Page 157 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

RODOLFO CORSELLI *

THE 1860 CAMPAIGN IN SICILY

At the beginning of 1860, the army of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
totalled about 83,000 men and 5400 horses; excluding the gendarmes, the
invalids, etc., at most 60,000 men could go to battle.
Recruitment was carried out through conscription in Naples, through
enlistment in Sicily and abroad, especially in Switzerland and Southern
Germany.
The conscript service lasted 8 years, of which 4 in the army and 4 as dis-
charge to the reserve.
The conditions of the soldiers were generally uncomfortable; discipline
was kept through serious punishments, and also by beatings. Non commis-
sioned officers were a sort of separate group: very expert in small services, but,
greedy for money, they sometimes did not refrain from bullying and brutal
actions. Foreigners had the good and bad qualities of mercenaries: quarrel-
some, overbearing, intemperate, but they liked their work and were valiant.
In general, although the recruiting system did not ensure troops with high
moral qualities, yet these troops showed the same qualities as other armies,
and were worth more than the reputation they had; when they were well led,
they behaved with honour and the Bourbonists rightly ascribed their defeat

* Rodolfo Corselli (Palermo, 1873 – Rome, 1961), appointed as infantry Second Lieutenant in 1893
at the end of Military College, he attended the War College and subsequently participated in the Libya
campaign obtaining a silver medal for military bravery. Captain at the beginning of the 1915-1918
war, he commanded several units during this war, achieved the rank of Colonel and obtained the Cross
of Knights of the Savoy Military Order. In the post-war period, he held several commanding positions,
among which that of the Infantry and Cavalry Academy, and carried out General Staff functions at a
high level. He concluded his career with the rank of Lieutenant General. A very fine writer and lectur-
er, he wrote a large number of history books, devoted in particular to the study of the Risorgimento
and WWI and books of military arts. Of particular importance are the volumes I Mille e le squadre sicil-
iane, (The Mille and the Sicilian Units) Palermo, 1910; Tattica moderna, (Modern Tactics) Palermo,
1925; L’arte della guerra nelle varie epoche della storia, (The Art of War in the Different Historical
Epochs) Modena, 1931; Garibaldi, Palermo, 1934; a vast biography of Luigi Cadorna, Milan, 1937;
La grande guerra ’15-’18 alle fronti italiane, (The Great War of 1915-1918 on the Italian Fronts)
Bologna, 1942; Cinque anni di guerra italiana, (Five Years of Italian War) Rome, 1951.