CASTELFIDARDO, BATTLE OF. — The military engagement took its name from the medieval hamlet near Ancona, fought at the locality of Crocette between the Pontifical and Royal forces on 18 September 1860.
The Pontifical army had been (on the 11th) surprised by a sudden ultimatum, issued with a very short deadline by Cavour to Cardinal Antonelli, at a time when it was in the midst of reorganization.
The studied diplomatic duplicity of the government of Napoleon III and a series of circumstances not yet fully clarified kept, much against his will, General de Lamoricère in almost complete ignorance of the events that were precipitating. Thus, when it was realized that the enemy, without any declaration of hostilities, was advancing with some 40,000 men, against about 14,000, simultaneously into the Marches and Umbria, de Lamoricère had no choice but to hastily dispatch the two available brigades, about 7,000 men, towards Ancona, a well-fortified stronghold capable of resisting for a long time.
But by the evening of the 17th, upon arriving at Loreto, he found that the Royal general Enrico Cialdini had almost blocked his path.
Most of the Pontifical troops, both Italian and foreign, fought with veteran heroism, thus saving the honor of the army and littering the harsh field of Crocette with the dead and wounded. Among them fell, among others, Brigadier General de Pimodan, while his men, with daring almost reckless, executed sweeping bayonet charges and achieved an initial clear success, forcing the enemy, thrown into disarray by the impetuosity of the attack, to retreat toward the hilltop and to bring up strong reinforcements.
Nevertheless, the battle was lost, and thus the Marches and Umbria were wrested from the Papal States, marking a significant step forward in the unification of Italy. Yet the painful impression of that bloody event was deeply felt among Catholics, provoking their indignant discontent against Napoleon III and resentment for so many young victims fallen because of an abandonment that was certainly not honorable. The already difficult and complex question of Rome and the temporal power was further complicated and exacerbated: Castelfidardo paved the way for Mentana, Pius IX mourned the fallen, and a wave of opposing sentiments shook Europe. A memento of the defeat, unprecedented in history, was distributed to the vanquished: its silver medallion bore the words «Pro Petri Sede» surrounding a cross of St. Peter, «upside down — it was said — but straight as a drawn sword for justice». On the tomb in St. John Lateran is inscribed: «Victoria quae vincit mundum fides nostra».