Editing Charles Albert of Sardinia (section)

==== 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>