Editing Charles Albert of Sardinia (section)

=== First Italian War of Independence ===
{{main|First Italian War of Independence}}
{{See also|Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states}}
[[File:Matania Edoardo - Ritratto giovanile di Carlo Cattaneo - xilografia - 1887.jpg|thumb|150px|The Milanese [[Carlo Cattaneo]] criticized Charles Albert's tardiness in deciding to enter the war.]]
On 23 March 1848, the proclamation of Charles Albert to the people of Lombardy and Veneto was published, in which he assured them that the Piedmontese troops, "... go now to offer, in the final trials, that help which a brother expects from a brother, a friend from a friend. We will comply with your just requests, trusting in the aid of God, who is clearly with us, of God, who has given Italy Pius IX, of God, whose miraculous prompting places Italy in the position to act for itself." Thus, the war began.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Il Risorgimento italiano'', Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011, p. 205.</ref> The federalist [[Carlo Cattaneo]] was not impressed, "Now that the enemy is in flight, the king wants to come with the whole army. He should have sent us anything − even a single cart of powder − three days ago. There was heard, in Piedmont, for five days, the thundering of the guns which consumed us: The king knew and did not move."<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=233}}</ref>

==== Initial campaign ====
[[File:Stanislao Grimaldi Dal Poggetto - battaglia di Pastrengo -litografia -ca.1860.JPG|thumb|left|Charles Albert (with the spyglass) and the Piedmontese commanders at the [[Skirmish of Pastrengo (1848)|Battle of Pastrengo]]]]
Charles Albert left Turin on the evening of 26 March 1848 for Alessandria, to take command of the army and then advanced to [[Voghera]]. He was preoccupied with the delay of the provisional government of Milan's acceptance of annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Austrians however had regrouped on the River [[Mincio]], at one corner of the [[Quadrilatero]]. On 29 March, the king entered [[Pavia]] in triumph, where he was met by some envoys of the Milanese government. On 2 April, Charles Albert was in [[Cremona]], on 5 April at [[Bozzolo]], on 6 April at [[Asola, Lombardy|Asola]], on 8 April at [[Castiglione delle Stiviere]], and on 11 April at [[Volta Mantovana]], only four kilometres from the Mincio. After nearly two weeks, he had made it to the front.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=234–236}}</ref>

At the opening of hostilities, on 8 and 9 April, Italian sharpshooters had achieved success in the first battle of the campaign at the [[Battle of Goito]]. After crossing the Mincio with his army, Charles Albert achieved another victory on 30 April at [[Skirmish of Pastrengo (1848)|Pastrengo]], where he saw the front lines. The units under his command attacked some Austrians who had been dispersed by a charge of the carabinieri on horseback. On 2 May, in the midst of this triumphant atmosphere, news arrived that Pius IX had withdrawn his military and political support for the Italian cause.

Nevertheless, the Papal soldiers in the army did not withdraw, choosing to remain to fight as volunteers, but Charles Albert had lost the moral justification for his mission. His dream of becoming the sword of the papacy and king of an Italy united under the Pope, as [[Vincenzo Gioberti]] had proposed, was thwarted.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=237}}</ref> Yet the king was undiscouraged and continued to advance towards Verona, where a harsh and indecisive battle was fought with the Austrians at [[Battle of Santa Lucia|Santa Lucia]] on 6 May.

Two further events followed in the next few days. On 21 May, the contingent of 14,000 men from the Neapolitan army which were ''en route'' to fight against the Austrians, were ordered by Ferdinand II to return home in light of Pius IX's decision. Then on 25 May, the Austrian reinforcements which had been traveling through Veneto, joined Radetzky's troops at Verona. Charles Albert was ambitious but had only modest strategic abilities and he could not realistically continue the war alone. The [[Battle of Goito]] and the surrender of Peschiera on 30 May were his last successes. The Austrians conquered [[Vicenza]] on 10 June, dispersing the Papal volunteers and finally obtained a decisive victory over the Piedmontese in the [[Battle of Custoza (1848)|Battle of Custoza]], which lasted from the 22 to 27 July.

In the meantime, on 8 June, the Milanese and Lombards had voted with an overwhelming majority to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, as had the citizens of the [[Duchy of Parma]] on 2 May. But for Charles Albert, things were going sour: the soldiers were angry about the recent defeat and were hungry and exhausted. A council of war suggested seeking a truce.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=240}}</ref>

==== Events in Milan and armistice of Salasco ====
[[File:Carlo-Alberto-dal-balcone-di-casa-Greppi-1848.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Charles Albert on the balcony of the Palazzo Greppi in Milan on 5 August 1848, attempting to calm forces opposed to the surrender of the city; painting by [[Carlo Bossoli]].]]
[[File:Bandiera 1848 Milano a Carlo Alberto.jpg|thumb|Flag donated by the women of Milan in the summer of 1848. Displayed in the [[Royal Armoury of Turin]].]]
On the evening of 27 July 1848, the Austrians agreed to grant a truce if the Piedmontese withdrew to the west bank of the [[Adda (river)|Adda]] (a little more than 20&nbsp;km east of Milan), surrendered all the fortresses, including [[Peschiera del Garda|Peschiera]] and yielded the Duchies of Parma and Modena, whose rulers had been forced into exile. Charles Albert, who disagreed with his son Victor Emmanuel on the conduct of the war, exclaimed "I would rather die!" and prepared to make a stand at the [[Oglio]] (about 25&nbsp;km further east than requested by Radetzky).<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=240–241}}</ref>

Although the Austrian proposal had been rejected, his troops ended up having to withdraw to the Adda river anyway, because the Oglio river was held to be an inadequate defensive line. At the river Adda, some manoeuvres taken by a general on his own initiative left a division isolated and made it necessary to withdraw again, in order to retreat inside the walls of Milan. Charles Albert went to the {{ill|Palazzo Greppi|it}}, ignoring the Milanese desire to resist, he negotiated the surrender of the city to the Austrians in exchange for permitting the safe withdrawal of the army to Piedmont.

The next day, the Milanese learned of the agreement and revealed their fury. The crowd protested in front of the Palazzo Greppi and when the King came out on the balcony, they fired their rifles at him. According to the noblewoman [[Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso]], who participated actively in the riots in Milan:
{{blockquote|A contingent of the national guard went up to interrogate Charles Albert on the reason for the surrender. He turned them away, but was forced despite himself to follow some deputies onto the balcony, from which he spoke to the people, apologizing for his ignorance of the true feelings of the Milanese, saying that he was delighted that they came to the defence so quickly, and solemnly promising to strive for them with his last drop of blood. A round from a rifle was fired against Charles Albert. At the final words of his speech, the indignant crowd shouted "If you're so wounded from surrendering!" Then the king took a piece of paper from his pocket, which he held up for the people to see, and ripped it to pieces.<ref>Cfr. C. Belgioioso, ''La rivoluzione lombarda del 1848'' a cura di A. Bandini Buti, Universale Economica, Milano, 1950</ref>}} Charles Albert's second son [[Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855)|Ferdinand]] and general [[Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora]] carried the king to safety. In the night he departed from Milan with the army.<ref>{{harvnb|Comandini, II|p=1518}}</ref> On 8 August, general {{ill|Carlo Canera di Salasco|it}} returned to Milan and negotiated an armistice with the Austrians, known as the Armistice of Salasco, which was signed on 9 August. Charles Albert ratified the armistice despite some opposition, including from Gioberti, who remained confident of aid from France. The king said that the former French foreign minister, [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], had declared that the French would only give such aid to Republicans.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=244}}</ref>

==== Second campaign and abdication ====
{{see also|Battle of Novara (1849)}}
[[File:Carlo Alberto Museo Risorgimento Roma.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Charles Albert reopened hostilities with Austria on 20 March 1849, but the second campaign lasted only four days.]]
[[File:The abdication of Charles Albert in favour of Victor Emmanuel.jpg|thumb|upright|Charles Albert abdicates in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel]]
The king was not proud of the campaign and, once he had written a record of the first campaign,<ref>''Memorie ed osservazioni sulla guerra dell'indipendenza d'Italia, raccolte da un ufficiale piemontese'', Stamperia Reale, Torino, 1848. Published anonymously, the book was immediately pulled from circulation at the request of the new minister of war, [[Giuseppe Dabormida]] who perceived that they would provide fuel for future controversies. The volume sought to demonstrate the bravery of the king, his sons, and the troops, but said almost nothing about the responsibilities of the military commanders.</ref> Charles Albert decided to break the armistice. On 1 March, at the inauguration of the legislature, he spoke clearly about war and [[Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Sardinia)|Chamber]] responded positively. For the imminent resumption of hostilities, the king was convinced to renounce effective command of the army, which he continued to hold formally. Rather than appointing a Piedmontese general, he selected the Polish general [[Wojciech Chrzanowski]] as commander of the army. On 8 March, the council of war in Turin decided that the armistice would be broken on the 12th. According to the terms of the armistice, hostilities would then begin eight days later on 20 March.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=245–247}}</ref>

The war did indeed resume on that day. On 22 March, Charles Albert arrived at [[Novara]] and a day later, Radetzy attacked the city from the south with superior numbers, near the village of [[Battle of Novara (1849)|Bicocca]]. Chrzanowski made some significant tactical errors and despite the bravery of the Piedmontese and Charles Albert himself, who fought along with his son Ferdinand in the front lines, the Battle of Novara proved a disastrous defeat.

Returning to the Palazzo Bellini in Novara, the king declared, "Bicocca was lost and retaken three or four times, before our troops were forced to yield... the Major General [Chrzanowski] employed all his strength, my sons did everything they could, the Duke of Genoa [Ferdinand] lost two horses from under himself. Now we have withdrawn within the city, on its walls, with the enemy below, with an exhausted army – further resistance is impossible. It is necessary to request an armistice."<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=250}}</ref>

Austria's conditions were very harsh: occupation of the [[Lomellina]] and the fortress of Alessandria, as well as the surrender of all the Lombards who had fought against Austria. Charles Albert asked the generals if it was possible for a final push to open a path to Alessandria. They said it was not: the army was in pieces, discipline had crumbled, many soldiers fighting in the campaign were despoiling the houses in the countryside and they feared an attack on the king himself.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=251}}</ref>

At 9:30 pm on the same day, Charles Albert summoned his sons, Chrzanowski, generals [[Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora]], {{ill|Carlo Emanuele La Marmora|it}}, [[Giovanni Durando]], {{ill|Luigi Fecia di Cossato|it}} (who had negotiated the armistice) and minister [[Carlo Cadorna]]. He confessed that he had no choice but to abdicate. They tried to dissuade him, but, in the hope that Victor Emmanuel could get better terms, he ended the discussion, "My decision is the fruit of mature reflection. From this moment, I am no longer the king; the king is Victor, my son."<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=251–252}}</ref>