Brescia surrenders to the Austrians.

The new Piedmontese ruler, Victor Emmanuel II, meets with Radetzky at a farmhouse in Vignale, north of Novara, and negotiates the end of the war. Victor Emmanuel will later backtrack, but the Kingdom of Sardinia will never become like the other states of the peninsula, remaining a point of reference for all liberals and democrats in Italy.

At the end of the Battle of Novara, seeing his army defeated, King Charles Albert threw himself into the fray seeking death, but found none. He then retreated to Palazzo Bellini, from where he sent a messenger to the Austrian general to request an armistice. The terms imposed were extremely harsh, and, hoping that his Piedmont would obtain less severe terms, that same evening Charles Albert abdicated in favor of his son Victor Emmanuel and left Italy for exile in Porto, Portugal, choosing for himself the simple title of Count of Barge. He died a few months later.

Brescia. Second day of the uprising: the military hospital is attacked and weapons and supplies are requisitioned. Tito Speri stands out for his intelligence and courage.

Brescia. When Austrian emissaries arrived to collect the fine for finding weapons in the city, the population rebelled, and within hours the entire town fell into the hands of the Civic Guard, and the Austrians retreated to the castle. From the fortress, they bombarded the city for ten days and fired snipers at the population. The battle escalated.

6:00 PM. Novara. The Austrians, with the arrival of reinforcements, win the battle.

2:00 PM. Novara. The Austrians, numbering 20,000, have just averted disaster against 60,000 Piedmontese troops (though not all of them participate in the fighting).

Battle of Novara. The Piedmontese army, reinforced by units from Modena, Lombardy, Poland, and Hungary, faced the Austrian army. The battle, while a painful defeat for the Kingdom of Sardinia and Piedmont and for the ideals of Italian unity and freedom, marked a fundamental turning point in the Risorgimento: from a phase of heroic outbursts, but without planning and coordination, to a phase of methodical preparation—economic, political, and diplomatic—that would lead to the achievement of its objectives within a decade. The defeat at Novara would teach Italians that to defeat the Habsburg Empire, four objectives must be achieved: 1) reorganize the armed forces on a more solid basis; 2) develop and strengthen the economy; 3) gain the diplomatic favor of the major European powers; 4) secure the support of a strong military ally. These very points will constitute Cavour’s political program, which in just 10 years will succeed – with the help of Napoleon III’s France and the initiative of Garibaldi – in unifying Italy.

Lombardy. Radetzky crosses the Ticino River, surprising the Piedmontese who were planning a triumphal march through Lombardy, and defeats their strategy.

Rome. Former Papal States. The Roman Republic is proclaimed. The Constitution of the Roman Republic is the only one of those established in 1848-49 that does not make Catholicism the state religion.

Rome. Papal States. The Constituent Assembly is elected by universal suffrage.

After the disaster at Custoza, the Piedmontese government finally decided to give credence to a guerrilla and privateer commander recently arrived from South America: Giuseppe Garibaldi. He received orders to operate with a detachment of volunteers in the Bergamo Prealps. He waged a relentless guerrilla warfare and, finally, overwhelmed by Austrian superiority, managed to bring the last 60 men remaining at his side back to Piedmont.

The Piedmontese army begins its retreat through Lombardy. One of the darkest pages in Italian history. A series of errors leads to a hasty retreat that could have made life difficult for the Austrians, who were disadvantaged by hostile territory.

Custoza. The Piedmontese retreat to Goito, across the Mincio River. Both sides suffered more than a thousand casualties at Custoza, but neither side was defeated.

Sona and Sommacampagna, between Verona and Peschiera. The Austrians attacked the Piedmontese with a vast superiority: 60 battalions with 183 guns versus 20 battalions with 20 guns. The Sardinian division was forced to abandon the position it had held for three months and retreat to Cavalcaselle, near Peschiera.

There are 350 volunteer units operating in Italy. The most famous are those (about 3,000) led by Luciano Manara, the hero of Porta Tosa, at the end of the Five Days of Milan, but also the spirited Venetian Crusaders (about 2,000), and the Tuscan volunteers, mostly university students. But there are also groups with more sinister and less idealistic intentions, such as the Bois Gilbert Band and the Anfossi Band.

Verona. The Austrian reinforcement column for Peschiera is intercepted by General Bes’s Piedmontese forces. Peschiera consequently surrenders.

Battle of Goito. Radetzky’s Austrians retreated after three hours of intense fighting, leaving 68 dead and 331 wounded, compared to 43 dead and 253 wounded for the Piedmontese.

4:00 PM. Curtatone. After six hours of fighting with the Austrians, Tuscan commander De Laugier orders a retreat. At Montanara, only half the defenders manage to avoid capture. By the end of the day, the Italians suffer 166 dead, 518 wounded, and 1,178 prisoners, almost all at Montanara. But the sacrifice was not in vain: the Austrian advance is temporarily halted. The Piedmontese arrive and establish themselves at Goito.

10:00 AM. Curtatone and Montanara. Radetzky’s Austrian troops, composed of 43 infantry battalions, 54 cavalry squadrons, and 151 cannons, divided into three columns, open fire on the battalion of university students and the Neapolitans. The resistance is fierce and unexpected.

The San Francisco Californian headlines: “Gold! Gold!! GOLD!!!”

Admiral Raffaele De Cosa, commander of the Neapolitan fleet supporting General Pepe in the northern Adriatic, is recalled by Ferdinand II to fight against the insurrection in Sicily. De Cosa, faithful to the ideals of the war against the Austrians, asks to be dismissed and retires to private life.

Castelnuovo sul Mincio. Austrian anger turned against the local population, guilty of having enthusiastically welcomed the volunteers who had joined the Piedmontese Army, and they massacred 113 people by bombing the village.

The Piedmontese decide to send 200 volunteers on a reconnaissance mission beyond the Mincio River, into Austrian territory. They exceed their assigned role and capture an Austrian powder magazine with 500 barrels of gunpowder in Castelnuovo. But without Piedmontese support, they are forced to retreat. Austrian anger will turn against the local population, guilty of having enthusiastically welcomed the volunteers, and they will massacre 113 people by bombing the village.

Veneto. Between Montebello and Sorio, the Venetian Crusaders, a confused mass of volunteers armed in various ways, clash with 3,000 Austrians who had emerged from Verona. The volunteers fought bravely, but, completely unsuited to open battle, suffered a crushing defeat. Ultimately, Friuli would return to Austrian hands.

Vienna. The Wiener finally, without comment or blush, publishes Radetzky’s full report on the Milan defeat. Around the same time, a small daily newspaper, the Gegenwart, publishes the letters of its Milan correspondent, faithfully reporting on the triumphant revolt and the violence perpetrated by the Austrians. This is followed by the Studenten-Kurier, which calls for the Lombardy-Veneto region to be granted independence, and then the Wiener-Sonntagsblatter, which describes the Austrians’ hasty retreat and the army’s miserable conditions.

Radetzky and his army are sheltered behind the solid walls of Verona.

Milan. 10:00 PM. The imperial companies abandon the castle. Radetzky’s armored carriage, camouflaged with hay, leads the way. Porta Tosa is taken immediately after the jagers and infantry retreat. It will be renamed Porta Vittoria with the unification of Italy in 1861.

Milan. In the evening, a six-hour bombardment begins to protect the imperial retreat. High flames rise from the castle; a pyre made of the soldiers’ corpses, along with mattresses, documents, and untransportable materials, is burning. The fire is ordered by Radetzky. Milan has not capitulated: for the moment, it is lost to Austria.

Milan. Radetzky decides he can no longer resist in the city, risking being trapped between the revolutionaries and the advancing Piedmontese. He decides to retreat. He faces hostile Lombard territory. He breathes a sigh of relief only when he closes the gates of the walls of Verona, a city in the fortified Quadrilateral, behind him.

Milan. Porta Tosa. Manara leads the melee assault. They emerge into the open 200 meters from the gate, covered by covering fire from nearby houses. They manage to reach the gate, douse it with turpentine, and set it alight, but many are decimated by the fire of a large contingent of newly arrived Hungarian grenadiers (about 400). The imperial defense is well-positioned and the technique impeccable, but a fundamental difference emerges, one that will increasingly weigh heavily on the Europe of Nations: however educated and motivated the soldiers are, they are mercenaries of an empire, whereas the Milanese go to their deaths unpaid, to liberate their city, and for a national ideal, even if many are unclear what that means.

Milan. Wednesday. Porta Ticinese. Cattaneo arrives and finds a population deeply distressed by the violence of the hussars, firmly entrenched on the ramparts. Only in the evening does the bastion fall to the patriotic squads.

Milan. Fifth day of the revolt. Military school professor Antonio Carnevali invents mobile barricades. These consist of enormous, roughly cylindrical bundles of wood, almost three meters in diameter, soaked to prevent them from catching fire. The attackers roll them in front of them, thus stopping bullets and cannonballs. The first two attempts to use them fail, but the third, at Porta Tosa (which later becomes Porta Vittoria), succeeds. Leading the attackers is a figure from Milan’s wealthier classes, who, in just a few days, goes from haute couture, horses, and women to a skilled fighter: Luciano Manara.

Venice. Arsenal workers and mutinous Italian army units drive the Austrian army from the city.

Milan. Fourth day of revolt. The situation is at an impasse. On the citizenry side, astronomers are mobilized, using telescopes to monitor the enemy from towers and bell towers; engineers and land registry clerks are searching for underground passages in the sewers or between houses; and the so-called martinitt, the boys from the city orphanage, are used as highly efficient messengers.

Milan. The rioters attempt to storm the Palazzo del Genio. Anfossi’s plan, pistol on his right hip and saber on his left, is simple: break down the gate with a small cannon and throw in a handful of armed volunteers. But the gate holds. On the third attempt, Anfossi is hit in the forehead by a bullet. Command passes to Manara, but the situation is at a stalemate. Until a young stranger, Pasquale Sottocorno, limping on a crutch because he’s crippled, steps forward: “I’ll take care of it!” The elegant, refined, cultured Manara faces the last of the last. Sottocorno advances close to the walls, a constant target of snipers, reaches the gate and douses it with turpentine, and throws in a lit match. But it’s not enough. He drags himself back, grabs two bundles of firewood, and carries them back to the gate. He’s hit, collapses, but then gets up, and, leaving a trail of blood, reaches the gate, which this time burns and crackles with the dry bundles. Shortly afterward, the 160 officers surrender to the cheers of the crowd. It’s the greatest victory of the insurrection.

Milan. Tuesday. Cattaneo, leader of the republicans, prepares a letter for King Charles Albert of the Kingdom of Piedmont: “From the war council, March 21, 1848 – The city belongs to the fighters who conquered it; we cannot recall them from the barricades to deliberate. We scour the countryside day and night for help. If Piedmont generously comes to us, it will have the gratitude of the generous of all opinions. The word gratitude is the only one that can silence the word republic and unite us in a single will. I cordially greet you – Carlo Cattaneo.” Martini does not feel like presenting the king with the letter from the republican leader, and includes a letter signed by prominent Milanese citizens, including Manzoni, who signs on a friend’s hat (the signature will turn out crooked).

Milan. Radetzky had lost few soldiers but too many artillerymen, who were being targeted by Milanese snipers. The panic of the early hours had vanished among the Milanese. Antonio Carnevali, a fifty-year-old professor of mathematics and physics, conceived and constructed enormous bundles of wood, 3 meters in diameter, soaked in water to prevent them from catching fire. These bundles were rolled and used as shelter from Austrian fire. Astronomers and opticians climbed the spires of the Cathedral to report on movements in the suburbs, where farmers were crowded, hoping to enter and lend support to the revolt. The increased Milanese resourcefulness provoked an angry Austrian reaction, which often resulted in the most vicious reprisals.

Milan. The insurgents gather courage by singing the chorus of the oppressed people: “Va’ Pensiero, sull’ali dorate,” from Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco.