Sardinian expeditionary corps in the Crimean War
The Kingdom of Sardinia sided with France, Britain and the Ottoman Empire against Russia during the Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856) and sent an expeditionary force to the Crimea in 1855. King Victor Emmanuel II and his prime minister, Count Camillo di Cavour, decided to side with Britain and France in order to gain favour in the eyes of those powers at the expense of Austria, which had refused to join the war against Russia. Sardinia committed a total of 18,000 troops under Lieutenant General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora to the Crimean Campaign. Cavour aimed to gain 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 (1854–1855), allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to attend the peace negotiatiatons for ending the war at the Congress of Paris (1856), where Cavour could raise the issue of the Risorgimento with the European great 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 Expeditionary Corps Commander in Chief: Lieutenant General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora Chief of Staff: Lieutenant Colonel Petiti Di Roreto Staff Major: Major Giuseppe Govone Artillery Staff Major: Major Della Rovere Commander, Artillery: Colonel Valfre Di Bonzo Commander, Engineers: Major Staglieno Commander, Bersaglieri: Lieutenant Colonel De Saint Pierre Commander, Support Services: Major General Paolo Antonio de Cavero (until 17 August 1855, then handled by Major Della Rovere after, De Cavero took over the Reserve Brigade when its commander Major General Giorgio Ansaldi died) Commander, Medical Services: Dr. Comisetti Garrison Commander Balaklava: Lieutenant Colonel Della Chiesa Della Torre Garrison Commander Constantinople: Lieutenant Colonel Paolucci British Liaison officer: Colonel George Cadogan French Liaison officer: Capitaine le Duc de Dino Talleyrand-Périgord Staff Units Provisional Light Cavalry Regiment (Colonel De Savoiroux) Regimental Staff, from the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Alessandria" 1st Squadron - 1st Squadron of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Novara" 2nd Squadron - 1st Squadron of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Aosta" 3rd Squadron - 1st Squadron of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Saluzzo" 4th Squadron - 1st Squadron of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Monferrato" 5th Squadron - 1st Squadron of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Alessandria" Provisional Fortress (Coastal) Artillery Battalion (Major Marabotto) 1st Fortress Artillery Battery, from the 1st Fortress Artillery Brigade 2nd