Siege of Gaeta (1861)
| Siege of Gaeta | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Expedition of the Thousand | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Sardinia Hungarian legion of Italia |
 Two Sicilies
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Enrico Cialdini
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Pietro Carlo Maria Vial de Maton，the actual command had Felix von Schumacher |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 18,000 infantry 180 guns 10 ships |
20,000 infantry 450 guns 17 ships |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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46 dead 321 wounded |
829 dead 2,000 wounded |
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46 dead
829 dead
The Siege of Gaeta was the concluding event of the war between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, part of the unification of Italy. It started on November 5, 1860 and ended February 13, 1861, and took place in Gaeta, in today's Southern Lazio (Italy).
In September 1860, as the Garibaldine troops were moving towards the capital Naples (see Expedition of the Thousand), the king of Two Sicilies, Francis II, decided to leave the city on the advice of his Prime Minister Liborio Romano.
At first, he planned to organise a resistance in Capua. However, after that city was lost to the Garibaldines in the aftermath of the battle of the Volturnus (October), he and his wife Marie Sophie took refuge in the strong coastal fortress of Gaeta.
Gaeta was one of the strongest military fortresses in Europe. It consisted of a triangle-shaped promontory (Mount Orlando) which stretched for more than one and a half kilometers and rose to 169 m and with almost vertical cliffs on the seaward sides. The cliff was connected to the mainland by a 600 m wide isthmus. Called Montesecco ("Dry Mountain"), the isthmus was the only way for a besieger to conquer the stronghold. The ships of the time were indeed considered too fragile to face the massive fortifications that encircled the promontory. Built in the time of emperor Charles V, the promontory was provided with 220 guns divided between 19 batteries. An additional 230 guns defended the fortress on the mainland side, making a total of 450 cannons, 26 of which were short range mortars. Most of the guns were smoothbore arms, some dating back to the 18th century, and therefore rather imprecise. The massive castle, which commanded the east side on the sea, dated from the time of Emperor Frederick II but was continuously updated. The forces amounted to 19,700 sub-officers and soldiers and 1,770 officers; there were also 3,000 citizens of Gaeta. 17 ships of various nations (including Spain and France) kept open communications with the sea.
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