ASPROMONTE, SCONTRO DI

ASPROMONTE, BATTLE OF. - The tortuous policy of the Rattazzi cabinet, which seemed to promise, if not outright support, at least benevolent neutrality; the illusion that France would limit itself to formal protests; the hope of being able to resolve, as in 1860, in an atmosphere of overwhelming passion, even the Roman Question, induced Garibaldi—despite the warnings of many of his most authoritative friends—to gather around him, under the cry of “Rome or death,” several thousand volunteers (July 1862). The local authorities were hesitant and inert (even the king’s proclamation of 3 Aug. was understood only as a political expedient), while Garibaldi’s volunteers, inflamed by his invocations and his apostrophes against Napoleon III, moved from Catania toward the strait. Meanwhile, too late in the face of French protests and threats, the Italian government declared a state of siege and entrusted military action to Cialdini. Once landed in Calabria, Garibaldi was encircled on the Aspromonte massif, where a brief and bloody clash took place on 29 Aug. Garibaldi, seriously wounded in the foot, was arrested and taken to Varignano, from which he emerged following the amnesty of October. Rattazzi, considered the principal architect of the situation, was forced to resign on 10 Dec.