Episode 2 of 2

Main Battle Engagement

When: 1 October 1860
Where: Volturno River area between Capua, Santa Maria Capua Vetere and Caserta
Part of: Garibaldi defeats the last organized Bourbon army at the Battle of the Volturno

Garibaldi's 30,000 volunteers defeated 25,000 Bourbon troops on 1 October 1860 in the main engagement around the River Volturno.

The main battle took place on 1 October 1860, involving 30,000 Garibaldines, mostly defected Sicilians including from Calabria, against 25,000 Bourbon Neapolitan troops. Garibaldi sought to cross the Volturno, keeping the Neapolitan Army against Capua, while preventing King Francis II from reaching Gaeta; Francis II had already taken refuge there since 6 September. The clashes occurred around the River Volturno, between Capua, Santa Maria Capua Vetere and Caserta.

Sources

Battle of the Volturno Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-28
Francis II of the Two Sicilies Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.