The brigade participated in the First Italian War of Independence fighting in the battles of Santa Lucia, Goito and Novara. For its conduct at Novara the 17th Infantry Regiment was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor. In 1855 the brigade provided two battalions for the Sardinian Expeditionary Corps in the Crimean War. In the Second Italian War of Independence the brigade was employed in the battles of Magenta and Solferino. For its service at Solferino the 17th Infantry Regiment was awarded its second Silver Medal of Military Valor. In the following years the brigade was employed in Calabria and the region of Salerno to suppress the popular revolt of the peasant population against the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies into the new Kingdom of Italy.