Siege of Palermo

The siege of Palermo took place between 27 and 30 May 1860 in Palermo, Sicily, during the Expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as part of the Italian unification wars.

Siege of Palermo
Part of the Expedition of the Thousand

Garibaldi on Palermo's Pretoria Square after capturing the city
Date27–30 May 1860
Location
Palermo
Result Garibaldine victory
Belligerents
Redshirts Two Sicilies
Commanders and leaders
Giuseppe Garibaldi Ferdinando Lanza 
Strength
750 redshirts
3,000 picciotti[1]		 18,000[1]-22,000[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown 200 killed
800 wounded[1]
600 civilians killed[2]

Battle

On May 27, although with only about 750 men able to fight, along with some 3,000 picciotti (Sicilian volunteer guerrillas),[1] Garibaldi attacked the Sicilian capital of Palermo, held by a garrison of 18,000 to 22,000 Neapolitan Army soldiers under the incompetent command of General Ferdinando Lanza.[2][1][3] A significant portion of the 180,000 residents of Palermo rallied to Garibaldi, including some 2,000 prisoners released from local jails.[2] On the first day of fighting, the Neapolitan forces were driven back from a number of key positions.[2] Lanza then ordered the shelling of the part of the city that had been captured by Garibaldi's forces, causing the death of around 600 civilians over the remaining of the siege.[2]

By May 28, Garibaldi controlled much of Palermo, and the next day his volunteers repelled a Neapolitan counterattack.[2] However, with the arrival of two battalions of well-trained Bavarian mercenaries in the service of the Bourbon government, the battle turned against Garibaldi, whose troops were nearly out of ammunition.[2] He was saved by Lanza's decision to surrender, on 30 May.[2] Garibaldi sent his son Menotti to watch the surrender of the Neapolitan garrison,[4] and an armistice was quickly arranged by British admiral Rodney Mundy.[2] Finally, a convention on 6 June arranged for the withdrawal by sea of about 22,000 Bourbon troops, on 19 June.[2]

Citations
  1. Clodfelter 2017, p. 182.
  2. Tucker 2015, p. 339.
  3. Coppa 2014.
  4. Bourne 2014, p. 70.

References
  • Tucker, Spencer C. (2015). Wars That Changed History: 50 of the World's Greatest Conflicts. ISBN 9781610697866.
  • Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 (4 ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9781476625850.
  • Coppa, Frank J. (2014). The Origins of the Italian Wars of Independence. Routledge. ISBN 9781317900436.
  • Bourne, Richard (2020). Garibaldi in South America: An Exploration. Oxford University Press.
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