User:Jnestorius/Saint Patrick's Batallion (Papal States)

User:Jnestorius/Piedmontese campaign in the Papal States

The Batallion of Saint Patrick, colloquially called the Irish Brigade, was the Irish component of the Papal army of Catholic volunteers which was raised after the 1859 Austro-Sardinian War to defend the Papal States from the forces fighting for Italian unification. About 1300 men travelled from Ireland to Italy between March and May 1860, of whom over 1000 saw service during the brief Piedmontese campaign in the Papal States in August and September. After Piedmont-Sardinia's easy conquest of the Papal legations of Marche and Umbria, the Irish prisoners of war were taken to Genoa, from where they returned overland to Le Havre and thence by ship. Upon arrival at Queenstown (now Cobh) in County Cork on 3 November 1860, they received a hero's welcome. A small number stayed in Rome, as the Company of Saint Patrick or Irish Zouaves within the Papal Zouaves, which was disbanded after the Capture of Rome in 1870.