Editing Charles Albert of Sardinia (section)

==== 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 On 2 May, in the midst of this triumphant atmosphere, news arrived that Pius IX had withdrawn his military and political support for the Italian cause.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>