User:Alicewriteswrongs/1859 Perugia uprising

The Perugian Uprising is a tragic and historical event which took place on June 20th, 1859, during Italian unification in the city of Perugia. Perugia, subdued and dominated by the Papal States until that point, rose up to demonstrate against the temporal power. Regiments of the Swiss Guard, sent by Pope Pius IX, attacked the rebellious Perugins, and carried out looting and massacres.

Initial Situation
The Second Italian War of Independence saw eight hundred young men from Perugia arrive as volunteers in the Sardinian army on the battlefields of northern Italy, while in Perugia itself an insurrectionary committee made contact with the Società Nazionale, particularly in Florence and Bologna.

On the 14th June, this committee went to ask the Pontifical Government, through its representative in Perugia, Bishop Luigi Giordani, to abandon the position of neutrality it had adopted in the Italian War. Faced with the refusal of the Pontifical representative to collaborate, the committee expelled him and set up a provisional government, which offered dictatorship to Victor Emmanuel II, then the king of Sardinia and the future king of Italy.

The insurrectionary committee organized a command of the square, a defense committee and other bodies essential for public safety and defense. It soon became clear that the government of the Papal States was determined to put a stop to the patriotic movements that threatened to take control of its territory, that it was not giving up Perugia, and was preparing to set an example that would be remembered by taking it back by force. It was equally clear that there was not the slightest support to be expected from Cavour, whose hands were tied by specific agreements with Napoleon III, although he found in the Perugian uprising motives very useful for his policy.

The Cardinal Secratary of State Giacomo Antonelli, informed of what had happened, gave orders on June 14th to Giordani (who had retreated to Foligno) "to stop all disorder, if necessary by calling a company from Spoleto", while waiting for a reinforcement of "two thousand men and maybe even from France". French help was, however, rejected by the commander of the occupation forces of Goyon, but preparations were made for the expedition of the 1st foreign regiment, which numbered about 1,700 men, under the orders of Colonel Antonio Schmidt d'Altorf. They arrived in Foligno on June 19th, where Schmidt, Mgr Giordani and the Counselor of State Luigi Lattanzi decided to proceed immediately to Perugia, to stop the arrival of reinforcements from Tuscany.

Massacres and pillaging
The provisional government launched a courageous appeal to the people to prepare for defense.

When, on June 20th, the Papal troops, around two thousand strong and composed largely of Swiss soldiers, came before Perugia, they found before them thousands of civilians arrayed along a vast front, poorly organized and poorly armed. A few hundred rifles arrived from Tuscany but they were all in bad shape – but the patriots were however animated by a ferocious will to defend themselves.

The resistance was broken after a brief yet fierce battle which centered around the gate of San Pietro. The Papal forces lost 10 soldiers and the Perugians 27. The battle was followed by looting, accompanied by an massacre of the civilian population, which made this episode famous.

A leading figure during the massacres was the Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Peter, Placido Acquacotta, who hid numerous civilians and helped them to flee.