Siege of Gaeta

Wrong day, wrong army

The listing puts the start of the siege on 3 November 1860 and attributes it to the combined forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II. An official Italian Army chronology dates the beginning to 5 November, under General Enrico Cialdini.

The besieging force was the regular Piedmontese army, commanded operationally by Cialdini. Garibaldi had transferred his authority to Victor Emmanuel after their meeting near Teano; the king held supreme political and military authority but did not direct the siege himself.

Four dates for one operation

The move on Gaeta followed the Piedmontese capture of Mola di Gaeta on 4 November, which opened the approach to the isthmus. Cialdini's troops began investing the landward approaches and preparing artillery positions.

A Cambridge University Press study dates the sustained siege from 13 November. Other narratives use 4, 11 or 12 November, according to whether they count the advance, the investment, the first land fighting or the full bombardment.

On the sources here, 5 November is the best-supported operational start, but the beginning remains definition-dependent.

A fortress still open to the sea

Francis II, his court and the remaining Bourbon field army were concentrated in the fortified coastal town. Capua's capitulation and the defeat at Mola had pushed them back into it.

The blockade was not complete at first: a French naval presence kept Gaeta's seaward communications open, leaving the besieged court connected to the outside world.

Gaeta was Francis II's last royal refuge rather than the last Bourbon fortress. Messina's citadel and Civitella del Tronto went on resisting after Gaeta surrendered.