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Tuesday 6 June 2023

Armies of the Italian Risorgimento

A copy of ARMIES OF THE ITALIAN RISORGIMENTO (which was written by by Gabriele Esposito) was sent to me by Arthur Harman, who well knows my interest in the less well-known wars of the nineteenth century. Having read through it, I realised that it was a mine of information for both serious military historians and wargamers, and in the latter case, particularly for those whose interests lie in the direction of small campaigns and/or imagi-nations.

There are quite a few very obscure military units mentioned in the text and/or illustrated using some of the numerous contemporary, coloured plates in the book. For example, where else would I have been able to read anything about the Volontari Ecclesiastica Siciliana (Sicilian Ecclesiastical Volunteers)? These were a group of Sicilian clerics and priests who fought with Garibaldi's troops and who wore an all-black uniform that combined elements of clerical and military dress, topped off with a black Phrygian or Liberty Cap that was adorned by a large rosette in the colours of the Italian flag!

The book's contents include:

  • Introduction
  • Chronology of the Italian Risorgimento
  • The Piedmontese Army
    • Line Infantry
    • Bersaglieri
    • Naval Infantry
    • Cavalry
    • Artillery
    • Engineers and Train
    • Royal House and Cacciatori Franchi
    • Carabinieri
    • National Guard
    • The Piedmontese in Crimea
    • Unifomrs
    • Weapons
  • The Army of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
    • Guard Infantry
    • Guard Cavalry
    • Line Infantry
    • Foreign Infantry
    • Light Infantry
    • Naval Infantry
    • Line Cavalry
    • Artillery and Train
    • Engineers
    • Troops of the Royal House and of the General Staff
    • Gendarmerie
    • National Guard
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Papal Army
    • Household Corps
    • National Infantry
    • Foreign Infantry
    • Cavalry
    • Artillery and Engineers
    • Volunteer Units
    • Police and Auxiliary Corps
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Tuscan Army
    • Regular Army
    • National Guard and Volunteers
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Modernese Army
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Parmese Army
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Army of the Kingdom of Sicily
    • Uniforms
  • The Army of the Lombard Provisional Government
    • Uniforms
  • The Army of the San Marco Republic
    • Uniforms
  • The Army of the Roman Republic
    • Uniforms
  • The Army of the Central Italian League
    • Uniforms
  • Garibaldi's volunteers
    • The Chasseurs of the Alps
    • The expedition of The Thousand
    • The Red Shirts
    • The 'Corpo Volontari Italiani'
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Italian Army of 1861-1870
    • Organization
    • Uniforms
    • Weapons
  • The Italian Army after 1870
    • Infantry
    • Cavalry, Artillery and Technical Corps
    • Weapons
  • Select bibliography

I have already had several hours of enjoyable reading from this book, and I suspect that this book will be the source of several ideas for future projects.


ARMIES OF THE ITALIAN RISORGIMENTO was written by by Gabriele Esposito and published in 2022 by MMP Books (ISBN 978 83 66549 95 1).

24 comments:

  1. Thanks for the 'heads up' on this Bob. This is certainly the sort of book that can inspire ideas, units etc for ImagiNations gaming, which is the sort of thing I love!

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    1. Steve J.,

      Reading it has rather knocked my desire to work on my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection into the long grass! My imagi-nation imagination rather went into overdrive, especially as I had the RISK figures to hand as a potential source of figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Now you've done it! You twisted my arm and made me order a copy! It's a period that has always been of interest, and I've toyed with the idea of gaming it. I like the historical imagi-nations angle and it gave me an idea: 1816 Eugene cut a deal with the Austrians and remains Victory of Italy but with Austrian backing. Meanwhile Murat made a deal with the English and is still King of Naples. Both of them are intent on unifying Italy but with themselves as king. This book looks to provide lots of imagi-nations fuel, maybe I'll do a more detailed point to point map of Italy from my Neurope map for the campaign...

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    1. I like you idea re Eugene and Murat, that gives lots of interesting possibilities:).

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    2. Mark Cordone,

      It sounds as if I’ve lit the blue touch paper on a real firecracker of an Italy-based imagi-nations campaign!

      Can I suggest that both sides would recruit heavily from amongst the ranks of the newly demobbed armies of Europe to create foreign regiments/brigades in their armies. That way you could have red-coated British soldiers fighting alongside former French Imperial Guardsmen … possibly against troops from former allies. The permutations are endless!

      Your idea has certainly set my mind racing …

      All the best,

      Bob

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    3. Steve J.,

      It certainly has loads of possibilities!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. Oh dear Bob, what have you done? I too have ordered a copy and have been pondering games set in Italy all afternoon!

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    5. Steve J.,

      Sorry! I blame Arthur Harman for sending the book to me in the first place.

      Welcome to my world of madness! (Benvenuto nel mio mondo di follia!)

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. It looks like Arthur Harman has set off a chain reaction here. I think I'll enjoy watching the particles ping off each other whilst trying not to get sucked in. I have always liked the K und K army though...... ;-)

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    1. Nundanket,

      I suspect that this series of wars lends itself to being the basis of a number of wargame mini-campaigns, with players building lots of small armies with lots of interesting troops. The involvement of the K und K is not essential … but it would certainly make for a more interesting situation.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  4. Good ideas! An excellent excuse for a wide variety of interesting units!

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    1. Mark Cordone,

      I suspected that that might be your reaction!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. I'll definitely have to look this one up! You make it sound like a lot of fun.

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    1. Jennifer,

      There were a few large battles during the Risorgimento but also plenty of smaller ones that cry out to be wargamed. Enjoy your research!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  6. Now that looks like a very interesting book indeed, I have had a smouldering interest in doing this period for a wee while now and will have to track down a copy of this book as it looks a cracker.

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    1. Donnie McGibbon,

      I’ve seen copies on sale on eBay for between £15 and £20, which is not too steep a price to pay. I only wish that I could show some of the illustrations on my blog, but I’m not sure about the copyright situation.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Bob, in the book the author states that all the illustrations are public domain, so that should not be an issue.
      Arthur

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    3. Arthur1815 (Arthur),

      I did see that, but I’m always careful as I’ve discovered that some of the bigger image providers (e.g. Alamy) have such images available online … but have stated that they have a copyright on them. It all seems a bit dubious to me, but they will pursue anyone who infringes their ‘copyright’.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. Bob, I doubt the publisher of the book would have made the statement about the illustrations if it were not true. Let's suppose, for example, that Alamy has a copy of one of the Knotel plates in its online database. In order to sue for breach of their claimed 'copyright' - which might well not be upheld by the courts anyway - they would have to prove that the defendant had downloaded the image from their website, rather than scanning an original Knotel print or some other reproduction of it not made by them.
      In any case, they would pursue the publisher, who has profited from the alleged breach of 'copyright' for that reason and because they have far more money with which to pay damages than you!
      I think you would be pretty safe to publish a few pictures from the book here, but you could always contact the publishers and seek their permission, which would cover your back anyway, as you would be copying from the book, not the internet site.
      When I took photographs of my aquatints from Jenkins' Martial Achievements &c., published in 1815, I owned the copyright of the photographs (and used to sell it to Practical Wargamer and other magazines to illustrate scenario articles), but that didn't enable me to claim copyright of the original aquatints themselves.
      So, when a publisher produced a book of reproductions of that series of prints a few years ago, by photographing surviving prints other than those in my possession, I could not sue them, nor could they sue me for continuing to use photographs of my own prints to illustrate articles.
      Best wishes,
      Arthur

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    5. Arthur1815 (Arthur),

      Thanks very much for the very clear explanation of the situation. It certainly put my mind at rest.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  7. There's lots of gold to be mined from what I've referred to as 'Metternich's Wars (in that they result from the Congress of Vienna). You also have the first Schleswig-Holstein War and the the revolutions across Europe in 1848/49 which saw lots of volunteer units raised. As a result of a complete lack of any planning I have Risorgamento forces in 28mm (Irregular which have quite a 'toyh soldier' look) and S-H in 15mm. With Mark Copplestone threatening an 1848 range there could be even more! A minor role for cavalry but huge variation in the quality of infantry can make for exciting battles. Similar, I'd suggest to the start of the ACW with units some times breaking quickly but rallying quickly.

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    1. Brian Cameron,

      I could not have summed up the appeal of this period any better! I would add a few other conflicts to the list: The Texan War of Independence, the US-Mexican War, the Swiss Civil War (aka the Sonderbund War), and the June Rebellion of 1832. (The last of these has a great soundtrack, thanks to Les Miserables!)

      I suspect that you are well ahead of the curve with your collection, and that when Mark Copplestone’s figures come on line there will be an upsurge of interest.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  8. Hello Bob, hope you are doing well. We are enjoying reading The Second Portable Wargame Compendium which arrived in the mail.

    Regarding the Italian Wars period wasn’t one of the earliest toy soldier wargames circa 1859-1860. From memory there were photos in Hans Roer’s book on toy soldiers. The period has a lot to offer. Using a gridded board with flats for French and Austrians. We are very much looking forward to the new ranges from Mark Copplestone.

    Best wishes - Quinn

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    1. Glory to Ruritania (Quinn),

      I'm very pleased to read that you are enjoying reading the Second PW Compendium.

      I had no idea that this was the period when toy soldiers began to become more widely available to the general public, nor that they used a squared grid.

      I certainly agree that this period has a lot to offer the wargamer, and I suspect that the forthcoming 1848 figures from Mark Copplestone will see a much great interest generated in it.

      All the best,

      Bob

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