First Assault on Rome

First Assault on Rome
Part of Unification of Italy and Italian War of Independence
Garibaldi capturing four French guns at Rome. Illustration from The Life and Times of Garibaldi, published by Walter Scott.
Date 25 April – 30 April 1849 Location Rome, Roman Republic Result Decisive Italian victory [1]
Belligerents
Papal States Supported by:   France   Spain	Roman Republic
Commanders and leaders
Pope Pius IX Charles Oudinot Fernando Fernández	Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Garibaldi Bersaglieri
Strength
French troops  : 8,000–10,000 French Spanish troops  : 4,000 Spanish

First Assault on Rome was fought between Roman Republic and the combined forces of Papal states, Second French Republic and Spanish Empire.

Background

In France, the new president Louis-Napoleon (who later became Emperor Napoleon III) faced a difficult choice. Earlier in his life, in 1831, he had actually joined a revolt against the Pope in the Papal States. But now, many French Catholics strongly supported him and wanted him to help the Pope. At the same time, sending French troops to Rome would increase French power in Italy and reduce Austrian (Habsburg) influence, which matched Louis-Napoleon’s foreign policy goals. So, even though he did not really want to go against Italian liberals, he finally decided to send French forces to restore the Pope to power. ^[2]

Battle

On April 25, 1849, approximately 8,000 to 10,000 French troops landed at Civitavecchia (north of Rome) under the command of General Charles Oudinot. Also arriving were approximately 4,000 Spanish troops sent to aid the Pope, who had fled to Gaeta after leaving Rome. The French quickly contacted Giuseppe Mazzini, the head of the Roman Republic, and informed him that they were going to put the Pope back into power. ^[3] The Assembly of the Roman Republic refused, and amidst cries for 'war', they authorized defending the republic militarily. At first the French did not believe the Romans would put up any fight. However, with the arrival of the renowned General Giuseppe Garibaldi in Rome on April 27, and the arrival of the well-trained Bersaglieri from Lombardy on April 29, who had just fought against Austrian forces in Milan, the spirit of the Romans increased greatly and defensive fortifications were hastily established on the Janiculum Hill and around the city itself. ^[4] On April 30, 1849, the French marched into Rome using an outdated map and mistakenly fired upon a blocked door in the city; thinking that it was the noon gun signal, they were then met with heavy resistance from Garibaldi's troops and citizens from Trastevere along with republican troops armed with weapons from their own supply of arms, which forced the French to retreat back towards the sea. ^[5] Although Garibaldi wanted to continue chasing the French as they retreated, Mazzini did not permit him, believing it would endanger the already tenuous relationship between the French and the Romans. ^[6]

References

1. Tucker, Spencer C. (2009-12-23). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 1190. ISBN   978-1-85109-672-5.
2. Robertson, Priscilla Smith (1952). Revolutions of 1848, a social history. Internet Archive. Princeton, Princeton University Press. p. 331.
3. Trevelyan, George Macaulay (1907). Garibaldi's defence of the Roman Catholic Republic,. New York Public Library. London ; New York [etc.] : Longmans, Green and co. p. 227.
4. Kertzer, David I. (2018). The Pope who Would be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-882749-8.
5. "Siege of Rome (1849) | Garibaldi, Description, & Significance | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2025-02-19. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
6. Tucker, Spencer C. (2009-12-23). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 1191. ISBN   978-1-85109-672-5.