Sardinian Expeditionary Corps in the Crimean War

During the Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856) between Russia and the alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia, the latter sent an expeditionary force to the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea.

The prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia Count Camillo di Cavour and the king Victor Emmanuel II decided to side with France and the United Kingdom to strengthen then French-Sardinian alliance. A total of 18,000 Sardinian troops under Lieutenant General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora were committed to the Crimean Campaign.[1]:111–12 This was an attempt at gaining the favour of the French, regarding the issue of uniting Italy in a war against the Austrian Empire. The deployment of Italian troops to the Crimea, and the gallantry shown by them in the Battle of the Chernaya (16 August 1855) and in the siege of Sevastopol, allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to be among the participants at the peace conference at the end of the war, where it could address the issue of the Risorgimento to other European powers.

Order of Battle of the Expeditionary Corps

A total of 18,061 men and 3,963 horses and mules embarked in April 1855 on British and Sardinian ships in the harbor of Genoa. While the infantry of the line and cavalry units were drawn from soldiers, who had volunteered for the expedition, the Bersaglieri, artillery and sapper troops were dispatched from their regular units. I.e. each of the army's 10 regular Bersaglieri battalions dispatched its first two companies for the expedition, while i.e. the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Provisional Regiment consisted of volunteers from the army's 3rd Line Infantry Regiment. The corps disembarked at Balaklava between 9 May and 14 May 1855.

Staff

Staff Units

Combat Forces

Reserve Forces

Naval Division

The naval division consisted of 11 warships and 7 transport ships, with 2,574 men and 126 naval guns.[4]

Staff

Combat ships

Combat ships:

Transport ships

Transport ships:

References

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