM su il Risorgimento e l'Europa, Roma 2011, pp.273–307. Volume degli atti , testo dell'articolo [permanent dead link], tavole ed illustrazioni Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine .
Cesari, Cesare (1928). La campagna di Garibaldi nell'Italia Meridionale. (1860). Rome: Libreria dello Stato..
Notes
↑"... one half of which were Calabrese recruits, the other half Northern Italians and Sicilians, with a few French and Hungarians." {G. R. Mundy p.251}
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